Not Meek or Mild: Review of Simply Jesus
It wasn't until I went to the Lausanne Global Congress in Capetown that I realised how controversial NT Wright is to so many people. At a conference of over 4,000 global leaders NT Wright books were conspicuously absent in the large conference bookshop. I asked the bookshop manager why this was and I and a number of delegates heard that he had been banned. Strangely John Piper's entire back catalogue were available as were plenty of volumes by Wayne Grudem, Vaughn Roberts and Don Carson. It was hard to find a book written by a non-western author but you better not get me started on that one…
Well Wright's new book Simply Jesus is a book that should be read and enjoyed by Christians from across the evangelical spectrum, but sadly I doubt it will be as many have made their mind up about Bishop Tom before they even open its covers. I interviewed Bishop Tom recently about the book and asked him who the book was intended for. He explained it was aimed at that nebulous and elusive category "the thinking lay person". This book will make you think. It is a meaty volume that is in my opinion a great way to engage with Wright's more academic offerings in the "Christian Origin and the Question of God" series, but the book is seasoned with some wonderful illustations and really helpful insights so there's enough sugar to help the scholarship go down.
Strengths:
BACK TO JESUS
I was fascinated to hear from the Bishop that a recovery of Jesus is the way to help challenge the fragmentation of the church. The divisions over preaching versus social transformation-based mission are healed in Jesus. The divisions over grace and truth are healed in Jesus, and so this is a book that seeks to recover Jesus not just as a theological projection of our system. But an attempt to hear again the Scriptures as they were originally intended by listening hard to the historical, political, sociological and theological climate of the first audience is vital. This book works hard to explain Jesus in terms of the story of Israel, the expectations of the Roman world and God's plans.
SIMPLE NOT SIMPLISTIC
This is not a light read but it is a compelling one. It's a great opportunity to reassess your own understanding of Jesus and his mission. It's another lens through which to appreciate Jesus' life, death and resurrection. You won't agree with everything in it - but apart from the Bible I can't think of another book that you should read without care and discernment.
Weaknesses
A MASH UP?
Strangely for a New Testament scholar the different perspectives of the Gospel writers are mashed together into what some could describe as a harmony of the Gospels. One of the major criticisms of Jesus and the Victory of God was the choice not to interact with John's gospel. Wright has defended this position elsewhere by arguing that he was aiming at a skeptical academic audience that would not have had time for John's Christology. But in this book it seemed strange that we are not given the perspective of the way the different Gospels help us to have a multifaceted view of Jesus. Having spoken to the Bishop about this - it appears that in the new year there is going to be a follow up volume which will do this.
WHICH AUDIENCE?
When Simply Christian came out many compared it to CS Lewis's Mere Christianity. Although I have huge respect for Bishop Tom and find his writing very compelling, I think such comparisons were misguided. Lewis had a unique ability to express complex ideas in very accessible ways - such that someone unfamiliar with the Christian faith is very quickly helped to understand some pretty meaty theology. Bishop Tom, although a phenomenally gifted communicator, does not share Lewis' evangelistic instincts and so often writes in a way that assumes quite a bit of background knowledge. This is not a book you can give to someone wanting to explore the faith as it assumes too much - Wright assumes you know the parables and incidents of Jesus' life which sadly our friends and neighbours often don't.
CONCLUSION
I think Wright has provided the Church with a very helpful book that gives a clearer picture of the person and ministry of Jesus and I would challenge any Christian to read it and not find your vision of Jesus being expanded. It sits helpfully next to Scott McKnight's The King Jesus Gospel which also challenges some of the presuppositions many evangelicals hold about the gospel and both books go some way to explain why we in the western church are struggling to articulate the gospel in our time - perhaps we have been preaching a shallow simplistic gospel and its time we did the hard work of discovering the truth about Jesus. The hard work is worth it because not only will we help our friends and neighbours to discover the glory of Jesus: we will be able to worship him for who he truly is. I just hope that it will be widely read and enjoyed.
- Krish Kandiah, Evangelical Alliance
Originally published at krishk.com
EAUK.org
