Last week I had the joy of going to Calvin College to see N.T. Wright speak as part of their January Series. I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to meet him and listen to him live, as he discussed his book Simply Christian. I am about halfway through the book and glad to be currently reading it, since that was the focus of his talk. He wrote Simply Christian to guide people to a deeper orthodoxy. Here is a man from across the pond that I have wanted to meet and he arrives a mere two and a half hours from my front door!
N.T. Wright talked about how we seem as Paul said in scripture "haunted by the shadow of death". We hear echoes of a voice in the form of justice, spirituality, relationship and beauty. He talked about the three views of God in the world. The pantheist thinks that everything is divine; the dualist or deist thinks that the world is separate from God and the Jewish/Christian believes that heaven and earth overlap or interlock. He says the Gospels are the conclusion of the Old Testament and the Holy Spirit helps to continue the job of New Creation.
As Christians we should be like "angled mirrors"; a recreated image bearing the love of Jesus. When grasped by the story you will be drawn into the Kingdom project...and become an agent of New Creation. We can reflect this image through worship, prayer, reading the Bible, the church and implementing the works of Jesus.
I enjoyed his talk. He spoke of God with intelligence and yet seemed to also carry a deep love, respect and passion for God and Jesus. They go so elegantly hand in hand. He is passionate about God, and digging deep into the truth of theology and scriptures is at the core of that love. How refreshing and uplifting; like a breath of fresh air.
I now have a first edition book autographed by Tom Wright himself. As uncomfortable as I feel meeting people I deeply respect for one quick moment in time, it is still occasionally worth it for the experience of seeing that person face to face. I feel uneasy in that situation because they do not know me at all and I know many things about them if I have read their books, listened to them speak or heard their music. It is impossible to thank them sincerely enough in that one moment for all they have done to influence or touch my world. Saying "thank you" is all I can usually manage to mumble and they have no idea what is behind that simple phrase.
1 comment:
well that was certainly said better than my "it was good and stuff"! I especially liked that he expanded on Lewis's argument for God by adding 3 further areas. Lewis uses the sense of "rightness" (what N.T.calls "Justice") as his basis for arguing the existence of God. The sense of (or yearning for)spirituality, our desire for relationships, and our being drawn to beauty were presented excellently as further meditations on Gods presence. I also thought his point on our need to relativize some of our debates was a good and balancing one.
It's too bad Andy couldn't have been there with us...He would have really enjoyed that weekend as well...I mean, N.T. Wright! it doesn't get much better than that (except for maybe that time we met Frederick Buechner)! (they say the wounds of a friend are faithful... what do they say about the salt a friend rubs into a wound?) :-)
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