Nicholas Thomas Wright

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NT Wright

Nicholas Thomas Wright (born November 1, 1948 in Morpeth , Northumberland ), better known as NT Wright or Tom Wright , was Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St Andrews , Anglican Bishop Emeritus of Durham ( England ) and one of the leading New Testament theologians and life researchers in the English-speaking world. Since 2019 he has been working as a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford .

Life

Wright grew up in northern England , he attended Sedbergh School in Yorkshire and studied theology and history at Exeter College , Oxford . Influenced by John Wenham, he chose an academic career, and his thinking and beliefs were shaped by Calvinism and evangelicalism . He graduated in theology in 1973, received his master's degree in 1975, and was ordained an Anglican priest in 1976. In 1981 he was appointed professor of the New Testament at McGill University in Montréal . In 1986 he returned to Oxford, where he served as professor and chaplain of Worcester College , in 1994 he was dean of Lichfield , in 2000 canon of Westminster Abbey and in 2003 bishop of Durham, the fourth major episcopal see in the Church of England . Wright was a member of the Lambeth Commission on Communion in 2004 , which prepared the Windsor Report .

In 2010 he resigned as bishop and became Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St Andrews in Scotland .

Private

Wright is married to Margaret Elizabeth Anne Fiske and has two sons and two daughters. He is a sports and music lover and plays the piano, jazz trumpet and guitar himself.

Work and criticism

Wright has published over eighty books, some academic works under the name NT Wright, some for the general public under the name Tom Wright. His works have also been translated into different languages ​​and have been recorded and received by people from different churches and cultures.

His academic works deal with New Testament exegesis, in particular with the new perspective on Paul and research into the life of Jesus . In the life of Jesus research, he strictly starts from a historian's point of view, making reference to the Old and New Testaments , Jewish and non-canonical writings, as well as to Greek classics, Albert Schweitzer , Ernst Käsemann and Ed Parish Sanders . The new perspective on Paul is about understanding and interpreting Paul more in terms of his Jewish origins. In particular, Martin Luther's groundbreaking insight into the justification of sinner through faith was strongly influenced by Latin, legalistic and medieval thinking.

Wright is an independent, unconventional thinker who questions modern and classical interpretations and who is difficult to classify. He sets out complex theological topics, clearly and legibly, in order to stimulate thought by the reader. He has dealt with both individual exegetical questions and comprehensive topics and made his findings available to individuals and the Church. Conservative critics (mostly professors of the American Christian seminaries) describe him as liberal, and liberal (mostly university professors) critics as conservative.

Strongly reformatory -minded theologians and pastors (e.g. the Confessing Evangelical Alliance) do not agree with his new perspective on Paul , which relativizes the central doctrine of justification by faith (Wright rejects the concept of double imputation).

Wright clearly distances himself from liberal theology , but also shocks evangelicals with historical approaches or with theses that question beloved beliefs and concepts. He has no fear of contact, is personal friends with Marcus Borg , who as a member of the Jesus seminar takes a completely different position theologically and has already published books and held lecture tours with him. (Borg sees Jesus as a prophet in the context of 1st century AD Judaism , who came into conflict with the mighty through his agenda and symbolic actions.)

Eschatology

Wright appears with the claim, through his historical, exegetical and theological research, to help the specifically New Testament conception of the future of the world and of the individual ( eschatology ) with regard to current confusions in culture and church to their justification. He tries to present the eschatology of early Christianity by examining the eschatological conceptions in the pagan and Jewish environments of the New Testament. In doing so, he establishes a proximity to Jewish-Pharisaic ideas, which, however, have been changed in key points (above all the anticipation of the general resurrection in the resurrection of Jesus Christ). He deconstructs popular ideas and prejudices according to which Christianity is only about “going to heaven after one has died.” In his book Simply Jesus (2011) he coined the provocative sentence: “The Gospels are not about the way Jesus showed himself to be God. They are about how God became King on earth as he was in heaven. ”He rejects the idea of ​​an evolutionary growth of the world for the better as well as the idea of ​​the end of the world. Instead, Christianity is about God's action, who reconciles this world with himself and transforms it “on the last day”. It is the task of the church to already now fragmentarily live out this ultimate transformative action of God. It is primarily about the kingdom of God , God's action in the world, also through the church, and only then does the question of the fate of the individual after death arise.

Works (selection)

Important academic works are:

  • with Stephen Neill: The Interpretation of the New Testament, 1861–1986 (= The Firth Lectures. 1962). 2nd edition, new edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 1988, ISBN 0-19-213428-0 .
  • The Climax of the Covenant. Christ and the Law in Pauline Theology. T&T Clark, Edinburgh 1991, ISBN 0-567-09594-0 ; Fortress Press, Minneapolis MI 1992, ISBN 0-8006-2632-X .
  • The New Testament and the People of God (= Christian Origins and the Question of God. 1). Fortress Press et al., Minneapolis MI et al. 1992, ISBN 0-8006-2681-8 .
  • Jesus and the Victory of God (= Christian Origins and the Question of God. 2). Fortress Press et al., Minneapolis MI et al. 1996, ISBN 0-8006-2682-6 .
  • What St Paul Really Said. Was Paul of Tarsus the real Founder of Christianity? Lion, Oxford 1997, ISBN 0-7324-1648-5 ; Eerdmans, Grand Rapids MI 1997, ISBN 0-88028-181-2 .
  • with Marcus Borg: Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions. 2000, ISBN 0-06-060876-5 .
  • The Resurrection of the Son of God (= Christian Origins and the Question of God. 3). Fortress Press et al., Minneapolis MI et al. 2006, ISBN 0-8006-2679-6 .
  • The Last Word. Beyond the Bible Wars to a new Understanding of the Authority of Scripture. HarperCollins, New York NY 2005, ISBN 0-06-081609-0 .
  • Scripture and the Authority of God. SPCK, London 2005, ISBN 0-281-05722-2 .
  • Surprised by Hope. Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church. HarperCollins, New York NY 2008, ISBN 978-0-06-155182-6 .
  • After you believe. Why Christian Character Matters. HarperOne, New York 2010, ISBN 978-0-06-173055-9 .
  • Simply Jesus. Who He Was, What He Did, Why He Matters. HarperOne, New York NY 2011, ISBN 978-0-06-208439-2 .
  • How God Became King. The Forgotten Story of the Gospels. HarperOne, New York NY 2012, ISBN 978-0-06-173057-3 .
  • Simply good news. Why the Gospel Is News and What Makes It Good. HarperOne, New York NY 2015, ISBN 978-0-06-233434-3 .
  • The Day the Revolution Began. Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus's Crucifixion. HarperOne, San Francisco CA 2016, ISBN 978-0-06-233438-1 .

Published in German (in chronological order)

  • The resurrection of the Son of God. A historical perspective. 2001, ISBN 3-921113-03-2 .
  • Why Christian makes sense ( Simply Christian ). Johannis, Lahr / Schwarzwald 2009, ISBN 978-3-501-01614-5 .
  • What Paul was really about. Brunnen, Giessen 2010, ISBN 978-3-7655-1454-8 . 2nd ed., 2017.
  • The New Testament and the People of God (= The Origins of Christianity and the Question of God. Vol. 1). Francke, Marburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86827-242-0 .
  • Believe - and then? From the transformation of the character. Francke-Buchhandlung, Marburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86827-243-7 .
  • Surprised by Hope: What the Bible Really Says About Resurrection and Eternal Life. Sowing, Neukirchen 2011, ISBN 3-7615-5842-2 . 2nd edition, 2017.
  • Challenge Jesus. Who he was and who he is. Causa Mundi, Böblingen 2012 (English orig. 2000), ISBN 978-3-943641-00-4 .
  • Little Faith - great god ( small Faith, Great God ). Neufeld, Schwarzenfeld 2013, ISBN 978-3-86256-030-1 .
  • Jesus: Who he was, what he wanted and why he is important to us ( Simply Jesus ). Francke, Marburg 2013, ISBN 978-386827-384-7 .
  • Jesus and the victory of God. ( Jesus and the Victory of God ) (= The origins of Christianity and the question of God. Vol. 2). Francke, Marburg 2013, ISBN 978-386827-383-0 .
  • Matthew 1 for today ( Matthew for everyone 1 ). Brunnen, Giessen 2013, ISBN 978-3-7655-0611-6 .
  • Matthew 2 for today ( Matthew for everyone 2 ). Brunnen, Giessen 2013, ISBN 978-3-7655-0612-3 .
  • The resurrection of the Son of God (= The origins of Christianity and the question of God. Vol. 3). Francke, Marburg 2014, ISBN 978-3868274448 .
  • Paul for today. The letter to the Romans. Volume 1. Brunnen, Giessen, 2014, ISBN 978-3765506192 .
  • Paul for today. The letter to the Romans. Volume 2. Brunnen, Giessen, 2014, ISBN 978-3765506208 .
  • The NT prayers for today . Giessen, Brunnen, 2014, ISBN 978-3-7655-0629-1 .
  • Revelation for today . Brunnen, Giessen, 2014, ISBN 978-3765506284 .
  • Kingdom of God, Cross, Church: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels . ( How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels ). Marburg, Francke, 2015, ISBN 978-3868275049 .
  • Plea for the Psalms: Why They Are Essential . ( The Case for the Psalms: Why They Are Essential ). Marburg, Francke, 2015, ISBN 978-3868275391 .
  • Acts for today . Volume 1. Brunnen, Giessen, 2015, ISBN 978-3765506178 .
  • Acts for today . Volume 2. Brunnen, Giessen, 2015, ISBN 978-3765506185 .
  • Justification: God's Plan and Paul's View . ( Justification: God's Plan and Paul's Vision ). Studia Oecumenica Friburgensia, Volume 63. Münster: Aschendorff, 2015, ISBN 978-3402119952 .
  • Surprised by the Bible: Amazing Insights on Contentious Issues . ( Surprised by Scripture: Engaging Contemporary Issues ). Marburg, Francke, 2016, ISBN 978-3868276183 .
  • Luke for today . Brunnen, Giessen, 2016, ISBN 978-3765506147 .
  • Johannes for today. Volume 1. Brunnen, Giessen, 2017, ISBN 978-3765506154 .
  • Johannes for today. Volume 2. Brunnen, Giessen, 2017, ISBN 978-3765506161 .

literature

  • Carey Newman (Ed.): Jesus & the Restoration of Israel. A Critical Assessment of NT Wright's Jesus & the Victory of God. 1999, ISBN 0-8308-1587-2
  • Norman Perrin and Richard B. Hays (Eds.): Jesus, Paul, and the People of God: A Theological Dialogue with NT Wright IVP Academic, Downers Grove, 2011, ISBN 978-0-8308-3897-4
  • David Jaeggi: Mission as Action in Hope - An examination of hermeneutics and eschatology at NT Wright against the background of David J. Bosch's ecumenical missionary paradigm , Academia, 2019

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wycliffe Hall announces the appointment of NT Wright as their Senior Research Fellow. Retrieved April 19, 2020 (English).
  2. ^ Alastair Roberts: NT Wright: A Biography , September 11, 2006
  3. David Jaeggi: Mission as Action in Hope - An examination of hermeneutics and eschatology in NT Wright against the background of David J. Bosch's ecumenical missionary paradigm , Academia, 2019
  4. ^ Phil Johnson: What's wrong with Wright. Examining the New Perspective on Paul
  5. ^ Andrew Wilson: NT Wright wants to reintroduce you to Paul , The Gospel Coalition, February 19, 2018
  6. Martin Brüske: A Jewish thinker invents Christian theology . kirchenzeitung.ch. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  7. cf. The resurrection of the Son of God. A historical perspective , 2001 and the more popular one: Surprised by Hope. Rethinking Heaven, The Resurrection and the Mission of the Church , New York 2008, v. a. Pp. 3-27.
  8. Surprised by Hope, Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection and the Mission of the Church , New York 2008, pp. 31-53.
  9. "The gospels are not about 'how Jesus turned out to be God.' They are about how God became king on earth as in heaven. " ( Simply Jesus , p. 142)
  10. Surprised by Hope, Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection and the Mission of the Church , New York 2008, pp. 79-88.
  11. Surprised by Hope, Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection and the Mission of the Church , New York 2008, pp. 93-106.
  12. Surprised by Hope, Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection and the Mission of the Church , New York 2008, pp. 189-230.
  13. Surprised by Hope, Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection and the Mission of the Church , New York 2008, pp. 147-183.
  14. A comprehensive list of publications can be found here ( Memento from October 12, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
predecessor Office successor
Michael Turnbull Bishop of Durham
2003-2010
Justin Welby