Wright, N.T. 1948–

(Nicholas Thomas Wright)

PERSONAL:

Born December 1, 1948, in Morpeth, Northumberland, England; son of N.I. (a company director) and F. (a homemaker) Wright; married Margaret E.A. Fiske, August 14, 1971; children: Julian, Rosamund, Harriet, Oliver. Education: Exeter College, Oxford, B.A. (humanities; with first class honors), 1971, B.A. (theology; with first class honors), 1973, M.A., 1975; Merton College, Oxford, D.Phil., 1981, D.D., 2000. Religion: Church of England. Hobbies and other interests: Golf, cricket, hill walking, the classical world, music, poetry, travel.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland, County Durham DL14 7NR, England; fax: 01-388-605-204. E-mail—bishop.of.durham@durham.anglican.org.

CAREER:

Ordained priest of Church of England, 1976; Cambridge University, Downing College, Cambridge, England, fellow and chaplain, 1978-81; McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, assistant professor of New Testament language and literature, 1981-86; Oxford University, Worcester College, Oxford, England, lecturer in New Testament studies, fellow, and chaplain, 1986-92; Church of England, canon theologian of Coventry Cathedral, 1992-99, dean of Lichfield, 1993—, canon of Westminster, 2000-03, bishop of Durham, 2003—. Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, fellow, 1991—. Montreal Diocesan Theological College, honorary professor, 1981-86; University of Otago, Burns Lecturer, 1996; Yale University, Shaffer Lecturer, 1996; Harvard University, visiting professor, 1999; Union Seminary, Richmond, VA, Sprunt Lecturer, 2000; University of Manchester, Manson Memorial Lecturer, 2000; St. Michael's Seminary, Baltimore, MD, visiting lecturer, 2000; Baylor University, Parchman Lecturer at George W. Truett Theological Seminary, 2001, visiting lecturer, 2002; Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, Italy, McCarthy Visiting Professor, 2002; Cambridge University, Hulsean Lecturer, 2003; University of Sheffield, Stephenson Lecturer, 2003; also speaker at White House Bible Study Group and C.S. Lewis Institute, both Washington, DC. International Anglican Doctrinal and Theological Commission, member, 2001—. Affiliated with the videotapes Jesus: The New Way (six-part series), Gateway Films, 1998; Paul and Resurrection, both Tabgha Films, 1999; and Romans and The Gospels, both Tabgha Films, 2000; presenter of televised religious services; guest on media programs in England and abroad, including productions of Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio in the United States; consultant for British television series The Apostles and Son of God.

MEMBER:

Society for New Testament Studies, Society of Biblical Literature (chair of Historical Jesus Section, 1998-2001), Institute for Biblical Research, Tyndale Fellowship for Biblical Research, Anglican Association of Biblical Scholars.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Research fellow, Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, 2000-03; D.D., University of Aberdeen, 2001.

WRITINGS:

Small Faith, Great God, Fleming Revell (Old Tappan, NJ), 1978.

(Editor) The Work of John Frith, Sutton Courtenay Press (Appleford, England), 1983.

The Epistles of Paul to the Colossians and to Philemon, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1987.

(Editor, with L.D. Hurst) The Glory of Christ in the New Testament: Studies in Christology in Memory of George Bradford Caird, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1987.

(With Stephen Neill) The Interpretation of the New Testament, 1861-1986, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1988.

The Climax of the Covenant: Christ and the Law in Pauline Theology, T. & T. Clark (Edinburgh, Scotland), 1991, Fortress (Minneapolis, MN), 1992.

Bringing the Church to the World, Bethany House (Minneapolis, MN), 1992, published as New Tasks for a Renewed Church, Hodder & Stoughton, (London, England), 1992.

The Crown and the Fire, SPCK (London, England), 1992, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1995.

Christian Origins and the Question of God, Fortress (Minneapolis, MN), Volume I: The New Testament and the People of God, 1992, Volume II: Jesus and the Victory of God, 1996, Volume III: The Resurrection of the Son of God, 2003.

Who Was Jesus?, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1992.

Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Christian Discipleship, SPCK (London, England), 1994, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1995.

The Lord and His Prayer, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1996.

The Original Jesus, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1996.

For All God's Worth, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1997.

What St. Paul Really Said, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1997.

A Moment of Prayer, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1997.

A Moment of Quiet, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1997.

A Moment of Peace, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1997.

A Moment of Celebration, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1997.

Reflecting the Glory, Augsburg (Minneapolis, MN), 1997.

The Way of the Lord: Christian Pilgrimage in the Holy Land and Beyond, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1999.

The Millennium Myth, Westminster John Knox Press (Louisville, KY), 1999, published in England as The Myth of the Millennium, SPCK, London, 1999.

The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is, Inter-Varsity Press (Downers Grove, IL), 1999.

(With Marcus J. Borg) The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions, HarperSanFrancisco (San Francisco, CA), 1999.

(Editor, with Sven K. Soderlund, and contributor) Romans and the People of God: Essays in Honor of Gordon D. Fee on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1999.

Holy Communion for Amateurs, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1999.

Twelve Months of Sundays: Reflections on Bible Readings, SPCK (London, England), Year C, 2000, Year A, 2001, Year B, 2002.

Mark for Everyone, SPCK (London, England), 2001, 2nd edition, 2004.

Luke for Everyone, SPCK (London, England), 2001, 2nd edition, Westminster John Knox Press (Louisville, KY), 2004.

Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians, SPCK (London, England), 2002.

Matthew for Everyone, two volumes, SPCK (London, England), 2002, 2nd edition, Westminster John Knox Press (Louisville, KY), 2004.

The Contemporary Quest for Jesus, Fortress (Minneapolis, MN), 2002.

Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters, SPCK (London, England), 2002.

John for Everyone, two volumes, SPCK (London, England), 2002, 2nd edition, 2004.

Paul for Everyone: 1 Corinthians, SPCK (London, England), 2003.

Paul for Everyone: 2 Corinthians, SPCK (London, England), 2003.

Hebrews for Everyone, SPCK (London, England), 2004.

Paul for Everyone: Romans, SPCK (London, England), 2nd edition, 2004.

Scripture and the Authority of God, SPCK (London, England), 2005.

Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible, SPCK (London, England), 2005.

The Last Word: Beyond the Bible Wars to a New Understanding of the Authority of Scripture, HarperSanFrancisco (San Francisco, CA), 2005.

Judas and the Gospel of Jesus: Have We Missed the Truth about Christianity?, Baker Pub. Group (Grand Rapids, MI), 2006.

The Scriptures, the Cross and the Power of God: Reflections for Holy Week, Westminster John Knox Press (Louisville, KY), 2006.

Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense, HarperSanFrancisco (San Francisco, CA), 2006.

Evil and the Justice of God, IVP Books (Downers Grove, IL), 2006.

The Resurrection of Jesus: John Dominic Crossan and N.T. Wright in Dialogue, Fortress Press (Minneapolis, MN), 2006.

Colossians & Philemon: An Introduction and Commentary, InterVarsity Press (Downers Grove, IL), 2007.

Contributor to books, including Between Two Horizons: Spanning New Testament Studies and Systematic Theology, edited by Joel B. Green and Max Turner, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2000; Jesus Then and Now: Images of Jesus in History and Christology, edited by Marvin Meyer and Charles Hughes, Trinity Press International (Harrisburg, PA), 2001; Into God's Presence: Prayer in the New Testament, edited by R.L. Longenecker, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2001; The Incarnation, edited by S.T. Davis, D. Kendall, and G. O'Collins, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 2002; and New Interpreter's Bible, Abingdon (Nashville, TN), 2002. Contributor to periodicals, including Scottish Journal of Theology, Sewanee Theological Review, Ex Auditu, Journal of Biblical Literature, Theology, Journal of Theological Studies, Themelios, Studia Biblica, Tyndale Bulletin, and Gregorianum. Assistant editor, Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 1991-96.

Wright's books have been published in Chinese, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, French, Finnish, and German.

SIDELIGHTS:

N.T. Wright, the Anglican scholar and Bishop of Durham, is, according to a Christian History contributor who cites Time magazine, "‘one of the most formidable of the traditionalist Bible scholars.’ He is the author of several influential books on the Jesus of history, most notably Jesus and the Victory of God." Wright is especially well-known for his studies that investigate the historical existence of Jesus and the truth of his life as revealed in the Gospels. The work is the second in a series of volumes dealing with the historical relationship between Judaism and Christianity (The New Testament and the People of God), and the nature of Jesus' death and resurrection (The Resurrection of the Son of God).

The New Testament and the People of God deals with what Jews and Christians living in the first century meant when they referred to "God." Wright also takes an innovative approach to the study of Jesus. Twentieth-century criticism of the Gospels concentrated on the method developed by the German theologian Rudolf Karl Bultmann called "form criticism." Form criticism concentrates less on the substance of the Gospel sources and more on the ways in which they are presented. Wright, on the other hand, treats the Gospels as historical sources in which content is at least as important as form. Wright's "attempt is stimulating and instructive, informed by wide-ranging and extensive research," Paul J. Achtemeier wrote in Interpretation. "The results display the author's remarkable ability to synthesize a plethora of evidences from the most diverse sources." "His willingness to take positions and think through their consequences," concluded America contributor Daniel J. Harrington in his review of the volume, "makes his work stimulating."

Many reviewers commented on Wright's critical approach to theology and history in Jesus and the Victory of God. "In the recent flurry of publications in North America on the ‘historical Jesus’ Wright's book comes as a breath of fresh air," Schuyler Brown declared in his Theological Studies assessment. "It is refreshing to see a scholar addressing this issue as a historian, i.e., basing his conclusions on sources … rather than on some source-critical or form-critical theory." "Instead of seeing in the Gospels numerous layers of literary strata, Wright sees traditions that have been passed along relatively intact, with some editing done by the transmitters and then by the Gospel writers." stated reviewer Ben Witherington III in the Christian Century. "He believes that this model better fits what we know of the way early Jews handled revered or sacred traditions than does the Bultmannian one, which contends that the Gospel material was handled rather like ancient folklore such as Homer's Odyssey or Iliad."

"This is a most welcome contribution to the renewed discussion on the character of Jesus' ministry," wrote James D.G. Dunn in the Journal of Theological Studies. "Most of its overall thrust can be sustained as a fresh and powerful presentation of Jesus the Jew, prophet and Messiah, committed to an eschatological mission in which he understood his own climactic role to be central and crucial. It is the most skillfully argued and impressive portrayal of Jesus to emerge from the third quest [the most recent form of Biblical scholarship], and an invaluable counter to other contemporary portrayals of Jesus."

In The Resurrection of the Son of God, "Wright argues that the evidence is overwhelming: Jesus died on the cross, was physically resurrected, left an empty tomb, and appeared in the flesh, alive, to both his followers and some who had not been his followers," Carl Stecher explained in the Skeptic. "Wright states, ‘I regard this conclusion as coming in the same sort of category of historical probability so high as to be virtually certain, as the death of Augustus in AD 14 or the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70.’" "The basic thesis of the book is as follows," Interpretation contributor Mark Allan Powell stated: "The early Christians embraced an understanding of resurrection that was compatible with a particular Jewish view yet also modified that view." "This specific ‘modified Jewish view,’" Powell continued, "seems to have been embraced by Christians in a manner that was early and virtually unanimous. Such a development requires historical explanation, and the most likely proposal to account for the development is that these Christians had been surprised by something that they all believed had happened to Jesus, something that caused them to re-think their inherited understanding of resurrection."

"Wright," declared Gary A. Anderson in First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, "has honestly placed the historical problem front and center: if one accepts as a historical fact that the tomb was empty and that early Christians claimed to have seen Jesus in a new form, then some sort of explanation must be made to make sense of these two pieces of data. I believe that Wright has shown with utmost clarity that the doctrine of the resurrection was deeply embedded in the fabric of the early Christian movement." The Resurrection of the Son of God "makes the forceful and persuasive argument that the resurrection of Jesus is not just historically plausible, but in fact the most plausible existing explanation of how the early Christian message came to be believed," concluded Michael Potemra in the National Review. "It is that rare theological book that combines academic depth and rigor with a lucid style that is not just accessible, but compelling, to the average educated layman."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

America, February 6, 1993, Daniel J. Harrington, review of Christian Origins and the Question of Good, Volume 1: The New Testament and the People of God, p. 31; March 8, 1997, review of Christian Origins and the Question of God, Volume 2: Jesus and the Victory of God, p. 26; March 7, 1998, Daniel J. Harrington, review of What St. Paul Really Said, p. 25; February 5, 2007, Daniel J. Harrington, review of Evil and the Justice of God, p. 30.

Anglican Journal, September, 2000, review of Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions, p. 19.

Booklist, September 1, 1995, Steve Schroeder, reviews of Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship and The Crown and the Fire: Meditations on the Cross and the Life of the Spirit, p. 15; February 15, 1997, Ray Olson, review of The Lord and His Prayer, p. 976; October 1, 2006, Ray Olson, review of Evil and the Justice of God, p. 34.

Books & Culture, March, 2007, "Against Tapioca Pudding" and "Not Too Simply Christian," p. 26.

California Bookwatch, May, 2007, review of Evil and the Justice of God.

Catholic Biblical Quarterly, January, 2004, Scot McKnight, review of Christian Origins and the Question of God, Volume 3: The Resurrection of the Son of God, p. 167.

Choice, May, 2007, L. Birdwhistell, review of Evil and the Justice of God, p. 1552.

Christian Century, November 19, 1997, Ben Witherington III, review of Jesus and the Victory of God, p. 1075; April 7, 1999, William Brosend, review of Jesus in Faith and History, p. 394; December 18, 2002, "Resurrection Faith: N.T. Wright Talks about History and Belief," p. 28; November 28, 2006, "Straight Talk," p. 42; December 12, 2006, review of Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense, p. 22.

Christian History, August, 1998, review of The Life & Times of Jesus of Nazareth, p. 45; August, 1998, "Galilean Rabbi or Universal Lord?," p. 42.

Christianity Today, April 24, 1995, review of The New Testament and the People of God, p. 18; October 6, 1997, Susan Pendleton Jones, review of The Lord and His Prayer, p. 60; September 1, 2006, "Echoes and Voices from Beyond: N.T. Wright Argues That Christianity Better Comprehends Our Deepest Human Longings," p. 124; January 1, 2007, "Mere Mission: N.T. Wright Talks about How to Present the Gospel in a Postmodern World," p. 38.

Currents in Theology and Mission, April, 2005, James L. Bailey, review of The Contemporary Quest for Jesus, p. 144.

First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, December, 1999, review of The Meaning of Jesus, p. 65; March, 2000, review of The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is, p. 95; November, 2003, Gary A. Anderson, "The Risen Christ," p. 51; January, 2007, Edward T. Oakes, review of Simply Christian, p. 56.

Internet Bookwatch, January, 2007, review of Evil and the Justice of God.

Interpretation, July, 1998, Paul J. Achtemeier, review of Jesus and the Victory of God, p. 299, and Johann D. Kim, review of What St. Paul Really Said, p. 310; July, 2001, "Who Is Jesus? History in Perfect Tense," p. 309; January, 2004, Mark Allan Powell, review of The Resurrection of the Son of God, p. 76; April, 2007, Michael J. Gorman, review of Paul: In Fresh Perspective, p. 232.

Journal of Biblical Literature, fall, 1994, review of The New Testament and the People of God.

Journal of Theological Studies, October, 1993, James D.G. Dunn, review of The Climax of the Covenant: Christ and the Law in Pauline Theology, p. 661; April, 1995, James D.G. Dunn, review of The New Testament and the People of God, p. 242; October, 1998, James D.G. Dunn, review of Jesus and the Victory of God, p. 727.

Library Journal, July 1, 1997, Bernadette McGrath, review of For All God's Worth, p. 91; January 1, 2000, Eugene O. Bowser, review of The Challenge of Jesus, p. 122; November 1, 2005, Gary P. Gillum, review of The Last Word: Beyond the Bible Wars to a New Understanding of the Authority of Scripture, p. 83; April 1, 2006, Wesley A. Mills, review of Simply Christian, p. 100; December 1, 2006, James Overbeck, review of Judas and the Gospel of Jesus: Have We Missed the Truth about Christianity?, p. 132.

National Catholic Reporter, February 6, 1998, William C. Graham, review of What St. Paul Really Said, p. 40; March 3, 2000, Gary MacEoin, review of The Meaning of Jesus, p. 16; January 27, 2006, "Between Hope, Despair at Ecumenical Meeting," p. 11; May 26, 2006, "The Gospel According to Paul: Authors Show Paul as a Man Who Challenged Imperial Claims," p. 4.

National Review, December 8, 2003, Michael Potemra, review of The Resurrection of the Son of God, p. 49.

Presbyterian Record, March, 1997, review of Crown and the Fire, p. 44; January, 1998, "Three Books by N.T. Wright," p. 45.

Publishers Weekly, September 11, 1995, review of Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship, p. 40; December 13, 1999, review of The Challenge of Jesus, p. 78; August 29, 2005, review of The Last Word, p. 51; September 25, 2006, review of Evil and the Justice of God, p. 66.

School Librarian, August, 1987, review of Colossians and Philemon, p. 281.

Skeptic, spring, 2005, Carl Stecher, "Faith, Facts, and the Resurrection of Jesus."

Theological Studies, June, 1998, Schuyler Brown, review of Jesus and the Victory of God, p. 322; March, 2005, Daniel A. Smith, review of The Resurrection of the Son of God, p. 184; March, 2007, Paul J. Achtemeier, review of Paul: In Fresh Perspective, p. 211.

United Church Observer, May, 2000, review of Meaning of Jesus, p. 42.

ONLINE

N.T. Wright Home Page,http://www.ntwrightonline.com (July 9, 2007), author bio.