SPCK - N T Wright
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - The Religion of Empire
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - The Religion of Empire
by SPCK - N T Wright
4. The Religion of Empire (i) Introduction Scholarship wobbles from one thing to another. The fortunes of ‘emperor-worship’ in recent study are typical of what happens in many areas. Faced with a rich density of material, scholars can easily lose sight of one entire segment of th…
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - The Climax of the Narrative
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - The Climax of the Narrative
by SPCK - N T Wright
2. The Rhetoric of Empire (III) The Climax of the Narrative Even if the Augustan age had built no temples, conquered no foreign nations, erected no statues and established no new dynasty, it would still rightly be world-famous for its astonishing output of literature. There were,…
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - Material Culture
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - Material Culture
by SPCK - N T Wright
2. The Rhetoric of Empire (II) Material Culture Augustus claimed – it has since become a cliché – that he found Rome brick and left it marble. As Galinsky points out, this was more than simply a metaphor.44 New shiny buildings dominated the centre of the city, with new temples in…
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - The Rhetoric of Empire
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - The Rhetoric of Empire
by SPCK - N T Wright
2. The Rhetoric of Empire (I) Introduction It was not by military force alone that Augustus consolidated his power, or that his successors maintained it. It has been shown in great detail that from the beginning the empire used every available means in art, architecture, literatu…
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - From Tiberius to Vespasian
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - From Tiberius to Vespasian
by SPCK - N T Wright
2. The Reality of Empire (IV) From Tiberius to Vespasian: AD 14–70 The fifty years after Augustus’s death saw the empire, in terms of the personal rule of the emperor, both consolidated and threatened. Consolidated, in that after a few years of Tiberius’s rule the old republican …
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - Republic Restored, Empire Established: Augustus
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - Republic Restored, Empire Established: Augustus
by SPCK - N T Wright
2. The Reality of Empire (III) Republic Restored, Empire Established: Augustus The many scholarly debates about Augustus have included the question: did he really claim to have restored the republic? If he did, what did he mean by that, and was it true? Was he, as the highly infl…
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - Before and After Julius Caesar
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - Before and After Julius Caesar
by SPCK - N T Wright
2. The Reality of Empire (II) Before and After Julius Caesar Ancient Rome had had a succession of kings, the last being Tarquinus Superbus in the late sixth century BC. Legend named Rome’s first king, the founder of the city in 753 BC, as Romulus. Since, however, there is no cont…
Revelation bible study guide - GUIDELINES FOR LEADERS
Revelation bible study guide - GUIDELINES FOR LEADERS
by SPCK - N T Wright
Guidelines For Leaders My grace is sufficient for you. (2 Corinthians 12:9) If leading a small group is something new for you, don’t worry. These sessions are designed to flow naturally and be led easily. You may even find that the studies seem to lead themselves!...
Revelation bible study guide - God and The Lamb Are There
Revelation bible study guide - God and The Lamb Are There
by SPCK - N T Wright
God And The Lamb Are There Revelation 21:22-22:21 As we reach the end of this most remarkable of books, we realize we have only skimmed it in the interests of time and space. Yet we are aware of the depths we have glimpsed as we have sped by. The sequence of events—the letters, t…
Revelation bible study guide - New Heaven, New Earth, New Jerusalem
Revelation bible study guide - New Heaven, New Earth, New Jerusalem
by SPCK - N T Wright
New Heaven, New Earth, New Jerusalem Revelation 21:1-21 There are some moments in life when we say to ourselves, “Everything is going to be different now. This is entirely new. This is a whole new world opening up.”...
Revelation bible study guide - The Thousand Year Reign and the Final Judgment
Revelation bible study guide - The Thousand Year Reign and the Final Judgment
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Thousand Year Reign And The Final Judgment Revelation 20 After I published my book Surprised by Hope, I had a number of letters and emails from people telling me their experiences with thinking it through, leading study groups on it and in some cases preaching in the new way …
Revelation bible study guide - God's Victory
Revelation bible study guide - God's Victory
by SPCK - N T Wright
God’s Victory Revelation 19 In Britain and other parts of the world, weddings can be highly expensive. Even in areas of relative poverty, people still spend tens of thousands of pounds to stage something that seems appropriate to the occasion. There is much about this that I find…
Revelation bible study guide - BABYLON'S JUDGMENT
Revelation bible study guide - BABYLON'S JUDGMENT
by SPCK - N T Wright
Babylon’s Judgment Revelation 18 We smelt it before we saw it: a sour, bitter stench which seemed to cling to the nostrils. We looked at one another and ran outside. There, about a mile away, but with a gentle wind carrying it in our direction, was a cloud of thick, gray-black sm…
Revelation bible study guide - The Monster and the Whore
Revelation bible study guide - The Monster and the Whore
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Monster and the Whore Revelation 17 I remember my excitement when, as a boy, I learned to read a map. Someone had given me a “maps made easy” sort of book, which explained how all the symbols worked. I remember being especially fascinated by the contour lines. Growing up as I…
Revelation bible study guide - The Seven Plagues
Revelation bible study guide - The Seven Plagues
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Seven Plagues Revelation 16 The lunch had been substantial, the meeting was tedious, the room was warm and the speakers droned on and on. The chairman noticed that one of his colleagues was finally subsiding into slumber. With cruel timing, he waited until the poor man’s head…
Revelation bible study guide - Reaping the Harvest and Preparing the Plagues
Revelation bible study guide - Reaping the Harvest and Preparing the Plagues
by SPCK - N T Wright
Reaping the Harvest and Preparing the Plagues Revelation 14: 14-15: 8 Imagine a village in the outlying countryside of ancient Judaea. It’s a long way from the city, and even traders don’t come there that often, far less government officials. A circuit judge comes to the neighbor…
Revelation bible study guide - The Lamb's Elite Warriors
Revelation bible study guide - The Lamb's Elite Warriors
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Lamb’s Elite Warriors Revelation 14: 1-13 On the hill in the distance I could see the little procession, tiny but silhouetted against the sky in the bright Middle-Eastern evening. In my country the sheep are brought from one field to another by people with sticks and dogs. In…
Revelation bible study guide - Two Monsters