Reported by Jack Irwin, M.Div., May 16, 2014

DOING THEOLOGY IN THE 21ST CENTURY: VISITING WITH BISHOP (RET.)
N.T. WRIGHT, ESTEEMED NEW TESTAMENT SCHOLAR

On May 1-3, 2014, we (Art Moore, Carol Cogley, John Favalessa, Judy Carter, Jack Irwin, Tim Knox and
John’s friend Rev. David Ratcliff) gathered at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena with 2000 others
to hear a wonderful, engaging, and educational series of lectures by Prof. N. Ted Wright. Since 2010
Wright has been Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at St. Andrews University
in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is a retired Anglican Bishop in England and previously taught at Oxford and
McGill (Toronto).

Wright is one of the leading scholars on the New Testament and early Christianity and has written with
his pastoral heart for the church laity. He is a prolific author both academic works and books for the laity of the Church. Judy is reading “Simply Christian.” Jack taught “How God Became King” in Life Academy and is reading Wright’s “The Climax of the Covenant.” Roland is reading Wright’s just published
academic tome, “Paul and the Faithfulness of God.”

Wright wants the Western Christian Church to return to right Biblical thinking. Here are some of the
Wright’s correctives for Western Christianity.

1. Heaven is where God is. It is not a geographical or cosmic location. The church has
overemphasized heaven as a “place” we go when we die. Some Biblical images describe heaven as “up
there,” and our culture locates heaven as a separate place somewhere in the cosmos. Wright says the
basic Biblical concept is that heaven is wherever God is present. Heaven is like a “sixth dimension” all
around us. See Colossians 1:16 “… in him[Christ] all things hold together,” which emphasizes God’s
presence throughout his creation.

2. The Gospel of Christianity is more than personal salvation. It is about God’s plan to redeem you
and me, the earth, and the cosmos, all of Creation from its death spiral. The Western Church has
generally preached a truncated Gospel as “death insurance,” preaching that accepting by faith that Jesus
died for your sins gains you entrance into heaven (God’s presence) when you die. For Wright the Gospel
is much more than that. It is God’s plan to redeem all of creation – humanity, the earth, the cosmos – to
return it all to God’s sovereign reign. See Genesis 1-11 (see the movie NOAH) where sin, evil and death
entered into the Lord’s Creation and consumes the human race. See Revelation 21 and 22 where God’s
redemptive plan to rid His creation of evil, death, corruption and sin is consummated.

3. The earth will be redeemed and become the place for eternal life. It is not a corrupted globe to be
disposed after we escape to heaven. The Western Church has overemphasized going to heaven and
generally regarded the earth as a corrupt place we will leave behind forever. Wright says, God’s
redemptive plan is to redeem the earth where heaven will be united with earth and bodily eternal life
will be lived. See Revelation 22 where heaven (God’s presence) comes to earth. God shall dwell
among all the peoples of the earth. This fulfills Psalm 72:19b “…may the whole earth be filled with His
glory.”

4. The Biblical answer to death is the resurrection of the body, not the Platonic idea of the soul
leaving the body and escaping to “heaven.” Caught up in the idea of heaven as a place to escape to, the Church has de-emphasized the bodily resurrection of all believers. If you say the Apostles Creed,
you are reminded that we believe in the “resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.” Our bodies
will be raised from death to be like Jesus’ resurrection body, free of sin, corruption, and death. Bodily
existence is lived in one place: earth. While Paul wrote in his letters that when we die we are with the
Lord, he does not explain it as the transmigration of the “soul” to heaven. Wright says the basic Biblical answer to death is a time of waiting for the bodily resurrection, the hope of glory promised. The Presbyterian memorial service for the dead is titled, “A Witness to the Resurrection,” meaning the
eventual bodily resurrection of the believer from death when Jesus returns.

5. The Story of the Gospel is told in the whole Bible, from Genesis right through to Revelation. The
church has deemphasized the “Old Testament” and forgotten that God’s plan for redemption started
back with Adam and Eve and with Abraham. Some Christians think the “New Testament” replaced the
“Old Testament.” As Wright shows, you cannot understand Jesus Christ or God’s plan revealed in the
New Testament without understanding the plan that started in the Old Testament. The Lord promised
Eve that, while the Serpent (Evil) will strike at the heel of her seed, her seed will strike the serpent’s head, killing it. (Gen. 3:15) This promise is fulfilled by Jesus Christ. God’s plan of redemption continued with the Lord’s covenant with Abraham, through whom God would save not just Abraham’s people, the Jews, but all nations, tribes and peoples of the earth. (Gen. 12:1-3)

6. We live in the “in-between” time, between Jesus’ first advent and his final advent, when He comes
as Lord of lords, and King of kings. (Rev. 19:16) We have something to do as Christians during this
time – to work to spread the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Western Church has
de-emphasized this purpose for our lives, in emphasizing “personal salvation” in which believers just
wait around to die and go to heaven. Jesus Himself commanded his disciples to “go and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very
end of the age,” when He comes again. (Matthew 28:19-20) Obeying Jesus means telling people about
the love of God in Jesus Christ and also acting in word and deed as people of God’s Kingdom, who are
under God’s reign. This is true religion – not just attending church, but acting justly and working for
justice, loving mercy and expressing mercy, as well as walking humbly with the Lord, our Heavenly
Father. (Micah 6:8) Wright told us that primary ministries of the Christian Church to the world are to
pray for the world and to identify with, standby and help those in the world who are suffering and in
pain. By this, the Church lives and acts as a witness of Jesus Christ and the Lord’s plan of redemption.

These are a few major highlights of the Biblical insights Wright has made through his academic and
pastoral ministries. As you can sense, Wright’s first love is the Church of Jesus Christ and he encourages the Church to be true to its foundation and to its calling as the People of God. His writings are very relevant for the Western Church in the 21st Century. They give us all food for serious thought and reflection on how we as individual believers and as a congregation live our lives as Christians. If you want to join in the discovery, just ask any of us who went to this convocation for one of Wright’s books to read.