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Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters

Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters

byN. T. Wright
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Jerry L. Hillyer, II
4.0 out of 5 starsJesus is King
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 13, 2014
Title: Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He was, What He Did, and Why He Matters

Author: N.T. Wright

Publisher: HarperOne

Year: 2011

Pages: 240

I am typically disinclined to give an N.T.Wright book a poor review. I'm not going to start doing so here. That's not to say I have no criticisms; I do. But I really have a difficult time understanding why so many folks get their pants in a wad when it comes to Wright's work.

Every now and again an author comes along on our planet who understands that deep inside the human heart there is a profound emptiness--an emptiness that cannot and will not ever be filled by the things this world has to offer or withhold. What I think N.T. Wright does is points his readers in the direction where that emptiness, that intellectual, spiritual, psychological void, can be filled. But he doesn't do so in the way of so many other authors--where Jesus is a mere helper who teaches folks how to be a good American. Many theologians are just that: therapists or counselors. That is, they have an eye for the great God of the universe, but very little idea of how that great God has effectively taken back this world. Oh, yes, God is sovereign, they say, but only in some sort of strange and controlling way that most folks can scarcely relate to or understand. Thus the stories of the Gospels, the Old Testament, Acts, and the Epistles are merely the stories a good counselor might tell a patient: here's how to pray, here's how to be compassionate, here's how to have a good marriage, or here's what Jesus said about conservative (or liberal!) American politics.

Wright will have none of that. His is the voice not of a counselor or therapist who sics Jesus on a would be patient who is having a bad day or a bad year or a bad life. N.T. Wright is the voice of the prophet crying out in the wilderness: here is your King! So the subtitle, a 'new vision,' is not entirely accurate because what Wright is really doing is pointing us back to what has always been there but what has been covered over by so much encrustation and (wrong) theology in the 2,000 or so years since Jesus walked among us. If Wright is doing anything he is chiseling away the barnacles that have been built up around the Scripture--barnacles I suppose that may have at one time been designed to protect the Bible but that in more recent years have been thickened over in order to protect a theological and/or political system from scrutiny. It is this action of Wright that I suspect lends many folks to label him a theological liberal. To wit:

We have reduced the Kingdom of God to private piety, the victory of the cross to comfort for the conscience, and Easter itself to a happy, escapist ending after a sad, dark tale. Piety, conscience, and ultimate happiness are important, but not nearly as important as Jesus himself. (5)

This is the point in a nutshell. And sermons that do little more than teach me how to be a good Christian or worse a good American (complete with the requisite 'special worship services' on significant holidays) do nothing for me. I want to hear about Jesus and what he has and is doing to upbraid the world and bring about his rule and reign. This is why I read N.T. Wright over and over and over again. He shows me Jesus. "We want someone to save our souls, not rule our world!" (5) And so right he is.

Wright has a way of making God understandable, but certainly not palatable in the 'I'm now comfortable with this God' kind of way, to everyone and I don't really care if you are reading his lofty theologies or if you are reading his 'made for the popular reader' books. He challenges readers at every step of their presuppositions. He confounds them at every point of their preconceptions. He unravels every blanket of theological safety they believe they have wrapped themselves up into. He does this in such a way that, you might not believe me unless you read it, neither political (or theological) conservatives nor liberals come out unscathed. And, frankly, this is so because Jesus spared no such pain to anyone either. Jesus is the King. God is taking back the world. Get on board or get left behind, but there is nothing anyone can do to stop Jesus from being King and, in Wright's words, 'setting things to rights.'

Simply Jesus is another of Wright's books that does so much the same. He places Jesus firmly in the context of his culture and is quite content to interpret the New Testament within that context. And let me be frank: that's exactly where Jesus ought to be interpreted. Preachers spend far, far too much time trying making Jesus 'relevant.' I say leave Jesus in the first century, understand what his words and actions meant then and there, and then figure out how that works out in words and actions in our own time and place. But here's the key: Jesus' words and actions really have one meaning and purpose. Preachers around about our times have made Jesus far too predictable. "Blessed are those who can see this, who can spot what's going on, who are prepared to go with Jesus rather than with the princelings of the earth, even though what Jesus wasn't what they had expected" (84).

The only quibble I have with Wright, in general (and as it particularly pertains to Simply Jesus), is his take on the event of September 11, 2001 and the subsequent war afterwards. I fully understand that, ultimately, our battle is against the satan. Yes! (See pp 126ff.) With this I find no disagreement. I have no doubt that the satan uses people and powers to his/her own end. Yes! But he writes, "It is the battle against the satan himself. And, though the satan no doubt uses Rome, uses Herod, uses even the chief priests themselves, Jesus keeps his eye on the fact that the satan is not identified with any of these, and that to make such an identification is already to give up, and so to lose the real battle" (126). But Wright appears to mitigate human responsibility when he says such things. Maybe I'm not reading closely enough; maybe I'm reading too closely. I'm not sure.

That is, I'm not sure how to understand Wright when he accuses (!) the U.S. government in power during 9/11 (a conservative government, to be sure; yet a government that passed bi-partisan legislation authorizing the sword) and fails to see what those who might otherwise be labeled 'enemies' did to provoke the U.S. government (and many nations around the world besides, including his own!) He is fond of Romans 8; not so fond of Romans 13. I think this is bothersome. He is fond of criticizing the United States (and not so subtly George W. Bush) but eschews criticism of other governments who were also involved in action against those who attacked the U.S.A on September 11, 2001. Here I think Wright is unable to make the correct theological connection and fails to understand the difference between a secular government charged with responsibility to protect its citizens (Romans 13 and elsewhere) and an ecclesial authority not authorized to use the sword ('put your sword away', Jesus said to Peter).

In my opinion, Wright makes a serious error here. Yes, war is bad. Yes, we should avoid it. But the truth is this: in international politics, in global politics, the ethics of the kingdom of God are not always so neat and tidy or evenly applied or understood or appreciated or cared for. Ask one of the folks who flew an airplane into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 if he cares a lick about what Jesus said about war, turning the other cheek, and loving your enemies. I'm not sure what the answer is; I'm not sure Wright's ongoing criticism of the United States government (he rarely says anything about the current government of Barack Obama) is wholly justified. I do know this: the radicals who continue to kill (women, children), main, murder, and provoke wars in the name of God are not the same as those folks who take up the sword to defend women, children, the weak, and others whose daily goal is simply to live life. Is it fair to apply a biblical standard of ethics (loving enemies, turning the other cheek, etc.) to a secular government?

The reality of this life is this: sometimes evil does have a face. Sometimes evil is more than an invisible being or force. Sometimes evil does have a name and we do well to name it as such. I'm not suggesting I have all this worked out, and at times (like when Jesus looked at Peter and commanded Satan to get behind) I am stretched too thin to wholly justify my position. What I am suggesting is that Wright's position at this point is weak and, in my opinion, mitigates human culpability. Suggesting there are no evil people really fails to understand the full workings of evil and the evil one in this world.

I can go on and on telling you how important this book, along with any other by Wright, is. I could tell you that Wright is at his best when he is engaging the text and tying together all the threads he is remarkably twisted from so much ancient history and text. I could tell you of his masterful understanding and application of Daniel, Isaiah, and Zechariah. I could tell you about his superior interpretation of the historical events from the time of Jesus. But to what end? Those who have read Wright already know and those who haven't will not be disappointed.

I have read enough of Wright's work to see and know that a lot of what is in this book is repetitive. How God Became King is a similar, and in my opinion, superior book by Wright. His monumental Jesus and the Victory of God is a much expanded and academic version of Simply Jesus that may appeal to more detail oriented readers. Simply Jesus kind of distills a lot of what is written in the academic volumes to a more popular level; it is no less potent.

The person who knows Jesus will appreciate very much Wright's work to interpret Jesus within his own context. The historical details Wright brings to our attention, the cultural phenomena of the time, the complexities of would be messiahs, revolutionaries, and temple authorities, and the sophistication and intrigue of secular politics are all woven together nicely and interpreted brilliantly to help the reader see that God's plan has always been the same: to reclaim the earth for himself through his appointed Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of Man, the Son of God.

And God wins.

4/5 stars (because he has written better versions of these thoughts elsewhere and it gets repetitive, and because I struggle with his interpretation of evil and his seeming inability to distinguish the role of a secular government in protecting innocent people from the forces of evil at play in this world.)
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Dr. David Steele
VINE VOICE
3.0 out of 5 starsSimply Jesus
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 30, 2013
Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters by N.T. Wright surveys the historical background of Jesus and presents our Savior from a variety of angles. While it is not a simple read, there are a few features that make it worthwhile.

The Emphasis on the Kingdom of God

Wright's focus on the kingdom of God is refreshing as he promotes an all-ready, not yet framework. For instance, he adds, "The Beatitudes are the agenda for kingdom people. They are not simply about how to behave, so that God will do something nice to you. They are about the way in which Jesus wants to rule the world." He continues, "The Sermon on the Mount is a call to Jesus's followers to take up their vocation as light to the world, as salt to the earth - in other words, as people through whom Jesus's kingdom vision is to become a reality."

The emphasis on good works is refreshing component that emerges in Wright's eschatological framekwork: "In the New Testament, 'good works' are what Christians are supposed to be doing in and for the wider community. That is how the sovereignty of Jesus is put into effect."

Rejection of Platonic Vision of Heaven

I especially enjoyed Wright's frustration with the so-called Platonic vision of heaven that is embraced by so many evangelicals. In many ways, he picks up where Randy Alcorn left off in his magnificent work, Heaven. Wright helpfully notes, "Heaven in biblical thought is not a long way away from 'earth.' In the Bible, 'heaven' and 'earth' overlap and interlock, as the ancient Jews believed they did above all in the Temple ... Most people in today's Western world imagine that 'heaven,' by definition, could not contain what we think of as a solid, physical body. That's because we are Platonists at heart, supposing that if there is a 'heaven,' it must be nonphysical, beyond the reach of space, time, and matter."

While much of the work in Simply Jesus is helpful and encouraging, as a premillenialist, I found the ammillenial eschatological framework interesting but not very helpful, in the final analysis. Wright has a way of making his readers think, especially readers that disagree with him. His writing is winsome, thought-provoking and worthy of a careful read.
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Hockeyfan
5.0 out of 5 stars Jesus The New Exodus
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 10, 2013
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Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters

Part 1 of review: Content-What was most important or interesting?

The story of Jesus is the story about how God became King on earth as it is in heaven, argues first century historian, pastor, professor and former Bishop Tom Wright. Jesus was and is a first century Jew and therefore we must see him for who he is and not study him from our own cultural view. Wright uses the analogy of two perfect storms to describe first, the modern day view of Jesus and then the storm to which Jesus entered into the eye of during his day. The latter I found most interesting and learned the most from. Israel's story is in the exodus and they believed the time was right for God to come and fulfill Biblical prophecy. He will come to his house, the temple in Jerusalem, riding on a cloud of fury to rescue his people from the tyrant Rome. Yes Israel was correct, "the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand" (Mark 1:15 NASB). Fifteen hundred or so years before, Israel crossed the Jordan and entered the Promised Land. God had delivered his people Israel from the tyrant of Egypt through a miraculous series of plagues. Now Jesus is being baptized by his cousin John in the Jordan, symbolizing his anointing as king (pg. 170). Israel's King had arrived to deliver them from the real tyrant, Satan, and from the power of sin and death. Yes the "time" is right, for the kingdom has come on earth as in heaven, but not in the way you thought it would come. Heaven and earth have come together alright, but not at the "space" at which you thought it would come (the temple in Jerusalem). Heaven and earth have come together in me, the Word made flesh! God had arrived in space, time and matter. Then Jesus showed them what that kingdom looks like-it looks like celebration, healing and forgiveness. "Matter" was transformed by Jesus as he did miracles. Jesus gave a poke in the eye to both Herod Antipas, the unofficial "king of the Jews" (pg. 68) and to the chief priests, who ruled the temple; both of whom tried to kill Jesus, Herod failed, but the chief priests succeeded. This too was to fulfill prophecy and signify Jesus's kingdom, as he was enthroned on the cross.

Part 2 of review: My assessment based on the author's objectives.

In the preface Wright asks the following questions about Jesus: Who exactly was he? What did he think he was up to? What did he do and say, why was he killed, and did he rise from the dead? Since he called people to follow him, and since people have been trying to do that ever since, what might "following him" entail? How can we know if we are on the right track?

I think Bishop Wright did a great job of answering his own questions. Who exactly was Jesus? Jesus is the new temple-the place where heaven and earth meet. He replaced the old incarnational symbol, as Wright puts it (pg.133). Jesus is the jubilee, the time when God's kingdom is coming on earth as it is in heaven (pg. 137). As Jesus said, "the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand" (Mark 1:15 KJV); the kingdom of God is already among you" (Luke 17:21 NLT). Jesus was up to being King on earth as it is in heaven and everything he did was to fulfill that calling, "the kingdom project," as Bishop Wright states. Jesus baptism is his anointing as King and the miracles he did show how heaven and earth have come together in his person. This is why Jesus died and ascended to heaven, because in doing so he gained the victory over death, sin and Satan (pg. 126). His resurrection is the beginning of the new creation. Jesus's followers are an extension of the temple-where heaven and earth meet and thus should be about the work of the kingdom-helping, loving, serving the oppressed, impoverished and the sick (pg. 218). Jesus is working in and through spirit filled followers to advance the kingdom of God on earth (pg. 215).

Part 3 of review: My assessment based on my own criteria. 1) What have I learned?
2) What areas are helpful to me in the ministry and how is it helpful? 3) I'm not convinced with...?

Simply Jesus was a very interesting book, which I read on Kindle for PC. Yes Jesus was a first century Jew and I've learned from Wright that we need to place greater emphasis on what this means. Salvation comes through Israel and its history is in the exodus story. Wright states that Jesus fulfilled the exodus story: the tyrant, the new leader, the sacrifice, the victory, the way of life, the inheritance, and the presence of God (pg.64, 174). Jesus defeated sin, death and Satan. He is the Passover sacrifice who provided the victory in his death and resurrection. He offers us a new spirit filled life. He gives us a new creation - heaven and earth as an inheritance and he is the presence of God in the flesh. Yes the kingdom of God is a present reality which will be concluded at Jesus' second coming. This point helps me to understand the Biblical narrative. It also helps me to see our inclusion in what God is doing. As was stated earlier, followers of Jesus are an extension of the temple and this is how God's kingdom has come on earth as in heaven.

Although Jesus was a first century Jew, and the time was fulfilled for him to come as God in the flesh so that the kingdom would come on earth as in heaven, I'm not convinced that Jesus now looks at the world from that standpoint any longer. Jesus has become the reality of all of the signposts, declares Wright. Long before Jesus was a Jew, he was the Word God (John 1). For it wasn't a first century Jew who came to die for our sins, it was God himself. He said, "Before Abraham was I am (John 8:58). Jesus's consciousness of who he was and is as God is greater than the consciousness that he has of being a Jew.

Buy the Kindle version of this book. Kindle allows you to do a word search, save notes, highlighted sections and bookmarks conveniently in a column on the left. It also has a built in dictionary that allows you to quickly look up an unfamiliar word by highlighting it and get its meaning. If you don't have a Kindle, download Kindle for PC for free.
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JR. Forasteros
5.0 out of 5 stars Great, Accessible Summation of Jesus' Life and Ministry!
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 17, 2012
Verified Purchase
If you've never read N. T. Wright, you're missing out on the greatest pastor and theologian alive right now. No other pastor is so respected in the academic world, and no other academic can write and speak so accessibly to those who don't have the formal training of a seminary or graduate program. So when he published a book called Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did and Why He Matters, I was excited.

In Simply Jesus, Wright has somehow distilled his academic study and pastoral experience of Jesus of Nazareth into a profound, challenging meditation.

Using the analogy of the Perfect Storm, Wright identifies three disparate storms that converge to make any discussion of Jesus precarious: Rationalistic Skepticism, the Conservative/Fundamentalist Christian reaction, and the actual, factual complexity of the "historical Jesus" questions themselves.

If anyone is equipped to captain us through this storm, it's Wright, with his sharp academic mind and large pastoral heart.

From the midst of this Perfect Storm, Wright asserts that

There emerges a sense, which is central to the New Testament itself, that Jesus's way of running the world here and now is, however surprisingly, through his followers.

Wright rightly begins with how poorly we all understand Jesus today. He observes that asking what Jesus was really about

"...Isn't about "religion" in the sense the Western world has imagined for over two hundred years. This is about everything: life, art, the universe, justice, death, money. It's about politics, philosophy, culture, and being human."

He takes us back into the first century and introduces us to the world of Jesus: under the heel of the Roman Empire, but totally saturated in the Hebrew Scriptures. Wright teases out a picture of the Hebrew Salvation story, grounded in the Exodus, centered on the Temple and having survived the Exile.

Wright introduces us to various religious and political leaders who lived both before and after Jesus, showed how the Exodus paradigm shaped their actions and the beliefs of their followers.

Wright masterfully paints a clear picture of Jesus' Israel that provides compelling context for Jesus' own understanding of his mission and activity.

Wright then moves into Jesus' actual life and ministry. (Those skeptical about how Wright handles the Gospel materials would do well to explore his more academic works. In Simply Jesus, he assumes you've either done your homework or that you trust his.)

Investigating Jesus' teachings and activity within the context he established, Wright demonstrates that Jesus saw himself as the replacement for the Temple, as the culmination and fulfillment of the entire Jewish story to this point.

"The best historical analysis we can offer of what we can only call Jesus's "vocation" is that he believed, through his prayerful study of the scriptures and his reading of what he himself called the "signs of the times," that the full force of this great combined river would accomplish the purposes for which Israel itself had been called in the first place; and that it would do so in him, in his willing obedience to this vast and terrifying purpose. Israel's God had promised to return and establish his kingdom. He would do this in and as the Messiah, the servant. In and as Jesus of Nazareth."

For Jesus, and for us, his vocation had far more than just "religious" implications:

"The whole point of Jesus's public career was not to tell people that God was in heaven and that, at death, they could leave "earth" behind and go to be with him there. It was to tell them that God was now taking charge, right here on "earth"; that they should pray for this to happen; that they should recognize, in his own work, the signs that it was happening indeed; and that when he completed his work, it would become reality."

At every step, from his baptism through the cross and resurrection to the ascension, Wright engages Jesus' life and teachings, demonstrating how Jesus' every action, every word, pointed towards fulfilling this vocation Wright has sketched out.

The book concludes with an outstanding reflection on what it means to say that Jesus is King today, what it means to live in the time between Jesus' ascension and the Second Coming. Here Wright's discussion of Heaven and Earth not as two separate physical places, but as overlapping (but not yet joined) modes of existence is particularly helpful.

In the end, Jesus' rule is lived out through his Church. We are responsible to bear witness to the reign of Jesus. In every nook and cranny of our culture.

"In between resurrection and ascension, on the one hand, and the second coming, on the other, Jesus is the one who sends the Holy Spirit, his own Spirit, into the lives of his followers, so that he himself is powerfully present with them and in them, guiding them, directing them, and above all enabling them to bear witness to him as the world's true Lord and work to make that sovereign rule a reality."

Wright calls us to ground our kingdom-living in worship, prayer and Scripture. But it can't stop there. Just as Jesus' ministry was, our vocation is to be lived out in public. Wright's vision of what the Church could be is exciting and energizing. By the end of the book, I was underlining every sentence, restraining myself from jumping up and cheering.

Yes, it's that good. Go read it right now.

Bottom Line: An accessible, exciting and enlightening book, Simply Jesus is a must read for anyone trying to take seriously what it means to follow Jesus today.
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Clem
5.0 out of 5 stars Not really simple at all...
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 14, 2013
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I first heard of the scholar N.T. Wright one day, around a year ago, on some news program where the English Bishop was explaining to the moderator what the true Christian meaning of the season of Easter was. I was impressed by his knowledge, but more importantly, his calm mannerisms that were so incredibly non threatening. I immediately Googled the man (or, more appropriately, Amazon-ed the man) to read about some of his published works. Well, a bit later than I intended, I finally got around to reading one of his books.

Although I've been a Christian for more than a quarter of a century, I don't read that many Christian books. Too many of them fall into the "self-help" style of writing, and I'm just not a fan that whole genre. Then, sadly many of the Christian books are a bit too right-brained for my tastes, and I tend to find the whole in-your-face evangelism to be a bit too malodorous, and can't help but wonder if these authors are truly trying to preach to anyone other than to the faithful (a former Pastor of mine referred to this as "Spiritual B.O." That is so good!). So apart from C.S. Lewis and the recently deceased Chuck Colson (whose book "Loving God" is an absolute must), I simply haven't read many works on the subject matter as of late.

Overall, I must say I enjoyed this book. I think this would be a great book for someone that is new to the faith, or even someone who claims to have no faith. Not that this book serves as a great evangelism tool, but one of the best recurring themes of this book that deals with the historical Jesus is simply this:

If Jesus Christ was and is the Son of God, then the time and place where he was born and served in his ministry was the absolute best (i.e. worst) time and place possible.

The vast majority of this work deals with Jesus in his day, what he was saying, and what it truly meant - both then and now. Wright digs in deep, giving the reader an excellent perspective of what it was like living in Jesus' place and time over two millennia ago. He alludes often to the "Perfect Storm" of the many nations, dictators, and authoritarian figures that led the Jewish nation of Israel through tumultuous times in Jesus' day, and "sets up the scene" quite nicely for the appearance of the Son of God.

Of course, those who know their church history are probably familiar with many of the points the author makes. He refers many times to the Jewish nation desiring their messiah to reign on his throne immediately and to impart God's wrath on the wicked that had been torturing them forever. The folks back in the day weren't too crazy about the idea of a meek servant riding into Jerusalem on a donkey talking about his forthcoming crucifixion. Wright also spends a ton of time expounding on the meaning of God's kingdom "in heaven and on earth" that Jesus came to establish. It definitely challenged how I interpreted a lot of things. In other words, Christians should not only be focused on the death and resurrection of Christ, but also on the things he did in his ministry beyond his teachable parables etc.

To be honest, sometimes it seems like Wright wanders a bit from chapter to chapter. I had a hard time finding how consecutive chapters actually connected in terms of thought process. The majority of the time, though, the writing style was so rich that it was easy to become immersed within the writing regardless of trying to keep one's thinking linear.

It was also refreshing to hear N.T. Wright challenge a lot of the status quo with much of the contemporary Christian thought process. Many evangelical churches seem to be intertwined into certain ways of thinking without ever seriously asking themselves why and how they interpret certain scriptures in a way that they do. For example, Wright spends a little bit of time in his work talking about Eschatology, and he boldly states that the idea of "The Rapture" as most Christians understand it, isn't at all what they think - and there will be no literal twinkling of an eye where believers will be gone from the earth and up to the sky. I also found it rather odd that when discussing Satan, he never refers to Satan as `Satan' but rather `the satan'.

He definitely aroused my interest in many of the discussions on various scriptures, and I'm sure that I'll read some of his other works in the foreseeable future. I would recommend this book not only for Christians, but also for those who claim to "hate religion". It would be nice for these misguided individuals on the fringe to at least understand who the real Jesus was when he walked the earth, since most of them obviously do not (I remember when the movie "The Passion of the Christ" came out - it astounded me how many people that were critical of the movie, just never "got it", meaning understanding the whole point of the crucifixion). Sadly, the same can be said for many believers as well, I guess, so maybe this book should be recommended for them as well.
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Chuck Warnock
5.0 out of 5 stars Wright Offers A Compelling and Coherent Vision In Simply Jesus
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 16, 2011
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It goes without saying that N. T. Wright, recently called the J. K. Rowling of the evangelical world, is a prolific writer. The author of more than 30 books by one count, Wright cranks out multi-hundred page volumes like others do tweets. But the difference is that Wright also packs substance and soft-edged provocation into each of his texts. As you might expect, Wright has done it again with his latest volume titled,  Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters

In Simply Jesus, Wright gives his non-academic audience an imminently readable portal into Wright's own framework for studying and understanding the life of Jesus. This is not another Jesus Seminar attempt to get "behind" the Gospels to find the "real" Jesus. Wright contends that what we need to do is get "inside them, to discover the Jesus they've been telling us about all along, but whom we had managed to screen out."

We have screened out Jesus, Wright argues, by ripping Jesus out of the first century second Temple milieu in which his ministry occurs, and transforming Jesus into a 21st century reflection of our own culture. Wright critiques the popular evangelical assumption that Jesus has come to take us all to heaven, stressing that the story of God and Israel is at the heart of what God did and continues to do through Jesus.

Wright masterfully weaves together the converging perfect storm of Roman Empire domination, Jewish anxiety, and Jesus' Kingdom ministry to explain why Jesus said what he did, and why he encountered the opposition of almost everyone who heard him.

Wright's point in all of this is that Jesus announced that God was in charge, which is Wright's shorthand for the Kingdom of God. Jesus not only announced it, he acted himself as if he really was in charge by taking on the religious and cultural establishment through his teaching, miracles, and self-sacrifice. But, Wright contends, what they and we want is not a king, but a religious leader. And even if we want a king, we certainly don't want one like Jesus who redefined divine kingship.

Most importantly, Wright makes sense of the Jesus story in a way that no one else has. If you have read Wright's magnum opus in three parts, particularly Jesus and the Victory of God, you will recognize Wright's argument stripped down to its essentials. Wright discredits the reduction of the Gospel into a "4 Spiritual Laws" parody. He explains how the Exodus experience became the symbolic and actual story of Israel; and, how Jesus reinterpreted that story in his own life.

Wright sees the biblical narrative as one piece, and sees Old Testament fulfillment in Jesus New Testament life. This is no longer the "Jesus came to take us to heaven" story; it is now the "Jesus came to be King of all creation" story, and all that implies.
Wright will not please everyone with his approach, and he acknowledges that himself. But what Wright does do is to offer both a compelling and coherent vision of who Jesus is, "what he did, and why it matters." Or to put is another way, the conversation about what God is up to in the world doesn't start with man's sin, but with God's grand purpose for creation. Others have hinted around the edges of this, but Wright walks through the Bible blazing a trail that makes one ask, "Why didn't I see this before?"

Wright's Simply Jesus should be at the top of your reading list. Small groups, Sunday School classes, and others interested in understanding the story of the Bible, and where Jesus fits in, will benefit from reading and discussing this book. This book has the potential to be a game-changer, and others are already picking up the idea of Jesus as king and what that means. Scot McKnight's new book, The King Jesus Gospel, is a case in point. And, Wright is coming out with his own take on the Gospel in March, 2012, with his next book, How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels. This approach isn't going away, and Wright is its most prolific spokesman.

Disclaimer: I purchased Simply Jesus as a Kindle book from Amazon at my own expense, and received no compensation for this review.
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Grant Marshall
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book on Jesus filled with good British common sense.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 19, 2012
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Having read most of what Wright I expected this book to simply be a layman's edition of Jesus and the Victory of God with nothing new or fresh. Yet I was pleasantly surprised at how fresh the book was and how it was filled with such common sense interpretations. I found myself saying "Of course! Why didn't I think of that?!" quote often as I read it. This is great news for me because I'm often frustrated by the popular level books about Jesus that get published. One thinks of Bart Ehrman or Deepak Chopra for example.

In part 1 Wright uses the analogy of a perfect storm with different currents of contemporary culture all converging around the person of Jesus to produce a perfect storm. The secular atheistic current eager to stamp out the religion they don't have, claiming Jesus was just a man whose followers made into a god to justify their agenda. Or even worse, Jesus was just a good teacher, one of many through the ages. That current clashes with the conservative Christian current which is eager to affirm traditional orthodox Christianity. Wright was correct to say that both of these groups are eager to answer the question "Did it happen or not". For Wright this is reductionistic and we've missed out these events might mean. Wright then continues the analogy by describing the world of the first century into which Jesus was born and in which his actions make sense. There was the Roman storm with their own Gospel of the Lordship of Caesar with peace at the end of a sword. And there was the Jewish storm which told the story of them as God's chosen people, returned to the land but still under "exile" awaiting the return, awaiting the time when God would fulfill his promises. Wright argues that it is in this world that we can make sense of Jesus' words and actions, why he did what he did.

In part 2 Wright then fleshes out the picture of Jesus. In and through the person of Jesus God was indeed taking charge of his world because it was through Jesus that God's kingdom was coming to earth as it was in heaven. It is through Jesus that we see what God taking charge looks like. It looks like people being healed, set free from demons etc. Wright's discussion of Jesus' parables was also excellent. Jesus told parables not just as illustrations but full of echoes to the Old Testament story and promises that were close to Israel's heart. Through these stories he communicated his revolutionary message of God's kingdom. I was pleased to see Wright's frank discussion of Jesus' battling Satan. Wright carved a path through the demon obsessed and demon-dismissive skeptics that was very well argued. For Wright the Battle with Satan and the forces of evil was the true battle as these are the forces that stood behind the empires of the world, and were even holding Israel captive as they continued in their zealous and violent nationalism.

What I love about Wright is that fresh interpretation doesn't mean heretical as it so often does with others. How often do we hear the claim that the Church has misunderstood Jesus for 2000 years only to be presented with a Jesus that looks more like the 21st century author than a first century Jew? Thank the Lord for the British and their common sense. Lord knows where we'd be without it! Rather Wright establish the orthodoxy but sets it in the larger framework of God's kingdom project to rescue his good creation gone bad. One of the most helpful points was on Jesus' divinity. Jesus through his life and work was embodying the return of YHWH to Zion. Not that YHWH was to return at a separate time and that he was simply a herald. Rather it was through his own work and ministry. Jesus himself was the return of YHWH to Zion.

This book is highly recommended to anyone seeking to cut through all the popular level rubbish out there. This book will satisfy your mind as well as your heart and will give you plenty of meat to chew on. Highly recommended.
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Quinby
5.0 out of 5 stars Wright is (so far as I've experienced) always a pleasure to read.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 15, 2015
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NT Wright-Simply Jesus Review.

The book takes us in a very NT wright approach to the gospels and story of Jesus. This means that Wright first gives a large overview of 2nd temple Judaism and the movements that were occurring at Jesus' time, puts Jesus amidst these Messiah movements and shows how what he did, although having some similarities with others, was quite different for the most part. Wright paints the picture of the perfect storm, with Jewish nationalism, the Roman Empire and Jesus. All of these elements came together and thus we have an amazing set of events.
Wright throughout the book tries to keep from agreeing with either the liberal or conservative traditions that would make Jesus into either just a good teacher or someone who came for only the spiritual salvation of some. I probably agree with Wright's stance, but sometimes he seems to go too much out of his way to establish that he is not among the more conservative members of the church. I gather this is so that those who are reading would not simply stick him into such a category.
What I understand Wright to be saying is that, although the coming of Christ and his work do involve the salvation of individuals, this wasn't the main reason. Rather Christ was starting to bring all creation under His rule, as it should be. This involves humans, principalities and powers, etc.. Thus we shouldn't think of the gospel as an "escape from this world" kind of model, but rather a "Kingdom on earth" in which humans are the agents that God has chosen to use.
I agree with the content, Wright is very persuasive and really does build up a good case from both the Bible and history, but perhaps I wouldn't take that amount of stress away from "salvation" that he does, considering the Bible does speak of this. I also wonder if in attempts to bring the narrative to more present matters, he neglects the future hope that Christ will come. For those who are persecuted and killed and see their families killed, putting aside the promises of heaven and of final judgment would be harmful. For those who are lazy, the "present" emphasis is helpful, for those who have lost so much already on account of Christ now, the "future" emphasis is needed. I think there is much more harmony between these two, I think Wright would agree also, but this books stressed one over the other, mainly (I think) due to whom this book is geared towards.
What I really enjoyed was some of the interesting history tidbits and comparisons with other messiah movements (ie, Simon, son of the star and Simon bar-Giora (66-70). Wright has a great way of making the stories of the Bible become alive by giving us a kind of historical background. Like going to Israel and seeing the land, so also knowing the history makes the stories of the Bible more "alive".
In regards to reading the Gospels, the Bible or anything, "we should be prepared to follow where the story leads".

In short, while I will sometimes be weary of some of his emphasis away from personal salvation, my impression is that it comes from motives to reach people who might have already passed off the Bible as some sort of escape from the world fluff. And that does resonate with me. And there are people who do neglect much of the kingdom and exclusively go the route of only "spiritual salvation" in a very much "escape from the world" mentality, and so these people (or maybe we all) need to be careful not to neglect important parts and teachings of the Bible. So again, while I might personally wish for a little more stress on a thing here or there, the contents of what Wright says usually wins me over.
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Becky B.
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic crash course in 1st century culture that leads to a better understanding of the Bible
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 5, 2017
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Let me tell you a little story (I promise it's related). When I lived in Korea I went to see Shrek when it first came out in theaters. I went with a fellow American teacher, and we were the only foreigners in the entire packed out theater. 80% of the time we were the only ones laughing at the jokes in the movie. Why? It wasn't because Koreans don't have a sense of humor (they do). It was because the Koreans just didn't get the American pop cultural references and so they didn't understand the joke to begin with. To get them to fully appreciate the humor in Shrek they would have needed a crash course in American pop culture prior to the movie to even begin to understand half the references. My friend and I got those references immediately because we had grown up in America and soaked up those things without even realizing it.

In the same way that the Koreans watching Shrek missed a lot of things the creators fully expected the American audience to get without any explanation, the Gospels are full of cultural references 1st century readers would have understood immediately without any explanation, but that we modern readers deeply separated by centuries of time and culture don't even realize we are missing. In this book, NT Wright gives a crash course in 1st century thinking. He tries to help us modern readers step into the shoes of a Hebrew living in the Roman empire and see Jesus through those eyes. He takes us back and sets the tone politically (as those living at the time would have seen it). And it is amazing the things we modern readers miss just because we are so separated from that culture.

I found this one of the most easily read of NT Wrights longer books I've read. I like his For Everyone New Testament Commentaries because they are easily readable. I have found some of his deeper books more scholarly and much slower reads. But this one is written more like the For Everyone series. Anyone can pick it up and easily get through it. You don't need a theological academic background. And what Wright lays out here is extremely important and helpful for the modern Church. In the same way you can't really understand a work of Shakespeare without some help understanding the original historical context and audience and way language worked in Shakespeare's day, you can't profess to fully understand the Bible without understanding it's original context and audience. But the modern Church often forgets that and it leads to a lot of misunderstanding and misinterpretation of Scripture. Hopefully this resource will help clarify some of those misunderstandings, and even lead people into a deeper, more rich understanding of the Gospels and who Jesus was and is. I know it helped me see things I've never seen before (and I even have a Bible minor and would read books from my husband's seminary classes with him).
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roger poe
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Jesus
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 11, 2023
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NT Wright points us toward Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. We have to get out of the comfort zone and serve Him in His kingdom.
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John Umland
5.0 out of 5 stars an optimistic view of God's kingdom on earth as in heaven
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 3, 2013
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I picked up my first N.T. Wright book, Simply Jesus, because it was on sale for Kindle, just $2. He has stirred up controversy in some circles, but in this book, I see no reason why any conservative evangelical would be threatened by his ideas; unless you are threatened by ideas that are no identical to your own.

The irony of the book title, as Wright explains, is Jesus is not simple. He uses the metaphor of the Perfect Storm throughout the book. The three forces of "nature" Jesus wades into are imperial Rome, apocalyptic Israel, and a fresh move of God. Wright strives to find a third way between those who believe Jesus was a really good man who left a good example and those who believe Jesus is a lifeguard trying to pluck people out of a river heading toward a deadly waterfall. His assertion is that Jesus came to install a new kingdom, God's kingdom, that succeeds by living out his teachings, such as the Beatitudes and the Golden Rule.

Jesus is not simple because he frustrates everyone's expectations.

"They were looking for a builder to construct the home they thought they wanted, but he was the architect, coming with a new plan that would give them everything they needed, but within quite a new framework. They were looking for a singer to sing the song they had been humming for a long time, but he was the composer, bringing them a new song to which the old songs they knew would form, at best, the background music. He was the king, all right, but he had come to redefine kingship itself around his own work, his own mission, his own fate." p. 5

Simply Jesus is a brief book on a big topic. Some day I will read his much larger tomes where he develops his ideas more thoroughly. However, there isn't anything in this book that I find controversial, which I would need further argumentation. This book is hopeful and helpful with an optimistic view of the future as God's kingdom continues to grow.
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Craig L. Howe
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! Give it 6 stars
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 9, 2023
Verified Purchase
This book places the story of Jesus’ ministry in a new perspective. Don’t plan on rushing through this provocative look at who He was, what He did, and why He matters.
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