becoming

NT Wright talks about his new book Simply Christian.

Here is the lecture online!
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I am quite sad about people simply discard Wright's contribution in Pauline theology and Christian faith in general when what he said is not in total accord with someone else's theology on Paul, or just what Christian faith is all about. When I heard people talking about the Emerging church movement, his name is always attached (I think, for the wrong reason) in the conversation with introduction like "Do you know this Tom Wright guy? He basically saying we have it all wrong and he tries to redefine n! (feel free to substitute n with anything foundational in your belief). And then the hour-long criticism on him and the whole NPP will normally ended with phrase like "I think they just got it all wrong."

I don't know, but isn't that obvious that one doesn't have to be in total accord with someone's views on EVERYTHING in order to appreciate the signficiant contributions one brings to further the discussion on any subject? When one is criticizing Wright and other NPP writers on their views against the reformers and their focus on the whole concept of semper reformanda, do they not in actuality affirm the accusation made against them?

No, I just find it hard to understand when someone discuss any piece of text, idea or research without understanding the context of where it is coming from. It is just a puzzle to me when we are talking about a discipline that itself is all so focus on context and background.

"[What we left with] is the choice between the left-behind series and the DaVinci Code now….." — Alan Jones, lamenting the dualistic characters found in both the left and right-wing of Christianity while moderating the discussion.

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Recorded Live: Streaming Live Sunday, May 14, 2006, 1:00 pm PST

GUEST:

• Bishop N.T. Wright,
  Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Durham, England, author of Simply Christian, Scripture and the Authority of God, and Who Was Jesus?

• Anne Rice,
  author of Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, The Lives of the Mayfair Witches, and The Vampire Chronicles.

Moderated by: The Very Rev. Alan Jones,
Dean of Grace Cathedral

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Here are some highlights from tonight’s lecture at University of Toronto:

Creation Renewed (Rom 8.18-25)

"The ass is puzzled and patient, waiting for the Children of God to open their eyes to reality, yet we blame it on the donkey."
— referring to 8.21 while using Balaam & the donkey as illustration on the relationship between humans and the creation.

"The world is waiting for the redeemed resurrected-being to run it"
— referring to the creation waiting for its liberation & its own exodus.

"Getting rid of Evil is not the same as getting rid of the world, but redeeming it."
— when talking about present-day interest on Gnosticism & Anti-terrorist Compaigns.

"The Righteousness of God is God’s Restorative Justice….We [as Christians] are called to be restored restorers, justified justificators"
—  from one of his concluding remarks.

Things I learned (not about Romans 8):

1. Everything is Exodus — no really, EVERYTHING!
2. His wife Maggie is a saint, he said it himself.
3. His new book Evil and the Justice of God (not out in North America yet, but in UK) is on Romans 8.

The Refresh! conference will begin on May 9. As I mentioned before, I will attend the evening plenary this coming Wednesday and Thursday nights.

So far, I know that Vincent will attend the full conference, while Jessica, Annie and myself will attend the evening plenary. Anybody else? Let me know so that we can meet somewhere before the meeting and sit together.

No wonder the Herods, the Caesars and the Sadducees of this world, ancient and modern, were and are eager to rule out all possibility of actual resurrection. They are, after all, staking a counter-claim on the real world. It is the real world that the tyrants and bullies (including intellectual and cultural tyrants and bullies) try to rule by force, only to discover that in order to do so they have to quash all rumours of resurrection, rumours that would imply that their greatest weapons, death and deconstruction, are not after all omnipotent. But it is the real world, in Jewish thinking, that the real God made, and still grieves over. It is the real world that, in the earliest stories of Jesus’ resurrection, was decisively and for ever reclaimed by that event, an event which demanded to be understood, not as a bizarre miracle, but as the beginning of the new creation. It is the real world that, however complex this may become, historians are committed to studying. And, however dangerous this may turn out to be, it is the real world in and for which Christians are committed to living and, where necessary, dying. Nothing less is demanded by the God of creation, the God of justice, the God revealed in and as the crucified and risen Jesus of Nazareth.

NT Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, p.737

Ben’s report of NT Wright lecturing in Brisbane. He also interviewed him during a coffee-break! Here are some highlights.

Okay, I have registered and will attend the evening plenary on May 10 ("Creation Renewed") and 11 ("The Spirit’s Powerful Groaning") where NT Wright will be the speaker.

If you are interested, you can register here or call Sarah Peake directly at 416 946-3535 x 2500. Although I won't promote it in church, I really think it is a great opportunity to hear one of the most important New Testament scholars of our times to speak. Really encourage you to go if you have time!

Let me know if you are going so that we can attend together! 

Annie asked the other day who N.T. (Tom) Wright is. I think it is best for her or any of you interested to go through my previous posts about him.

Also worth reading is a chinese introduction from fes.org.hk last year. 

Update: 
Thanks Anson for his summary and suggestions.