becoming

邱昭文老師的「認識賴特」講義，和台北校園出版社的特別講座。

當我們等NT Wright的COQG系列中，關於保羅那冊出爐，等到頸長之際，華神的邱昭文老師原來正著手為《校園》把Jesus and the Victory of God翻譯為中文。分享中她也提到出版社正面對的壓力，和作為譯者的感受和看法。

我也曾和種耔的Samuel討論過《校園》決定譯COQG會不會是吃力不討好之舉？我不大清楚亞洲神學生的英語情況。不過我總覺得，會對此書有興趣之神學生，其英文程度，會不會還需要依賴中文譯本？在北美，就這系列的學術程度，一本華語信徒是不會看的。看的，很有可能，已在英語神學院，也就可以看原著罷，是嗎？

不過，我還是如邱老師一樣，「當我發現校園早已買下版權，真是又驚喜、又佩服」。

能有這樣願境的出版社，撐！

[link: 邱老師網誌]

Wright’s 16-page interview on why he wrote JUSTIFICATION: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision.

[link: ivpress]

From NT Wright’s response to BW3, on Tom’s earlier book “Surprised by Hope“:

BW3: …Help us connect the dots between our future hope in Kingdom come, and our present work. Is it a mere foreshadowing of Kingdom come, or an actual foretaste, and so part of that work? Does what we do now, get perfected when Jesus and the Kingdom come in full? What does it mean to be co-laborers with Christ and why should that give us hope in the present as well as for the future?

Wright: We are not building the kingdom by our own efforts, no. The Kingdom remains God’s gift, new creation, sheer grace. But, as part of that grace already poured out in Jesus Christ and by the Spirit, we are building FOR the kingdom. I use the image of the eleventh-century stonemason, probably illiterate, working away on one or two blocks of stone according to the orders given to him. He isn’t building the Cathedral; he is building FOR the Cathedral. When the master mason/architect gathers up all the small pieces of stone at which people have been working away, he will put them into the great edifice which he’s had in mind all along and which he alone can build — but FOR WHICH we can and must build in the present time. Note 1 Corinthians 3, the Temple-building picture, and the way it relates directly to 1 Cor 15.58: what you do in the Lord is NOT IN VAIN, because of the resurrection.

I have absolutely no idea how it might be that a great symphony or painting, or the small act of love and gentleness shown to an elderly patient dying in hospital, or Wilberforce campaigning to end the slave trade, or the sudden generosity which makes a street beggar happy all day — how any or all of those find a place in God’s eventual kingdom. He’s the architect, not me. He has given us instructions on the little bits of stone we are meant to be carving. How he puts them together is his business.

[Read the whole thing here]

And may I add here a passage from Calvin’s Institutes, book III, chapter 16, section 1：

Do you wish, then, to attain righteousness in Christ? You must first possess Christ; but you cannot possess him without being made partaker in his sanctification, because he cannot be divided into pieces [I Cor 1:13]. Since, therefore, it is solely by expending himself that the Lord gives us these benefits to enjoy, he bestows both of them at the same time, the one never without the other. Thus it is clear how true it is that we are justified not without works yet not through works, since in our sharing in Christ, which justifies us, sanctification is just as much included as righteousness.

新的一年，除了祝大家新年快樂之外，也為那些等到頸長的朋友帶來好消息：NT Wright 的新書出爐了！

當然，不是COQG的保羅篇，而是就他稱義觀的批評（特別是北美）所出的回應。

根據Michael Bird的透露，全書大綱如下：

1. Introduction
2. Rules of Engagement
3. First-Century Judaism: Covenant, Law and Lawcourt
4. Justification: Definitions and Puzzles
5. Galatians
6. Philippians, Corinthians, Ephesians
7. Romans
8. Conclusion

Howard Marshall的推介：

This book is a magisterial response to the recent spate of criticism directed at Tom Wright for his theology of justification. He introduces readers to the debate and outlines his position without engaging in polemic against his opponents. This sprightly and gracious, yet robust, work is Tom Wright’s carefully argued and scripturally based response to those who think that he has deeply misunderstood Paul’s doctrine of justification… This is definitely one of the most exciting and significant books that I have read this year… Strongly commended!

[HT: Euangelion]

————–
Update: IVP 那邊也出了這書北美版的資料。

Update: Trevin Wax interviewed NT Wright on his new book.

What would it look like if God were running this show? NT Wright on the Public Meaning of the Gospels.

…That telling personal observation reflects a phenomenon about which I have been increasingly concerned: that much evangelical Christianity on both sides of the Atlantic has based itself on the epistles rather than the Gospels, though often misunderstanding the epistles themselves.

Indeed, in this respect evangelicalism has simply mirrored a much larger problem: the entire Western church, both Catholic and Protestant, evangelical and liberal, charismatic and social activist, has not actually known what the Gospels are there for.

Ecclesia reformata semper reformanda est.

Read it all here.

Bibliobloggers之一的Ben Blackwell將會成為 NT Wright的Research Assistant。相信主要工作會是關於保羅神學——COQG系列的第四冊。另外從他的消息得知，Wright還在寫兩部釋經書：一是Two Horizons系列的加拉太書，另外是ICC的腓立比書。

Many of my blogger friends have mentioned about NT Wright’s recent appearance on The Colbert Report — the satirical television shows on all things American! Hard to believe a Bishop will go to Comedy Central to talk about heaven and earth, eh?!

What was hard to find is the actual video link that allows you to view it outside US (due to broadcasting rights issue). Thanks Jake for transcribing the whole interview. And from BW3, I notice a video link through spike.com that is now available for people outside US to view the actual interview!

It is certainly fun to watch. Despite the fact that there were times when the Bishop was trying (too) hard to be funny, it is certainly good to see him doing us boring Christians a face-lifting favor and discuss something that most outsiders just couldn’t care less anymore because of our way of presenting it (ie. heaven).