The Challenge of Jesus (NT Wright)

[RamistThomist]

I know that NT Wright isn't highly respected on this board (and for most of the reasons I would agree). At the moment I am reading his book [i:26fda618c7]The Challenge of Jesus[/i:26fda618c7]. After I read it, I would like to post a small review (don't worry, it won't be large) on the board for you gents to critique it (the ideas in the book, not the paper). I am doing this so I will have an introductory summary on what he propounds. As far as it goes, I don't know of many evangelical critiques of his works (published ones, anyway). I am plan to finish the book tonight and write the paper tomorrow.

Regards,

Jacob

 

[C. Matthew McMahon]

We look forward to it.

 

[RamistThomist]

The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is. By N T Wright

(This is a semi-formal book review. If you note any grammatical, logical, or any other lapses in it, please note them. I wrote this in a rush and still have my conclusion and my own impressions to write anyway.)



N.T. Wright's aim in this work is to explore the person of Jesus from post-Enlightenment eyes. He addresses the issues from a different stance than the typical liberal or fundamentalist: He affirms that Jesus actually existed but that He (Jesus) saw himself differently than we see Him. Wright says that he has three concerns in this book: historical integrity in talking about Jesus, Christian discipleship that professes to follow Jesus, and empowering Christians with a vision that will transform the world (10-11).

The Challenge of Studying Jesus
In the first chapter Wright discusses the recent history of the "Quest for the Historical Jesus," noting that a merely "supernatural" Jesus-a Jesus that actually lived and was divine in our sense of the word-can easily degenerate into the "Superman" myth, a myth that is actually a dualistic corruption of Christianity (15). That being said, Wright then critiques liberal scholars for dismissing the Scriptures outright while trying to speak confidently of the most important person of the Scriptures. In this chapter Wright sets the tone for much of the book: "Christianity, as we shall see, began with the througoughly Jewish belief that world history was focused on a single geographical place and a single moment in time...The living God would defeat evil once and for all and create a new world of justice and peace" (21-22). Wright will take this theme and tie it in with the "exile-exodus" theme for an early Christian narrative built on a Jewish worldview.

The Challenge of the Kingdom
The challenge of the Kingdom was a challenge that was first given to the nation of Israel. Christians, like the Israelites, were called to be a light to the Gentiles. Israel's failure to be that light merited its judgment that was played out in the Exile. The message that Jesus preached was, among other things, a repeating of this agenda. Jesus preached his message using symbols and confronting other kingdom agendas: the Herodian compromise, the Zealot revolt, the Qumran pietism. Wright takes a parable dear to many Evangelicals and interprets it through the lens of Exile and Restoration. Instead of the Prodigal Son merely being a message about forgiveness, it was an announcement that the return from Exile was happening through Jesus' own work (42). In calling His people "Jesus was calling them to give up their agendas and to trust him for his way of being Israel, his way of bringing the Kingdom, His kingdom-agenda"(44).

The Challenge of the Symbols
Jesus' challenge of the symbols was a challenge to the Jews to let their symbols go. The symbols that the Jews cherished were leading them to destruction. The challenge of the symbols must be seen in light of a political agenda generated by eschatology. Jesus did not reinforce, but challenge the revolutionary zeal (58). The Sabbath. When Jesus picked grain on the sabbath he brought down the Jews question of "Does He exhibit symbolic action by which a loyal Jew would show gratitude to God"(60). Instead of seeing Herod's temple as the Incarnation of God to His people, Jesus was the Temple and so, the Incarnation to the Jews.

The Crucified Messiah
Jesus saw himself as the temple consummating what the sacrifical system pointed to. Jesus saved his people from the exile of sin that they were in-he was telling them that the exile had ended. The challenge to the Jews was that they must see him as the new Temple and the new hope for Israel. Clinging to the physical temple would not save them from the Romans. If the Romans crucified the Messiah, the leader of Israel, how much more so would they judge the Jews? Why did Jesus have to die? He had to die to undergo the punishment that would fall on the nation.

Jesus and God
Before answering the question, "Was Jesus God?" Wright first defines what God is with reference to 1st-Century Judaism: a) God had created the world and b) will come again to vindicate his people. Wright answers in the affirmative and then qualifies it by noting: 1) the Temple was the incatnational reality of the Jews-Jesus was the temple according to the prophecy given to David in Second Samuel. Furthermore, Jesus viewed the Torah as the Word of God administering the "Shekinah" among his people-Jesus assumed both roles.

The Challenge of Easter
Wright argues for the Resurrection (the full argument is too deep for a book review) by noting that Christiantiy arose as a "kingdome-movement, a resurrection-movement, and a Messianic-movement." Wright then employs Paul's argument for the Resurrection by noting: the Resurrection meant that the Scriptures had been fulfilled, the old-age had passed away, and the Kingdom of God had arrived. If that is so, the Resurrection is the future re-embodiment of the Christian dead and the em-bodiment of the Christian living.

Thanks everybody,

Regards,

Jacob