The New Testament and the People of God

A very clearly written, well-argued, but sometimes repetitive book. The first methodological section is embarrassing for anyone who has read literary criticism or philosophy of the last forty years--as ever, the other humanistic disciplines take a while to catch up (viz, classics). But Wright's approach is fair. You might even call it common-sensical, except that it's couched in such high-flown concepts: to understand what people meant by their texts, you should try to find out how they saw the world. Very good. Not sure why we need Greimas for that.

His criticisms of other theologians or hermeneuts are good (basically, they all have an agenda, and so does Wright, but his is usually less obtrusive than theirs). His questions are good show more (e.g., what exactly did these people mean by 'God', anyway?). His answers are interesting ("works" are signs of Jewish identity, not good deeds; the 'kingdom of God' was always an allegorical claim about the end of the present world order, never a factual claim about the end of the world itself; Christians believed, from the start, that Jesus was the Messiah).

I just hope the volumes on Jesus and Paul are less repetitive. show less

Wright has been justifiably criticised for his understanding of justification by faith, particularly in Paul. But Wright is a far better historian than he is a theologian, and his insistence (against a great deal of non-evangelical biblical study) that the New Testament is to be taken seriously from a historical perspective is much-needed in the academy. Rather like Karl Barth, Wright unnecessarily challenges vital evangelical doctrines, whilst at the same time driving a nail into the coffin of overly critical or liberal scholarship. And unlike Barth, Wright does so with a vibrant writing-style that belies the academic nature of his arguments. I can’t recommend Wright unequivocally, but for those who understand his weaknesses and read show more him critically, this is a wonderfully stimulating read. show less

This is the first Volume of Wright's multi-volume set. He tacks a new course, taking into account literary criticism, historical background, and the text itself, all laces with heavy doses of scholastic credibility and common sense. Unlike a lot of NT scholarship, where the writer spends a lot of time telling you that the text does not say what you think it its, Wright tells us that the text say MORE than what we think it says. He is an excellent writer (rare for this field), and a creative thinker (also rare for this field).

I think this book might be of more limited interest than the other books I’ve read so far this year. I won’t be offended by people skipping my rather wordy review!

Background:

N. T. Wright is a New Testament scholar and currently the Bishop of Durham in the UK. The New Testament and the People of God is the first book in Wright’s multi-volume work, Christian Origins and the Question of God. The purpose of this series is to answer two questions:

1) How did Christianity begin, and why did it take the shape it did?
2) What does Christianity believe and does it make sense?

This volume serves as an introduction to the series, an exploration of the methodology Wright will use and a brief study of the historical context of the first century show more AD. Volume 2, Jesus and the Victory of God focuses on Jesus, Volume 3, The Resurrection of the Son of God focuses on the resurrection and later volumes are planned to look at Paul, the gospels and then a final volume for a conclusion.

Review:

I actually read the second volume in this series first and I’m now trying to read through the series in order. Because this volume was more of an introduction and methodology I thought I would struggle more to read and understand it but I think Wright is very good at giving enough background to the subjects he’s discussing to allow a novice to understand it and I found the book much more readable than I feared. It is a read that requires some concentration though and I did have to switch to lighter books when it all got a bit much for my poor brain!

On the methodology side Wright looks at the problems of how we read a text, how we ‘do’ history and whether history and theology can be separated. The he moves on to a study of Judaism in the first century and finally to a brief study of the early Christian church up to AD 150. All this is laying the groundwork for his later in-depth studies of Jesus, Paul and the gospels. I would love to be able to summarise his arguments here but I would need to read the book several more times before I could do that.

Rating:

I find it very difficult to rate non-fiction books. I simply do not know enough about this subject to know whether Wright is drawing the correct conclusions on his subject. However, the fact that he has been able to write a work aimed at scholars which is also accessible to a non-theology graduate lay person is, I think, wonderful. Although I probably didn’t understand everything in this book I enjoyed reading it immensely and feel so much more aware of how much more there is to know and understand on this subject and keen to read more. Because of this, I’ve given the book five stars. show less

The beginning of Wright's Christian Origins and the Question of God series, laying the foundation of all that will come to pass.

In this first volume Wright attempts to clear the air and set forth both the fundamental basis upon which further investigation can proceed and to provide a coherent historical background for the study of Jesus and early Christianity. He explores in great detail the types of criticism to which the New Testament is subjected, the philosophies of history to which the NT has been subjected, and makes the case for critical historical realism. He points out the strengths of various approaches as well as their limitations. He attempts to make sense of Jesus and early Christianity in terms of Second Temple Judaism, show more and does well at exploring the life, beliefs, and praxis of Jewish people in the first century.

In so many ways Wright's work is important to obtain a strong grounding in the historical realities surrounding the New Testament. An extremely impressive work. show less

A review and critique of previous critical work on the New Testament, with special emphasis upon the NT in it's first century Judaic context. He focuses upon the "worldviews" of Judaism and Christianity, with a refreshing interaction with hard data. Christianity's "story" is an answer/fulfillment/subversion of the "story" of Judaism.

Finally! A critical approach to the NT with something constructive to say!

This book is the first of the trilogy on Christ by N.T.Wright, Bishop of Durham. In this book he carefully and methodically paints the background for the cultural and religious milieu into which Jesus was born. At times it can be a bit dry, but it is readable and I am sure I will re-read it again. I particularly liked his dealing with Roman writings around the time of the early church, also his comments on Josephus.