Resurrection faith: N.T. Wright talks about history and belief

Christian Century, Dec 18, 2002

It has alerted a large number of people to the fact that there really is historical investigation into the first century, and that the world of the first century is not the same as ours. But the way it has done that--with the rhetoric of "We, the scholars, will tell you, the ordinary people, the truth"--has been singularly unhelpful.

I would add that any work that makes available major new editions of relevant noncanonical texts, like the Gospels of Thomas and Philip, is very valuable.

Can you say something about your own life of faith?

I was raised in the Church of England and at various times questioned it, but saw no reason to jump ship. My parents are devout middle Anglicans. The evangelical emphasis, which is still very important to me, came through attending camp. When I started doing my doctorate on Paul, one of the small but quite stunning things that happened was my realizing that Paul by no means legitimates the evangelical worldview. That is, the big question about justification for Paul was not How do I find gracious God? but How do Jews and gentiles who believe in Christ share table fellowship?

You have made your own scholarship accessible to the church and the wider public, as in the television series you've worked on for the BBC on Jesus and the Middle East and your new series of "New Testament Guides for Everyone." Is this work part of how you understand your vocation?

C. S. Lewis once said that if you can't translate stuff into the vernacular, you either don't understand it or you don't believe it. Another Lewis-ism is this: we must never underestimate people's intelligence even as we mustn't overestimate their information. In other words, if you lead them step by step, most people can catch on. Just don't assume that they know who Josephus was or that they know what happened in A.D. 70.

Fortunately, being in a church position, not an academic one, I've been able to write what I want to write. And I've always wanted to write both popular and scholarly articles. Also, I come from a family that isn't particularly academic, and I'm married to a woman who certainly isn't an academic, and I have four children whose regular comment is, "Dad, you're going to have to say it clearer than that in order to get hold of me."

Finally, by temperament I'm a big-picture person as opposed to a details person. Most biblical scholars are de tail people. The problem with people like that is that when they are put in front of a class of first-year students, they will start talking about the textual problems in Romans 2 when students have no idea who Paul is.

How do you make the figure of Jesus come alive for people these days?

One way is to urge people to become a character in the story: You are on the edge of a crowd listening to Jesus. And the sacraments are important. When scripture and sacrament meet, people are driven to the intimacy of prayer and the life of discipleship.

It seems that people these days are more open to spirituality. Do you find they are also open to the spirituality of the church?