Nicholas Perrin

It had to be awkward. The good theologians at Wheaton College threw a Theology Conference based solely on the theology of N. T. Wright, and invited him to come and respond. Wright handled the situation with aplomb, though, challenging misunderstandings of his theology, agreeing where there was more work to be done, and even getting excited about new connections previously unseen.

This book is the result of that 2010 conference. Half is about Jesus, the other half about Paul. Each half show more contains papers written by various theologians, each one briefly responded to by Wright. Then, at the end of each major section, Wright wrote a new paper about the current state of Jesus and Pauline studies.

Any book with this many contributors is bound to be a mixed bag, and that's certainly the case here. Some contributors reminded me of that guy in the lecture that insisted on asking questions solely to demonstrate his own wisdom. So be it. Over all, the papers were stimulating, thoughtful, and readable—in the spirit of Wright's style of doing theology.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the book was the last paper by Wright on the state of Pauline studies. As you may know, Wright is in the process of writing book four in his Christian Origins and the Question of God series on Paul. By the sounds of it, he has chosen to start with Philemon and ecclesiology, topics usually found closer to the appendix of a Pauline theology.

These papers, by their nature, assume a basic understanding of Wright's theology. They are excellent reading for anyone who has studied N. T. Wright's work. show less

Perrin has written a decent introduction to the problem of textual criticism and whether we can trust the Bible to accurately transmit the words of Jesus. He builds this discussion around the story of how his questioning in this very subject led to his own conversion experience, which provides a framework for walking through the major questions raised by Bart Ehrman and others of the day. And as you might imagine given how he's structured the book, he comes to the conclusion that yes, we can show more trust the Gospels to accurately transmit Jesus and his message.

I was prepared to be disappointed with this book. I'm no scholar in this area, but I'm no novice either. A number of books like this come across to me as providing trite responses to the questions. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Lost in Transmission? is both deeper and more personal than that. I'll recommend it to novices who have an interest in the subject as a great entry point to the discussion. show less

This book explains the parallels between the Gospel of Thomas and the Synoptic Gospels by using the lost gospel harmony of Tatian (the Diatessaron) which survives only in the echoes found in early medieval gospel harmonies.

(This requires going against the current of Thomas scholarship which says Thomas was written in Greek, translating the existing Coptic of Thomas into Syriac (guesswork, at best), and reconstructing the Diatessaron from its medieval kin -- and translating it into Syriac show more (also guesswork, at best.))

There are simpler and better attempts to explain the parallels. This is an ambitious book that few scholars could have written successfully (and that Perrin perhaps should have attempted later in his career.)

-Kushana show less

Bible, N.T