I just received, yesterday, my copy of N.T. Wright’s Simply Jesus (HarperOne). A full review is in the works, but here are my first impressions
- Though Wright is trying to make his work accessible (which is appreciated), he still makes lots of illustrations using events and figures that younger folks (perhaps 30 and under) would not understand; and he uses lots of illustrations from the UK which won’t hit home to many Americans (though since I lived in England, I could get the gist of most of them). Still, he is to be commended for spending so much time and energy trying to clarify and teach at a more popular level.
-The book’s title, as Wright quickly acknowledges, is a misnomer – his book (and his Jesus!) is not “simple.” Better, the title could have been Without-Going-Into-All-The-Details Jesus! Again, he does better than many others have in simplifying, but not quite the right title for the book. Still, I am excited to read it!
More to come!
Nijay, is this work a repub of the Challenge of Jesus book?
Sean – my sense is that this is a brand new, fresh reflection on Jesus. The biggest difference is that Wright really tries to spell out the “So what?” question about Jesus for how we follow him today.
Nijay,
Thanks for clarifying…can’t wait to read it!