Latest N. T. Wright Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• What we are seeing in America is the creaky old age of an eighteenth-century settlement, deemed at the time to be the new flowering of humankind-come-of-age (the 'Enlightenment') and so deemed to be above revision. At this point the urgent need is for prayer and prophecy.

  N. T. Wright

  Prayer, America, Age

• What many people today assume Christianity to be is basically Plutarch plus Jesus.

  N. T. Wright

  Jesus, People, Today

• In the United States at present the 'culture wars' of the last thirty years have now produced a horrid stand-off which compels you all into a binary either/or with all kinds of spin-offs. This is deeply unhealthy. The trouble is that the way the system is set up in order to get in and try to change it you have to be (a) a millionaire, (b) someone who can work inside the system long-term, (c) someone prepared to make deals and compromises... Which does rule out the vast majority of committed Christians.

  N. T. Wright

  Christian, War, Order

• I have always taken the view that sometimes war may be justified, as police action can be justified, to protect the weak and vulnerable (a major preoccupation in scripture). But this is an old and difficult question and very wise people take different views.

  N. T. Wright

  Wise, War, Taken

• Christians living in a democracy should always vote if they can. If they cannot in conscience bring themselves to vote for any of the candidates on offer (in the UK quite often there are several candidates for a parliamentary seat) they might consider deliberately spoiling the ballot paper as a sad protest which still says 'but I believe in being involved'.

  N. T. Wright

  Christian, Believe, Democracy

• If you don't have properly constituted civic authorities you will encourage vigilantism and solo efforts at retributive justice - which is anarchy, and God doesn't want his world to be anarchic.

  N. T. Wright

  Justice, Effort, World

• There is all the difference in the world between the nonviolence that the ordinary Christian should embrace and the duty of civic authorities to police their communities. The end of Romans 12 is quite clear about the first; the start of Romans 13 is quite clear about the second.

  N. T. Wright

  Christian, Differences, Community

• Often the Jesus-focused churches are leaning towards a 'social gospel' interpretation of the kingdom, and the 'Paul' churches are talking about being saved from sin and going to heaven. But when we understand both Jesus and Paul in their historical contexts within the first-century Jewish world, the issues become both more complex and ultimately (I believe) more clear.

  N. T. Wright

  Jesus, Believe, Talking

• God's kingdom is launched through Jesus and particularly through his death and resurrection; but, by the Spirit, this kingdom is not an escape from the present world but rather its transformation, already in the present (starting with Jesus' resurrection) and in the ultimate future (the new heaven and earth including our own resurrection).

  N. T. Wright

  Jesus, Heaven, World

• First-hand acquaintance with the actual texts is always the best way.

  N. T. Wright

  Hands, Way, Firsts

  Source: sojo.net

• God will himself one day hold all humans, and all human governments, to account, but the church has the responsibility in the present to speak words of truth and judgment in advance of that final holding-to-account.

  N. T. Wright

  Responsibility, Government, Church

  Source: sojo.net

• Justice and beauty are central to God's new world and should be central to our work. Together they frame the good news of Jesus.

  N. T. Wright

  Jesus, Justice, Working Together

  Source: sojo.net

• All human governments are intended by God to do justice and mercy - to look after, in particular, the needs of the poor and disadvantaged.

  N. T. Wright

  Government, Justice, Needs

  Source: sojo.net

• Since all human governments, like all human individuals, are subject to temptation, especially the temptation to use this God-given role for their own ends, there must be clear and wise critique, and holding to account.

  N. T. Wright

  Wise, Government, Temptation

  Source: sojo.net

• Jesus himself, as the gospel story goes on to its dramatic conclusion, lives out the same message of the Sermon on the Mount: he is the light of the world, he is the salt of the earth, he loves his enemies and gives his life for them, he is lifted up on a hill so that the world can see.

  N. T. Wright

  Jesus, Light, Giving

  Source: kenwytsma.com

• If you read 1 John you'll see that love of God and neighbour are very closely tied together. Partly this is because all humans are made in God's image, so that when you love another human you are loving someone who is reflecting God himself. Of course there is a distinction but the minute you try to drive a wedge between the two things start to fall apart.

  N. T. Wright

  Fall, Two, Loving Someone

  Source: kenwytsma.com

• Again and again the Sermon on the Mount calls and challenges us to a life of radical discipleship. Note: when Jesus says 'Blessed are the . . . . merciful, peacmakers', and so on, he doesn't just mean that they themselves are blessed. He means that the blessing of God's kingdom works precisely through those people into the wider world. That is how God's kingdom comes. That's one thing to hear afresh.

  N. T. Wright

  Jesus, Blessed, Mean

  Source: kenwytsma.com

• For Paul 'righteousness' and 'justice' are the same word, as they were in Hebrew. Paul clearly believes that helping the poor is a central and ongoing part of Christian commitment, precisely because in Jesus Christ God has unveiled and launched his plan for the rescue, redemption and renewal of the whole creation. Justification and justice go very closely together.

  N. T. Wright

  Christian, Jesus, Believe

  Source: kenwytsma.com

• Certainly Paul shares the view of the Old Testament prophets that God will one day flood the world with justice and joy - and that this has begun to be fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus.

  N. T. Wright

  Jesus, Views, Justice

  Source: kenwytsma.com

• Paul's vision, though, is starting small, with actual communities in which reconciliation and justice has to be practiced - like the rich/poor distinction in the Corinthian church, for instance, or the projected reconciliation between Philemon and Onesimus. But he clearly believes (Ephesians 3) that communities like this send a signal to the wider world that Jesus is Lord - which is aimed at then the whole world coming into line.

  N. T. Wright

  Jesus, Believe, Justice

  Source: kenwytsma.com

• From my student days I found him a compelling and fascinating, though often puzzling, figure. It's a lifelong fascination now and I don't expect that to stop! His vision of God, God's faithfulness, God's purposes and so on is so much bigger and richer than almost any subsequent Christian thinker has ever managed. In addition, I have always loved ancient history, especially the history of the early Roman empire, and of course Paul fits right into that.

  N. T. Wright

  Christian, Vision, God's Faithfulness

  Source: kenwytsma.com

• I am also very excited by the way in which we can see Paul wrestling not only with his Jewish world and its scriptures but also, by clear implication, with philosophical and political issues that were 'out there' at the time. The thing is that for Paul this is all part of the same larger, whole vision of God and God's purposes. Watching how everything comes together is an intellectual treat of the first order - as well as a spiritual and practical challenge to me personally and to the church.

  N. T. Wright

  Spiritual, Philosophical, Wrestling

  Source: kenwytsma.com

• When you're writing theology, you have to say everything all the time, otherwise people think you've deliberately missed something out.

  N. T. Wright

  Writing, Thinking, People

  "Trevin Wax Interview with N.T. Wright". www.thegospelcoalition.org. November 19, 2007.

• If you ask people in England where does Tom Wright sit on the theological spectrum, they say, "Well he's an evangelical of course," as though, come on, get used to it.

  N. T. Wright

  People, England, Doe

  "Trevin Wax Interview with N.T. Wright". www.thegospelcoalition.org. November 19, 2007.

• The Holy Spirit in enabling the already-justified believers to live with moral energy and will so that they really do please God again and again.

  N. T. Wright

  Energy, Enabling, Spirit

  Source: blogs.thegospelcoalition.org