N.T. Wright as apologist

He's put out a prodigious body of work, and I've found no issue with the little of it that I've read.

Was there a more specific question below the surface of that one, archer?

archer75 said:

Do you all have any particular opinions about the bishop's apologetic works?

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Doesn't he hold an unorthodox view of eschatology; saying that the Jews would never have understood the Kingdom of Heaven as being in some realm other than this earth?

Well, I haven't read that work, that I can recall. He's best known as a New Testament scholar, though, so maybe that's where his real strength lies?

Tone said:

Doesn't he hold an unorthodox view of eschatology; saying that the Jews would never have understood the Kingdom of Heaven as being in some realm other than this earth?

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Yes. He says the Jews believed heaven itself was thought of as the presence of God rather than a future place.

I found his work to be interesting. You might want to ask the group in the theology discussion threads also.
Perhaps give it another go at reading something else. I'd give it another try.

Resurrection as a historical event sounds interesting..

I was given a fair amount of Wright to read as I worked at my initial degree. This was somewhat surprising to me, as the university I studied at had a somewhat charismatic bent. I guess this is reflective of the stature he has built for himself in broader Evangelical circles. Unfortunately, most of the stuff I was assigned was more devotionally oriented rather than his weighty treatises on the new perspective on Paul or his ideas of partial-preterism. More recently he has focused on the kingship of Christ, which I find helpful and refreshing to presenting the Gospel.

I have found R.C. Sproul to be a superior author on the subject of partial-preterism. But I've not read anything on eschatology by Wright that raised obvious red flags.

Tone said:

Doesn't he hold an unorthodox view of eschatology; saying that the Jews would never have understood the Kingdom of Heaven as being in some realm other than this earth?

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I'm not sure the Jews would have thought otherwise in fact.

everbecoming2007 said:

I'm not sure the Jews would have thought otherwise in fact.

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I could see the Rabbinic variety believing such,but I would agree with Wright that Biblical Jews looked for the Kingdom on Earth. But, I believe that Wright ran into some trouble with his peers on this subject.

I believe he is envisioning a transformed earth. That's consistent with the prophets and the Revelation. Paul sees the resurrected Jesus, with a transformed body, as the model for what we'll be like. Since the creeds teach the resurrection of the body, I think this is orthodox.

A simple continuation of the physical earth is not consistent with the current understandings of cosmology.

Let's hear a little from the man himself:

His stuff is well written and easy to follow.

Here's another one with...Ellen...




*He speaks of how ideas of heaven and hell were influenced by paganism.

Tone said:

Here's another one with...Ellen...

*He speaks of how ideas of heaven and hell were influenced by paganism.

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I thought that was very good. A little speculative on some points, but nothing with which I would fundamentally disagree.

Shropshire Anglican said:

His stuff is well written and easy to follow.

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I'm a strong fan of NT Wright. A lot of what he says / writes is reintroducing Eastern Orthodox theology into the Western Catholic / Protestant church.