SPCK - N T Wright
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - proper 10 year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - proper 10 year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 10 Year B Two kings, a thousand years apart, and both in trouble at home. David brings God’s ark into Jerusalem, and is so carried away with dancing and leaping before the Lord that his wife despises him, remembering no doubt the dignity of the former king, her father. Per…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 9 - Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 9 - Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 9 Year B The paradoxes of power. David bided his time, refused to lift up his hand against God’s anointed (though he knew himself to be anointed also), and then at last became king in a further anointing. The move to Jerusalem was politically shrewd (though obscured by the…
Simply Good News - What the Resurrection Reveals
Simply Good News - What the Resurrection Reveals
by SPCK - N T Wright
What the Resurrection Reveals If that had been the end, however, it wouldn’t have been good news at all. It would only have meant one more failed messiah. The only reason the death of Jesus was ever thought of as good news was because of what happened next…
Simply Good News - The Power of Love
Simply Good News - The Power of Love
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Power of Love The clash between Jesus and the powers of the world – between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of humans – was never about God simply having a bit more power than humans, so that he could manage to beat them at their own game. It isn’t that God has stronger ta…
Simply Good News - A Different Kind of King
Simply Good News - A Different Kind of King
by SPCK - N T Wright
A Different Kind of King That is why, throughout Jesus’s public career, he talked about the good news of God’s kingdom, redefining the idea of God’s kingdom as he went along. God was coming back to take charge, he said. But it didn’t look like what people had imagined…
Simply Good News - Surprised by King Jesus
Simply Good News - Surprised by King Jesus
by SPCK - N T Wright
Surprised by King Jesus It’s time now to home in on the central figure of the story. Jesus himself remains one of the most compelling figures in all human history. No matter what your worldview, your beliefs, or your culture, you will find Jesus haunting, disturbing, and attracti…
Simply Good News - The Return of the One God
Simply Good News - The Return of the One God
by SPCK - N T Wright
Return of the One God Simply Good News Why the Gospel Is News and What Makes It Good I have pointed out that in Paul’s Roman world the word gospel was regularly used to speak about the royal announcement that was made when an emperor came to the throne, or perhaps on his birthday…
Simply Good News - The Back Story
Simply Good News - The Back Story
by SPCK - N T Wright
2 part c The Back Story In particular, Paul was saying that they didn’t need the old gods any more. At this point he was presenting to the world an essentially Jewish message. The Jewish people cherished their ancient scriptures, in which, across many centuries, prophets, scribes…
Simply Good News - The King's Herald
Simply Good News - The King's Herald
by SPCK - N T Wright
2 part b The King’s Herald So what was he talking about in Thessalonica and several other cities in the middle of the first century? In what sense was he bringing good news? What did he think had happened that made an all-important difference to the world?…
Simply Good News - Foolish, Scandalous or Good
Simply Good News - Foolish, Scandalous or Good
by SPCK - N T Wright
2 Foolish, Scandalous or Good? The man was a Jew, born and bred in what is now south-eastern Turkey. He was called Saul, a Hebrew name that, in his Jewish culture, had ancient royal associations. In Greek, however (Greek was the standard language around the Mediterranean world, l…
Simply Good News - Roman Good News
Simply Good News - Roman Good News
by SPCK - N T Wright
1, part c Roman Good News Let me turn now to another illustration. This one comes from the time and place where Jesus himself burst on the scene with his original good news, where Saint Paul went with the gospel: the world of the early Roman Empire. Come back with me to the first…
Simply Good News - Good Advice, Wrong News
Simply Good News - Good Advice, Wrong News
by SPCK - N T Wright
1, part b Good Advice, Wrong News In many churches, the good news has subtly changed into good advice: here’s how to live, they say. Here’s how to pray. Here are techniques for helping you become a better Christian, a better person, a better wife or husband. And in particular, he…
Simply Good News - What's the News
Simply Good News - What's the News
by SPCK - N T Wright
1 What’s the Good News? You are sitting quietly in a café with a couple of friends when suddenly the door bursts open and in rushes a stranger with a wild, excited look on his face. ‘Good news!’ he shouts. ‘You’ll never guess! The greatest news you can imagine!’…
Paul and the Faithfulness of God - Imperial Cult under the Julio-Claudians: Conclusion
Paul and the Faithfulness of God - Imperial Cult under the Julio-Claudians: Conclusion
by SPCK - N T Wright
**THE EAGLE HAS LANDED:ROME AND THE CHALLENGE OF EMPIRE The Religion of Empire (iv) Imperial Cult under the Julio-Claudians: Conclusion** For the purposes of a book on Paul, we need not take the story further. None of the three emperors who followed Nero in quick succession were …
Paul and the Faithfulness of God - Resistance to Empire: the Jews
Paul and the Faithfulness of God - Resistance to Empire: the Jews
by SPCK - N T Wright
THE EAGLE HAS LANDED: ROME AND THE CHALLENGE OF EMPIRE 5. Resistance to Empire: the Jews Resistance to Roman rule was natural and widespread, from western Spain to far-off Parthia.299 Some attempts at resistance were startlingly successful, like the German destruction of three le…
Paul and the Faithfulness of God - Imperial Cult from Tiberius to Nero
Paul and the Faithfulness of God - Imperial Cult from Tiberius to Nero
by SPCK - N T Wright
THE EAGLE HAS LANDED: ROME AND THE CHALLENGE OF EMPIRE 4. The Religion of Empire (iii) Imperial Cult from Tiberius to Nero Tiberius was now ‘son of god’: son of the divine Augustus. I have on my desk, as I write this, a denarius of the kind they showed to Jesus not long before hi…
Paul and the Faithfulness of God - In the Provinces: Enthusiastic and Diverse
Paul and the Faithfulness of God - In the Provinces: Enthusiastic and Diverse
by SPCK - N T Wright
THE EAGLE HAS LANDED: ROME AND THE CHALLENGE OF EMPIRE 4. The Religion of Empire (ii) The Divine Augustus (b) In the Provinces: Enthusiastic and Diverse The altar in Lyons, referred to above, is not the only one in the north-western empire in this period. The altar found at Colog…
Paul and the Faithfulness of God - The Divine Augustus