Wright, Christopher J.H. 1947–

(Christopher Joseph Herbert Wright)

PERSONAL:

Born October 9, 1947, in Belfast, Northern Ireland; son of missionaries; married; wife's name Liz; children: four. Education: Cambridge University, Ph.D.

ADDRESSES:

Home—London, England. Office—Langham Partnership International, P.O. Box 997, Guildford GU1 9DS, England. E-mail—chris@langhampartnership.org.

CAREER:

Pastor. Ordained Anglican pastor, 1977; Parish Church of St. Peter & St. Paul, Tonbridge, Kent, England, assistant pastor, beginning in 1977; Union Biblical Seminary, Pume, India, teacher, 1983-88; All Nations Christian College, Hertfordshire, England, academic dean, 1988-93, principal, 1993-2001; Langham Partnership International, Guildford, England, international ministries director, 2001—. Member of ministry team at All Souls Church, Langham Place.

WRITINGS:

An Eye for an Eye: The Place of Old Testament Ethics Today, InterVarsity Press (Downers Grove, IL), 1983.

User's Guide to the Bible, Lion (Belleville, MI), 1984.

God's People in God's Land: Family, Land, and Property in the Old Testament, W.B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1990.

Walking in the Ways of the Lord: The Ethical Authority of the Old Testament, InterVarsity Press (Downers Grove, IL), 1995.

Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament, InterVarsity Press (Downers Grove, IL), 1995.

Deuteronomy, Hendrickson Publishers (Peabody, MA), 1996.

The Message of Ezekiel: A New Heart and a New Spirit, InterVarsity Press (Downers Grove, IL), 2001.

(General editor, with Paul Gardner and Chris Green) Fanning the Flame: Bible, Cross & Mission; Meeting the Challenge in a Changing World, Zondervan (Grand Rapids, MI), 2003.

Old Testament Ethics for the People of God, InterVarsity Press (Downers Grove, IL), 2004.

The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible's Grand Narrative, IVP Academic (Downers Grove, IL), 2006.

Knowing the Holy Spirit through the Old Testament, IVP Academic (Downers Grove, IL), 2006.

Knowing God the Father through the Old Testament, IVP Academic (Downers Grove, IL), 2007.

Salvation Belongs to Our God: Celebrating the Bible's Central Story, IVP Academic (Downers Grove, IL), 2008.

SIDELIGHTS:

Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to missionary parents, Christopher J.H. Wright is a pastor who has written more than a dozen books on Christian topics. Based on his doctoral dissertation, Wright's book God's People in God's Land: Family, Land, and Property in the Old Testament examines the ethical issues concerning the economics of property, land, children, wives, and slaves. "Wright devotes a large part of his text to a very useful analytical review of the then-extant scholarship," noted David Jonathan Gilner in the Journal of the American Oriental Society. "Though these analyses have not been substantially updated to include publications of the past dozen years, his analyses and conclusions stand firm." G.I. Davies, reviewing the book in the Journal of Theological Studies, remarked that "Wright's socio-ethical analyses deserve careful consideration."

In Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament, Wright looks to the Old Testament to explain Jesus as a person, as a missionary, and as a theologian. "Wright's book is much more than a discussion of how the New Testament uses the Old, however," wrote a contributor to Christianity Today. "It is a brief theology of Jesus and his teaching in light of the Old Testament." The contributor concluded that Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament makes "a significant contribution to the evangelical debate over how best to understand Jesus' fulfillment of the Old Testament," adding that "students, pastors, and laypeople interested in the relationship between Old and New Testaments will benefit … from Wright's illuminating examination of Jesus' person and teaching in light of their Old Testament background."

In Old Testament Ethics for the People of God, published in 2004, the author synthesizes several of his earlier works to highlight methodological approaches to the study of the Old Testament, themes from the Old Testament, and the ethics of the Old Testament. John R. Schneider, reviewing the book in Markets & Morality, highlighted some omissions, observing that "in a book that purports to give an overview of Old Testament ethics for modern Christian people, one naturally expects to find a major section devoted to the topic of war. Wright omits this topic (as well as the topics of sexism and racism)." Schneider concluded, however, that "all readers should appreciate particular features of this book," including the author's "able discussion of ecology. He also makes many good observations about Israel's ethics being grounded less in laws and rules than in the character virtues of God, most notably love and justice. His correction of older distinctions among moral, ceremonial, and civil law in the Old Testament is also sound. His writing is lucid, and his summary of literature is helpful." Waldemar Janzen, reviewing the account in Interpretation, cautioned that the book's "scope is essentially limited to literature in the English language." Janzen concluded that "this is a comprehensive, methodologically circumspect, consistent and well-integrated work. Both in its own position and in its dialogical interaction with others, it represents much of the best of the approximately three decades of revival of interest in the theological sub-discipline of Old Testament ethics." And Ralph Kelvin Moore, writing in the Journal of Church and State, remarked that "Wright's work is a welcome addition to the ongoing discussion of Old Testament ethics. His emphasis on Israel's land as an integral part of the ‘ethical triangle,’ both in the Old and New Testaments is thought provoking."

In The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible's Grand Narrative, published in 2006, Wright argues that God's mission is labeled throughout the Bible, and that it encourages God's followers to follow through with action and social work as opposed to evangelism and church planting. "In this book, church and mission leaders will find a wealth of fresh scholarship exalting God's initiative—and, indeed, more than a bit of subversion," stated Jim Reapsome, reviewing the book in Christianity Today. Stephen Fowl, writing in Theological Studies, declared that "Wright lays out his agenda clearly" and "is well positioned to make this argument." Fowl praised the author, noting that "the volume provides much to admire and to learn from, especially from its treatment of the Jubilee." In his conclusion, Fowl stated: "I appreciate his discrete examples of exegetical brilliance and edification. He has produced one of the best examples of this genre currently available." Stephen B. Bevans, reviewing the book in the International Bulletin of Missionary Research, asserted that "this is a biblical theology of the first order" and that the book "is a must-read, not only for missionaries and missiologists, but also for biblical scholars and indeed all Christians. Perhaps more than a read, though, this book is one to be meditated on and prayed through."

Wright also published Knowing the Holy Spirit through the Old Testament in 2006. Here, Wright expands upon his studies from Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament to show how the Holy Spirit is found throughout the Old Testament. Peter Malik, writing on Peter's Burg, commented that "language of the volume is rather simplistic; the theological outcomes are being applied variously into the present church context to make the book as useful as possible. Usefulness in this area, however, pushes away the usefulness in the area of biblical studies and theology. The areas that could have (and perhaps should have) provided the theological implications based on the author's exegetical work were dealt with in a practical ‘how to’ fashion." Malik concluded: "Overall, this volume will be a blessing for many."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Catholic Biblical Quarterly, October 1, 1993, Claude F. Mariottini, review of God's People in God's Land: Family, Land, and Property in the Old Testament, p. 790; July 1, 1998, William S. Morrow, review of Deuteronomy, p. 550.

Christianity Today, June 24, 1991, Daniel G. Reid, review of God's People in God's Land, p. 41; March 4, 1996, review of Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament, p. 58; June 1, 2007, Jim Reapsome, review of The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible's Grand Narrative, p. 73.

International Bulletin of Missionary Research, July 1, 2007, Stephen B. Bevans, review of The Mission of God, p. 154.

Interpretation, July 1, 1992, review of God's People in God's Land, p. 314; April 1, 2006, Waldemar Janzen, review of Old Testament Ethics for the People of God, p. 226.

Journal of Church and State, January 1, 2005, Ralph Kelvin Moore, review of Old Testament Ethics for the People of God, p. 159.

Journal of Law and Religion, January 1, 2002, Rhonda Burnette-Bletsch, review of God's People in God's Land.

Journal of the American Oriental Society, January 1, 1993, David Jonathan Gilner, review of God's People in God's Land.

Journal of Theological Studies, October 1, 1993, G.I. Davies, review of God's People in God's Land, p. 809; October 1, 1998, J.W. Rogerson, review of Walking in the Ways of the Lord: The Ethical Authority of the Old Testament, p. 719.

Markets & Morality, spring, 2005, John R. Schneider, review of Old Testament Ethics for the People of God.

Theological Studies, March 1, 2008, Stephen Fowl, review of The Mission of God, p. 221.

Theology Today, October 1, 1991, Jeffries M. Hamilton, review of God's People in God's Land, p. 352.

ONLINE

Langham Partnership International Web site,http://www.langhampartnership.org/ (June 18, 2008), author profile.

Peter's Burg,http://petermalik.blogspot.com/ (July 31, 2007), Peter Malik, review of Knowing the Holy Spirit through the Old Testament.