Tom Wright
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Roman Citizenship Comes in Useful
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Roman Citizenship Comes in Useful
by SPCK - N T Wright
Roman Citizenship Comes in Useful Acts 22.23-30 CAN YOU PROVE IT? The sign in the shop selling alcohol challenges all and sundry. I was once buying a drink in one of the small bars in O’Hare Airport in Chicago and was astonished, as a bald and bearded middle-aged man, to be asked…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Out of his Own Mouth
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Out of his Own Mouth
by SPCK - N T Wright
Out of His Own Mouth Acts 22.12-22 In British football, the ‘manager’, or head coach, is often the most important character in the whole unit. Players come and players go, but if the manager is good he can make things happen, win tournaments, put on excellent performances no matt…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Why not Hear My Story?
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Why not Hear My Story?
by SPCK - N T Wright
Why Not Hear My Story? Acts 21.23-22.11 A story is told of Bishop Kallistos Ware, the Greek Orthodox bishop who for many years taught theology at Oxford. Bishop Ware was born and bred in England (his original name was Timothy), and he converted to Greek Orthodoxy as he was growin…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Riot in the Temple
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Riot in the Temple
by SPCK - N T Wright
Riot in the Temple Acts 21.27-36 On the news every day, as I write this, there is footage of American and British soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. Like many others, I was of the opinion that we were wrong to start what we did in that part of the world, and I haven’t changed that…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Warding off the Inevitable
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Warding off the Inevitable
by SPCK - N T Wright
Warding off the Inevitable Acts 21.15-26 One of the oldest and best-known legends in English history is the story of King Canute. (He was probably called Knut or something like that, but we’ll leave him in his usual popular form for now.) According to the legend, he had his thron…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Disturbing Prophecies
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Disturbing Prophecies
by SPCK - N T Wright
Disturbing Prophecies Acts 21.1-14 I was in Canada in 1983 when, on a flight over the Pacific, a Korean airliner was intercepted and shot down by Soviet jets. All on board, needless to say, were killed. There was a long argument subsequently over why the plane was where it was an…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Watch Out for Yourselves, the Flock and the Wolves
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Watch Out for Yourselves, the Flock and the Wolves
by SPCK - N T Wright
Watch Out for Yourselves, the Flock and the Wolves Acts 20.28-38 ‘I received an email this morning from a man I have never met. He has been studying a particular subject, and has come upon an article I wrote 25 years ago. In it, I quote a line from the scholar I was discussing (E…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul the Pastor Looks Back - and Looks on
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul the Pastor Looks Back - and Looks on
by SPCK - N T Wright
Paul the Pastor Looks Back – and Looks On Acts 20.13-27 ‘To know George’, said the speaker at his funeral, ‘you had to hear him preach.’ And immediately I felt a strong stab of regret. George Caird had been my teacher throughout my graduate years. I had attended his lectures and …
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Round the coast and Out of the Window
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Round the coast and Out of the Window
by SPCK - N T Wright
Round the Coast and Out of the Window Acts 20.1-12 The greatest epic of modern times is based on a journey. Millions who have seen the movies of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, not to mention the millions who have read the books, sometimes over and over, are often so ta…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Great is Ephesian Artemis
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Great is Ephesian Artemis
by SPCK - N T Wright
“Great is Ephesian Artemis” Acts 19.23-41 We ought to know the scene by now. We see it often enough on our television screens. A huge gathering, assembled in the street and the public square. Faces are flushed with excitement and anger. Being reminded of some great hero or leader…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - The Power of God and the Power of Ephesus
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - The Power of God and the Power of Ephesus
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Power of God and the Power of Ephesus Acts 19.11-22 When I was growing up, one of the leading politicians in the British Labour Party was a man named George Brown. He was extremely able, very shrewd. Some thought at one point he might have been a challenger for the job of par…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul in Ephesus
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul in Ephesus
by SPCK - N T Wright
Paul in Ephesus Acts 19.1-10 The response of the disciples Paul met at Ephesus has passed into common parlance, at least among theologians. Not long ago I was helping to organize a conference, and was inviting distinguished speakers from various parts of the world to attend and r…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Apollos in Ephesus and Corinth
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Apollos in Ephesus and Corinth
by SPCK - N T Wright
Apollos in Ephesus and Corinth Acts 18.18-28 These days people will do anything for sponsorship. Recently a Christian leader made well over a million pounds (roughly US$2 million) by running in the London Marathon. I once had a colleague who made a lot of money for his church by …
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Christianity Declared Legal in Achaea
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Christianity Declared Legal in Achaea
by SPCK - N T Wright
Christianity Declared Legal in Achaea Acts 18.12-17 Though I have walked with great pleasure in the hills of the north of England, both the Lake District in the west and the Cheviot hills in the east, I have only once walked in the almost equally famous Peak District of Derbyshir…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - A Year in Corinth
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - A Year in Corinth
by SPCK - N T Wright
A Year in Corinth Acts 18.1-11 This morning, knowing I was going to be thinking about Corinth, I helped myself to a big bowl of Greek yoghurt and honey for breakfast. It still takes me straight back to the little streetside cafe where, in the early 1990s, I first tasted that simp…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul Among the Philosophers (II)
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul Among the Philosophers (II)
by SPCK - N T Wright
Paul Among the Philosophers (II) Acts 17.22-34 So we continue with our chess game, with Paul playing the role of grand master and taking on all the players of Athens at once. We have seen how he agrees with the Academy that it is indeed impossible, granted what was available to t…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul Among the Philosophers (I)
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul Among the Philosophers (I)
by SPCK - N T Wright
Paul Among the Philosophers (I) Acts 17.22-34 One of the signs of being really good at chess is that you can play more than one opponent at the same time. Sometimes grand masters will put on a display where they play several different people all at once, walking from one chessboa…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul Reaches Athens