James 24:7

Not long ago I was talking to a friend of mine about Alcoholics Anonymous.  A recovering alcoholic, he told me how important AA had been to him and his recovery.  I told him that I once heard someone say that God gave us AA to make up for the mistake of creating alcohol.

When I read N.T. Wright I come away thinking that God gave us this fine scholar and writer to help us better navigate our calling in this rapidly changing world.  Bishop Wright is the right gift for the times and perhaps all times.

In this new book, Bishop Wright helps us better understand how Christian faith answers to four deep and universal longings of the human heart: the cry for justice, the thirst for spiritual wholeness,the longing for meaningful relationship, and the search for beauty.  He characterizes these four longings as "echoes of a voice" and then goes on to show how Christian faith answers back to these echoes. 

The book is divided into three sections.  In the first section, "Echoes of a Voice", Bishop Wright devotes four chapters to the four yearnings. He explores the meaning of each yearning in such a way that the reader can easily agree that, in fact, these yearnings are part of the personal struggle as well as the general human struggle.

We long to see the world "put to rights". We search for something larger to claim us and to lift us out of the flat, ordinariness of everyday life (or to at least re-charge it!). We search for wholeness in human relations.  We long to experience beauty.

In the second section of the book, "Staring at the Sun",  Bishop Wright explores the story of God.  He introduces the section with the bold claim that "the Christian story claims to be a true story about God and the world." (55)  From there, he devotes six chapters to telling the story of God and what God is doing in and with creation.

Bishop Wright makes important use of three broad models to clarify the nature and purposes of God.  He describes them as "options."  Option One is the way of the pantheist in which God and creation are subsumed into one another.  He demonstrates how this option fails to clearly delineate the God of the Christian story.

Option Two is the way of the Deist.  God is seen as completely "other" to the creation; a great distance is affixed between the realm of God and the realm of creation.  He describes how this particular view has influenced many Christians in ways that have been both misleading and harmful.

Option Three is the way of Christian faith.  In this option, God is seen as "other" to the creation and yet somehow deeply involved with creation.  He explores Christian faith as describing and practicing the interlock and intersect between God and creation.

This third option provides a means whereby Bishop Wright can discuss God's relation with Israel, the sending of Jesus, the proclamation of God's coming Kingdom, the rescue and renewal of creation, the giving of God's Spirit and the sending of the church as a display of God's redemptive intersection and interlock with creation.

In the third section of the book, "Reflecting the Image", Bishop Wright explores certain Christian practices that reflect the story of God.  He writes of the place and importance of Christian worship, prayer, community, scripture reading and mission in the context of the inbreaking Kingdom of God.  (His chapter on scripture is worth the price of the book, especially in light of the many assaults on scripture, both serious and silly, in recent years.) 

While the book purports to be directed to believers and non-believers alike, I believe it is a book best read in the company of other believers.  You might even find it helpful to invite your pastor into conversation around the book.  While the book is intended to be read by a wide audience, it will be more welcome to those who want to be stretched a bit. 

Bishop Wright's style reflects that he is a scholar, intellectual, and man of the church.  He is British and "writes English not American."

If you want to give this book a shot, I would encourage you to find a quiet place and read it in short segments taking time to digest the riches found within.  Don't rush.  Instead mull it over and over again.

You will be glad you did.