Scan barcode
benrogerswpg's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent read.
Honestly, I am enjoying Wright more than Lewis!
Both are great authors, but Wright's writing speaks to me way more.
Highly recommended to check out one of his books. Start with this one!
4.7/5
Honestly, I am enjoying Wright more than Lewis!
Both are great authors, but Wright's writing speaks to me way more.
Highly recommended to check out one of his books. Start with this one!
4.7/5
rjvrtiska's review against another edition
5.0
This even-handed proposal that Jesus was acting with intent toward politics, rebuts the common theory that he was purely apolitical. Wright repeatedly brings his readers back to the first century culture and history Jesus’ ministry was entrenched in for a nuanced study of familiar texts and extra-biblical records.
I especially appreciated the storm metaphor he effectively pulled through the entire work.
I especially appreciated the storm metaphor he effectively pulled through the entire work.
hannahmccarl's review
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.5
A deep look into Jesus life and the beauty, the awe, and the meaning behind His life… beautiful
skitch41's review
4.0
I have recently been fawning over Mr. Wright and the beautiful way he writes and makes sense of Christianity in general and the thoughts of the earliest Christians in particular and Mr. Wright does so again in this book as he focuses on Jesus Christ himself, who he was, what he thought he was doing, and how it still affects us today. One of the best thing this book does is it helps to clear up the context and background of the Gospels, especially how Jesus' mission during his brief public career got caught up in the forces from Rome on the one hand and the hopes of the people and nation of Israel on the other hand. He also calls particular attention to the hopes of the people and nation of Israel by looking to some of Israel's history just prior to and just after Jesus' ministry such as the Maccabean revolt, the reign of Herod the Great, the famous 70 A.D. revolt that ended with the destruction of the Temple, and the final Jewish revolt led by Judah Bar-Kochba that ended with it's utter defeat at Roman hands and the final displacement of Jews across the Roman Empire. Now with this context in mind, I have much greater sympathy for why the apostles always seemed dumbfounded when Jesus would tell them that he had to be crucified and rise again. He also does a good job of calling out our modern world views that often distort this picture before we've read the first word of the Gospel accounts. This is a fascinating look at Jesus, the world of first century Israel, and how Jesus' mission and message are just as radical today as they were 2,000 years ago. It will be easy to digest and enjoyable for anyone who has ever had a hard time understanding what exactly is going on in the Gospel accounts (i.e. why do the Pharisee's make a big deal of this?; why does Jesus respond in this way?; why do the apostles act the way they do?; etc.). Whether you have never read the four gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John before or have done so many times and are looking to go a little bit deeper, I highly recommend this book to you.
bettercountry's review
5.0
This is one of the best books I have ever read about the Kingdom of God and how Jesus brought it about. I learned so much about Scripture that I hadn't seen before, about the Kingdom, about what Jesus was doing and how the Kingdom functions now through the Church. It's a book I will recommend often and read again.
mattfrye's review
2.0
I did not enjoy this book for a large variety of reasons, both literary and theological.
Throughout the book, the pace is really slow, and I believe that this book could be cut down to half of its size, and yet, retain all of the details that Wright wanted to address. This book was painstakingly redundant, especially with the themes of the Exodus. These themes are important, but you do not have to remind the reader of them after every few sentences! Also, I was frustrated with the presentation of the ideas. Wright starts off the book with addressing one point, but as you end the chapter, he stops, and says before he goes any further, he needs to address another point, and that we would soon finish the aforementioned idea. This set up is a decent transition, but should only be used once, and not consistently. By the time we got back to the main point, there were only three chapters left in the book, Jesus cannot simply fit neatly into 200+ pages. Similarly, the book tries to tackle too many questions, all-the-while trying to stay coherent. Every sub-point to be addressed was ended in a similar fashion, and after ten sub-points, the method gets old. Never does the author just want to come out and state his point, rather, he takes the long way around the barn to state anything, and that trip around the barn is filled with the same redundancy. My last issue is that Wright does not seem to stay focused on one audience. I would not know who to recommend this book to. Not an agnostic, despite the occasional rants aimed at disbelief. Especially not an early Christian, as they would end up more confused than anything. I suppose maybe a mature Christian, as they would be firm in their beliefs and be able to take and make a decision about accepting Wright's ideas, but even then, he covers extensively some beginning theology.
Now on to the theological aspect. As you read, if becomes clear that Wright holds an postmillennialist view concerning future events. I do not uphold this view, and believe it to be very erroneous. This is probably where most of my complaint lies, in conflicting theologies, which may not be a discussion for here. Another thing that bothered me was that when stating some Scripture or other prophetic dispositions, he did so in a derogatory way. What is arrogant about believing in the Rapture? The biggest thing problem that I had was how Wright presented Jesus. True, Jesus did come to bring forth the Kingdom of God (which is both established in his believers, and which will manifest physically in the future). But this is the only point that Wright dwells on. He critically downplays Jesus's compassion and love for others, and that he came to rescue us from Hell and save us for relationship with himself. These three points, according to Wright, are just byproducts of bringing God's kingdom, rather than being reasons why Jesus came. He also basically ignored Israel's part in the whole scheme of things. His viewpoint is deeply flawed, as it disregards textual context of Scripture, and basically denounces other parts of the Bible. Also, he quotes scripture that is not even canonical, or approved to be in the Bible, and gives tales of a Russian story of a guy experiencing a transfiguration similar to that of Jesus as support for one of his main points!
I gave this book a little bit of a generous rating, as I was able to pull and refine a few points that were made. But even these were not totally new to me, but were views that I already held, but explained in a different way, allowing me to see them from a different dynamic. The book also offers good historical thought of the ancient Jewish world. But that is about it. Read this text with caution, and do not subscribe to Wrights flawed views.
I would never read this book again.
Throughout the book, the pace is really slow, and I believe that this book could be cut down to half of its size, and yet, retain all of the details that Wright wanted to address. This book was painstakingly redundant, especially with the themes of the Exodus. These themes are important, but you do not have to remind the reader of them after every few sentences! Also, I was frustrated with the presentation of the ideas. Wright starts off the book with addressing one point, but as you end the chapter, he stops, and says before he goes any further, he needs to address another point, and that we would soon finish the aforementioned idea. This set up is a decent transition, but should only be used once, and not consistently. By the time we got back to the main point, there were only three chapters left in the book, Jesus cannot simply fit neatly into 200+ pages. Similarly, the book tries to tackle too many questions, all-the-while trying to stay coherent. Every sub-point to be addressed was ended in a similar fashion, and after ten sub-points, the method gets old. Never does the author just want to come out and state his point, rather, he takes the long way around the barn to state anything, and that trip around the barn is filled with the same redundancy. My last issue is that Wright does not seem to stay focused on one audience. I would not know who to recommend this book to. Not an agnostic, despite the occasional rants aimed at disbelief. Especially not an early Christian, as they would end up more confused than anything. I suppose maybe a mature Christian, as they would be firm in their beliefs and be able to take and make a decision about accepting Wright's ideas, but even then, he covers extensively some beginning theology.
Now on to the theological aspect. As you read, if becomes clear that Wright holds an postmillennialist view concerning future events. I do not uphold this view, and believe it to be very erroneous. This is probably where most of my complaint lies, in conflicting theologies, which may not be a discussion for here. Another thing that bothered me was that when stating some Scripture or other prophetic dispositions, he did so in a derogatory way. What is arrogant about believing in the Rapture? The biggest thing problem that I had was how Wright presented Jesus. True, Jesus did come to bring forth the Kingdom of God (which is both established in his believers, and which will manifest physically in the future). But this is the only point that Wright dwells on. He critically downplays Jesus's compassion and love for others, and that he came to rescue us from Hell and save us for relationship with himself. These three points, according to Wright, are just byproducts of bringing God's kingdom, rather than being reasons why Jesus came. He also basically ignored Israel's part in the whole scheme of things. His viewpoint is deeply flawed, as it disregards textual context of Scripture, and basically denounces other parts of the Bible. Also, he quotes scripture that is not even canonical, or approved to be in the Bible, and gives tales of a Russian story of a guy experiencing a transfiguration similar to that of Jesus as support for one of his main points!
I gave this book a little bit of a generous rating, as I was able to pull and refine a few points that were made. But even these were not totally new to me, but were views that I already held, but explained in a different way, allowing me to see them from a different dynamic. The book also offers good historical thought of the ancient Jewish world. But that is about it. Read this text with caution, and do not subscribe to Wrights flawed views.
I would never read this book again.
More...