A celebrated author and theologian who was Dean of Lichfield before a stint as Bishop of Durham returned to the city today.
Styled NT Wright on his academic theology books and simply Tom Wright on more digestible ones, the former head of Lichfield Cathedral returned to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of an ecumenical partnership in the town where he also preached at its inauguration in 1994. . Wade Street Church in the city centre formed from the joining of URC and Baptist congregations, with the endorsement of the Anglican leader.
When news of his planned visit got out, the committee of Lichfield Speaker’s Corner suggested he be asked to be the speaker for one of their monthly summer events and so, with the title of Faith in Tomorrow’s Britain, he took to the podium at 11am.
Having listened politely, the audience of about 80, plus passers-by, were given the opportunity to ask questions:
(Editor’s note: Wright’s comments on renewal and free churches comes towards the close of the video)
Good for Bishop Tom Wright, and encouraging that someone stepped up to the plate and invited him to come and speak to this group. As one gets older there is a certain joy in going back to places and people we were once involved with, and finding that the Spirit of God is still moving amongst them.
I also agree that there are signs of revival and renewal We sometimes lose sight of the fact that our God is never overwhelmed by circumstances or defeated by the wiles of the evil one.
It says in Psalm 34,
“The eyes of the Lord are towards the righteous and his ears towards their cry.16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near to the broken-hearted and saves the crushed in spirit.19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”
When we the people of God recognise the direness of our situation and begin to pray, God responds. As God says to Elijah, “Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
A theological mystery perhaps, but God is always looking for those who will serve Him with their whole hearts. So we see men of courage and integrity like Gavin Ashenden , George and Kevin on ‘Anglicans Unscripted.’We see men like Jules Gomes and many other clergy and laity standing up for the Gospel of our Lord.
Despise not the day of small beginnings and pray for more people to stand up for the King of Kings!
Let’s hope we hear more along this line from +Tom Wright in the near future. I don’t agree with him on everything, but have found his writing to be accessible and enjoyable- and frequently instructive.
I have only one of Bishop Wright’s books, and after reading it I decided I wouldn’t buy any more..!
We all have our own brand of Biblical theology and at some point(s!) we will disagree with each other. What is needed is that we discipline ourselves to accept that it is okay to disagree over the peripherals.
It is a weakness of the Western Church that we tend to squabble over minor issues instead of uniting around the Lordship of Christ and promoting the basic Gospel.
I hope we will see more Christians of the calibre of Bishop Wright speaking up for the faith.
Bp. Wright is making amends for the days he and Marcus Borg were putting on dog and pony shows between orthodox and far out whacko humanistic Christianity. Never understood why academics think truth is determined by the winner of a debate and give a platform to screwballs. Do a little research and you’ll find Borg has more in common with Mormonism than Christianity.
ReebHerb,
Do remember that at the time, Borg was, as well as university professor and architect of much of the “Jesus Seminar” heresy, the canon theologian of a TEC diocese (Oregon). His work had spread through most TEC seminaries, and his followers would include KJS, Thew Forrester, and most of the current HoB of the Episcopal Church. +Wright was not “giving Borg a platform”- he was trying to take some of the platform back in order to present an alternative to the progressive heresy that had taken over TEC and ELCA and spreading to England and throughout the Anglican Communion. Granted, he failed to bring TEC back to orthodoxy, but at least +Wright was able to strengthen the orthodox Evangelicals within and beyond TEC, and many of the generation inspired by +Wright’s standing up to Borg are now clergy in ACNA, other denominations, and even a few still in TEC.
The only other Anglican who could have stood up to Borg (who was a gifted and intelligent man…wrong on a lot of things, but gifted and intelligent) was +Rowan Williams- and he was busy debating Spong.
TJ, you’ve answered well and accurately.
The lesson to be learned is don’t dance with the devil. The devil is a snappy dancer.
Thank you Dr. Professional. Trying to work back into my “A game” which has been difficult amidst all the disruptive posts on Anglican Ink recently.
Been like a trip down memory lane here the last week or so- Stephen Noll, Matt Kennedy, a new TEC lawsuit, now NT Wright- its like 2007 all over again.
I did read the book Wright and Borg authored together. I remember Wright saying that he believed Borg loved Jesus too. I wasn’t aware of the Jesus Seminar stuff and developed my own distain for Borg through his own words. Yes I know Borg was a professor at Oregon State University and holding court with his priestess wife at the cathedral in Portland, OR while running Holy Land trips if my memory serves me. There is more to this Borg story that popped up 15 years after I read the book.
Marcus Borg was a post-Christian, not a Christian anymore. I understand why N. T. Wright felt the need to debate with him to show people his wrong beliefs. I believe that John Shelby Spong was probably even less Christian. A person who follows his beliefs doesn`t need to follow Christianity anymore.