How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels

by N. T. Wright

Overview

Foundational: The four gospels come directly fromthe ancient church and are among the primary sourcesfor the church's teachings.

Familiar: Since Christian worship services began, areading from the gospels has played a central role.

Studied: For over two hundred years scholars havechallenged and defended the central claims of thegospels: miracles, historical accuracy, the divinity ofJesus, and more.

But Forgotten: Still, leading Bible scholar N. T.Wright reveals shocking news: We have all forgottenwhat the four gospels are about.

"Despite centuries of intense and heavy industryexpended on the study of all sorts of features of thegospels," Wright writes, "we have often managed tomiss the main thing that they, all four of them, aremost eager to tell us. What we need is not just a bitof fine-tuning, an adjustment here and there. We needa fundamental rethink about what the gospels aretrying to tell us."

What Wright offers is an opportunity to confront thesepowerful texts afresh, as if we are encountering themfor the first time. How God Became King reveals thesurprising, unexpected, and shocking news of thegospels: this is the story of a new king, a new kind ofking, a king who has changed everything, and a kingwho invites us to be part of his new world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062098733
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/13/2012
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	424,722
File size:	716 KB

About the Author

N. T. Wright is the former Bishop of Durham in the Church of England and one of the world’s leading Bible scholars. He serves as the chair of New Testament and Early Christianity at the School of Divinity at the University of St. Andrews as well as Senior Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University. He has been featured on ABC News, Dateline, The Colbert Report, and Fresh Air. Wright is the award-winning author of many books, including Paul: A Biography, Simply Christian, Surprised by Hope, The Day the Revolution Began, Simply Jesus, After You Believe, and Scripture and the Authority of God.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 The Empty Cloak

1 The Missing Middle 3

2 The Opposite Problem 25

All Body, No Cloak

3 The Inadequate Answers 41

2 adjusting the volume

4 The Story of Israel 61

5 The Story of Jesus as the Story of Israel's God 83

6 The Launching of God's Renewed People 105

7 The Clash of the Kingdoms 127

3 The Kingdom and the Cross

8 Where We Get Stuck 157

Enlightenment, Power, and Empire

9 Kingdom and Cross in Four Dimensions 175

10 Kingdom and Cross 211

The Remaking of Meanings

4 Creed, Canon, and Gospel

11 How to Celebrate God's Story 253

Further Reading 277

Scripture Index 279

What People are Saying About This

Tremper Longman III

“We often read the beginning and the end of the Gospels without the large middle where the message of the kingdom rings loud and clear. I recommend to everyone who wants to understand the Gospels’ message in a way that will not only inform the intellect but also transform life.”

Scot McKnight

“Tom Wright continues to urge and prod and propose how the church can regain a kingdom footing and end its empire heritage. And, he shows us how we can reshape both what we think about Jesus and how we follow him in our world.”

Editorial Reviews

Wright has never been more eloquent and persuasive than in this book that… caps a long, productive theological career.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Scholarly, accessible, insightful and challenging . . . an excellent and provocative book.” — Christianity Magazine

“The prolific Christian apologist N.T. Wright… now devotes an entire volume, ‘How God Became King’ to this trendy subject. Wright’s insistence that Christianity has got it all wrong seems to mark a turning point for the serious rethinking of heaven.” — The Washington Post

“We often read the beginning and the end of the Gospels without the large middle where the message of the kingdom rings loud and clear. I recommend to everyone who wants to understand the Gospels’ message in a way that will not only inform the intellect but also transform life.” — Tremper Longman III, Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies, Westmont College

“Tom Wright continues to urge and prod and propose how the church can regain a kingdom footing and end its empire heritage. And, he shows us how we can reshape both what we think about Jesus and how we follow him in our world.” — Scot McKnight, Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies, North Park University

“Wright is a scholar who writes as if the material he engages actually matters for the church and the world it lives in… and has again done the church a great favor in presenting the gospel story as the story of God and his kingdom on earth.” — Englewood Review of Books

From the Publisher

Scholarly, accessible, insightful and challenging . . . an excellent and provocative book.

Christianity Magazine

The prolific Christian apologist N.T. Wright… now devotes an entire volume, ‘How God Became King’ to this trendy subject. Wright’s insistence that Christianity has got it all wrong seems to mark a turning point for the serious rethinking of heaven.

The Washington Post

Tom Wright continues to urge and prod and propose how the church can regain a kingdom footing and end its empire heritage. And, he shows us how we can reshape both what we think about Jesus and how we follow him in our world.

Scot McKnight

We often read the beginning and the end of the Gospels without the large middle where the message of the kingdom rings loud and clear. I recommend to everyone who wants to understand the Gospels’ message in a way that will not only inform the intellect but also transform life.

Tremper Longman III

Wright has never been more eloquent and persuasive than in this book that… caps a long, productive theological career.

Booklist (starred review)

Wright is a scholar who writes as if the material he engages actually matters for the church and the world it lives in… and has again done the church a great favor in presenting the gospel story as the story of God and his kingdom on earth.

Englewood Review of Books

"Wright has never been more eloquent and persuasive than in this book that… caps a long, productive theological career."

Booklist