Simply Christian

N. T. Wright's latest popular book, Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense, explains what Christianity is, while writing on a level that appeals to a very broad audience. Wright's book resembles C. S. Lewis's influential work, Mere Christianity, insofar as it is an attempt to explain the "core" of Christianity, while also defending the truth of the Christian faith. Like Lewis, Wright begins by making a case for belief in one God, considering rivals in atheism, pantheism, polytheism, and deism. (Wright is not trying to make a strong case for theism, and he is very good about tempering his conclusions on these matters.) Unlike Lewis, who primarily argues for monotheism using a moral argument, Wright uses four indicators (justice, spirituality, relationship, and beauty) as signposts that point to a personal God. The second section of Simply Christian explains the basic beliefs essential to Christianity. In this section, Wright's book is significantly different than Lewis's, and perhaps this is the strongest section of Wright's book. Wright's lifelong work and training as a theologian shines through as he explains the story of Israel, and how Jesus and the church fit in that story. As a worldclass authority on these issues, Wright has a clear grasp on these matters, and he explains them with clarity. People unfamiliar with Christianity or who are trying to understand the "big picture" of what Christians believe will especially benefit from reading this section. Unlike Lewis, Wright spends much time explaining the historical context of Christian doctrines in order to show their contemporary significance. Even though he makes claims about the Bible and history without fully backing them up, one can easily find this information in other books, including Wright's own. The final section of Wright's book addresses Christian practice. As a long-time Christian, I found this section of the book the most useful to me. Wright was able to explain the basics of worship, prayer, fellowship, and other Christian practices with freshness. I found myself challenged in my own Christian walk to reconsider how faithfully I was following Jesus. Wright's section on Christian practice ranges from the individual to the whole church, from how to treat your next door neighbor to international policy. Indeed, Wright shows how the teachings of Jesus are important today, and how all people who claim to follow Christ ought to live. He pulls no punches addressing topics like war, homosexuality, and many others. I'm not sure if Wright's book will be remembered like C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity (predicting the future isn't my job anyway), and it would be unfair to measure any book against such an accomplished work. N. T. Wright succeeds in presenting the essence of Christianity, which all Christians should affirm -- this alone makes the book worth reading. More significantly, however, is that Wright accomplishes this in a way that is readable, has a systematic coherence

This book is in the tradition of books such as C.S Lewis' Mere Christianity in providing a synopsis of Christianity which attempts to describe "why Christianity makes sense" as the answer to the deep questions of the human soul, the longing for justice, spirituality, relationship, and beauty. It begins by looking at the human condition in general, and how these universal longings may be "echoes of a voice" that speaks to us and within us of something even more foundational. Wright then goes on to demonstrate how the Christian God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is in fact the answer, the voice of which these longings are but weak echoes. He summarises the Biblical narrative which reaches it's climax in Jesus, and helps us see our place in the continuing story of God's work in the world. As he goes along he manages to effortlessly incorporate quite a lot of central Christian theology, but in a manner that does not feel stale or boring - rather it is a breath of fresh air showing how these deep truths really do speak to us at the level of the heart, and not just the mind. He finishes by bringing in some of the essentials of living a Christian life such as Worship, Prayer, the Bible (including a brilliant chapter on Biblical authority which makes the same points as his recent book The Last Word, only much more succinctly and clearly) and the sacraments of Baptism and Communion. This book is simply amazing. It provides a clear refreshing picture of the gospel which will help those of us who are Christians to rediscover what it's all about, and hopefully encourage non-believers to see that Jesus is the answer to the deepest needs and questions of their heart. It is not a reasoned apologetic aiming to provide "proofs" that the gospel is true. It does not seek to argue or defend, rather it aims to connect with people at a more fundamental level. To those who are familiar with Tom Wright's other books, the depth of his scholarship and the overall coherence of his thought as a whole once again shine through here, and his usual emphases are evident. Yet this is a book that just about anyone could read, Christian or not. It is not full of technical jargon or difficult concepts, yet neither is it "dumbed down" This would have to be one of the best books I have ever read. Hopefully this book will become for the 21st century what Mere Christianity was in the 20th - only let it reach an even greater audience of those both within the Church and those as yet outside it.

It presents a compelling case for Christianity without attempting to bully the reader (as C. S. Lewis often does in his essays) and without relying on all those "code words" that long-time Christians find familiar but others do not. This is the Gospel in plan English. Bravo! It firmly insists that Christianity makes claims about history - that Jesus lived, died, and rose again, and that this resurrection is the central event in the story of God's re-creation of our fallen world. It insists that Christians be active participants in the future unfolding of God's plan. We are each called to play a unique role in it. It insists that there is a transcendent realm, another world, that can and does intersect or overlap with our own world, especially in sacraments, in worship, in Bible reading, and in prayer. Moreover, just as the temple was, for Jews in Jesus time, a place where heaven and earth overlapped, now we, as individual Christians, are called to be such places of overlap, where the light of Jesus shines through us. It highlights the crucial importance of forgiveness. Just as God has forgiven us our sins, so are we to forgive others. The Lord's prayer is explicit on this point. Becoming a Christian, Wright asserts, is not a matter or accepting certain improbable factual assertions, but rather a matter of trusting in God and accepting our role in unfolding his plan for the world. Rather than being dissected, as in a laboratory, or treated merely as an instrument of historical or linguistic research, the Bible is in fact one of the principal ways in which God addresses us, to prepare us for our role in fulfilling his ultimate plans. It is another place where this world and God's world overlap. Current debates over "literal" versus "metaphorical" ways of reading scripture are, in Wright's view, counterproductive. The Bible eludes these simplistic categories, which should be abandoned. At its core, then, the "faith" to which the Bible calls us is essentially trusting in a God who has revealed himself in history, who has begun, through Jesus' death and resurrection, to redeem the world and transform it into his kingdom, who invites us into to an intimate relationship with him, who demands that we become all that we were created and meant to be, who forgives us when we fall short of that mark, and who invites us to play a significant role in moving forward his plan for the world. For Wright, Christian faith is not just a matter of spiritual feelings that are quite independent of what we say and do. It makes demands upon us that can only be met in the realm of thought and behavior. As C. S. Lewis did in his fiction, "Simply Christian" persuasively invites its readers to recognize that there is a transcendent reality that impinges on our ordinary world, that the God who rules this realm has made himself known in history and continues to do so, that we are part of his plan to renew his creation, and, consequently, that what we think

Simply Christian is SIMPLY AMAZING. This book is a great gem for both the Christian and non- Christian. Why do people long for justice? Why do we thirst for spirituality? Why do we long for relationships? Why does beauty not satisfy us fully? It is because we are humans that are made for and by God. We are children that groan for our Father. These are few of the questions the Bishop begins to address. These are the questions that strike a chord within all humanity. Questions that we can't explain or escape outside of God. N.T. Wright takes the reader on a journey through the story of the bible. Along the journey the reader will encounter God, Jesus, the Spirit, and Israel. At the end, Tom looks at what a life under the Lordship of Jesus could look like if somebody is willing to join in on the story, to be Jesus for a world that has no hope in sight. No other scholar has the gift to communicate so beautifully and clearly the truth about Christianty. He captured me with his introduction and I hope the same happens to you.

I come from a background of nominal Presbyterian Christianity followed by many years in my adult life of fundamental, Pentecostal Christianity. My early years provided me with a dull version of Christianity; my later years the other extreme. Burned out from the emotionalism, the overemphasis on the sensational and what I see as the move toward the gospel of materialism cloaked in Christianese, I had just about given up on Christianity as a whole, settling instead for my own version. I stumbled across this book in my local bookstore today and was drawn to it as I really enjoy N.T. Wright's ability to take on modern criticism without ever wavering in his faith nor compromising its essentials. He has a way of stating the essentials simply without bogging them down in highbrow theological language. I started the book and could not put it down. Within a few pages a wave of peace and comfort washed over me. Rather than critiquing Christianity as expressed today, he opted instead to focus on its essence, to keep the story focused on what is right with Christianity and how it makes sense, even - or especially - today. He never sets out to prove that it is right; he sets out to prove how it is salvific. And he does so in a calm, reasoned voice, unafraid to bring awareness to modern day critical scholarship yet remaining true to the fundamentals of the Gospel message. The book is brief and is an easy read with Wright's concise and powerful prose. His descriptions of salvation, the kingdom of God, the mission of Jesus and, especially relevant to me coming from a Oneness Pentecostal background, the power and the mystery of the Trinity, resonated more deeply than I was prepared to experience. I almost cried. It literally recharged my wavering faith with a new sense of vigor. Not only is Christianity relevant in today's world, it is essential. If you are looking for a refresher in why it is you remain a Christian or if you are, like me, tired of the excesses passing for Christianity today or are just looking for a soothing discussion to remind you of what you already know, I cannot recommend this book enough. I haven't been so moved by a book in a long time.