Stuff

A review of Scripture and the Authority of God by N T Wright

Pages: 112

Style: 9/10

Readability: 8/10

Value for money: 8/10 (I paid £7.99 on Amazon, though it’s available for only £5.79)

Overall: 9/10

Reader level: some previous biblical or theological education would be useful

Themes: Hermeneutics, church history, postmodernity, biblical authority

You’ll like it if: You are interested in taking seriously the doctrine of biblical authority in the middle of a postmodern mess.

You’ll hate it if: You’re an ardent fundamentalist on one hand or a smug liberal on the other

Buy it: From Amazon.co.uk or direct from SPCK. (The book is not currently available in the USA)

Published: March 2005.

Even the most voracious reader will have trouble keeping up with the output of books that N T Wright manages to produce. His latest publication is Scripture and the Authority of God, which is a compact and yet thorough look at the idea of scriptural authority and interpretation, and fits neatly into his wider theological scheme looking at God, his people, and eschatology.

A little light relief

This afternoon I received an e-mail claiming to prove that the Bible was a hoax (yawn). I clicked on the link in the e-mail and came across the site hoax-buster.org which far from containing even the smallest grain of scholarly and historical common sense, is little more than lots big coloured letters and lots of crayon drawn diagrams, which is certainly no coincidence as whoever wrote and researched (I mean 'researched' in the loosest possible sense of the meaning of the word) this site is clearly still in primary school.

Evangelicalism, Eastern Orthodoxy and scripture

Geography and Cold War politics have meant that for most of their respective histories Evangelicalism and Eastern Orthodoxy have had little to do with each other, but nowadays these Christian groups are crossing each others’ paths more than ever. In the light of this the Evangelical Alliance (EA) research body The Alliance Commission on Unity and Truth among Evangelicals (ACUTE) published a report entitled Evangelicalism and the Orthodox Church which looked at the differences between the two groups and suggests ways for further dialogue to take place.

Recent comments over at Emergentno, which trashed both Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy as being ‘false religions’ and ‘unbiblical’ led me to re-read the EA’s report on the two groups. Though it has to be said that such broad and ill thought out remarks reflect more on those making the statements than the actual targets themselves, it would do no harm for evangelicals and the Orthodox to at least understand where the other group comes from. I would like to make clear at this point however that I by no means endorse the position of Emergentno on the matter.

Christian Carnival LXXIV

The 74th Christian Carnival is up at In the Spirit of Grace. I haven't had a chance to look through everything yet but some articles that have caught the eye. Check out Gaddabout's post on Christianity and Experience, and Team Hammer's look at the origins of the bible. Diane over at Crossroads continues her look at historical revival by discussing the First Great Awakening and J A Greer also looks briefly at the the concept of natural law, revelation and modernity/postmodernity.

New book and blogs to check out

N T Wright's new book Scripture and the Authority of God (published March 2005) arrived today so I've been busy reading it. It's a well-argued and engaging look at issues surrounding the authority, interpretation and application of the Bible in the modern world. It builds on this lecture he gave back in 1989 (I featured it here a while ago) though the book goes into a lot more depth andI hope to review it on here in the next few days once I've finished.

In the meantime be sure to check out Andy Goodliff's post on the trinity, Scot Mcknight's criticism of the 'Four Spiritual Laws' method of evangelism (further parts here and here) and also Less Travelled has some thoughts on Karl Barth and postmodernity, amongst other things.

Christian Carnival 74 plug

This week's Christian Carnival will be hosted over at In the Spirit of Grace. The Carnival is a weekly event for Christian bloggers to submit articles on that deal with anything related to Christianity. For submission guidelines go here.

The Story of Jesus part 9: Mark 2:18-21

Here's the latest installment in the Mark series. This piece looks at the idea of celebration of the Kingdom of God as part of Jesus' ministry and how it brought him into conflict with the Pharisees. What made the difference between old wineskins and the new? How might we apply this warning to our lives today? Read on and find out.

18Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, "How is it that John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?"

19Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.

21"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins."

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