Wycliffe Hall today announces that the Wycliffe Hall Council intends to appoint NT Wright (The Rt Revd Prof Nicholas Thomas Wright) as Senior Research Fellow, as of 1 October 2019. NT Wright is currently Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at St Mary’s College, St Andrews in Scotland.
Revd Dr Michael Lloyd, Principal of Wycliffe Hall, said:
We are delighted that Tom will be joining us. Wycliffe aspires to be a centre for the intellectual renewal of the Church, and, through the Church, of society. I can think of no one who is better able to help us to make that aspiration a reality. Tom has reshaped the field of New Testament studies, he has defended the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection with a thoroughness and sophistication never before attempted, and his impact reaches far beyond the boundaries of the church by his engagement with the traditional and new forms of media. He will help foster an intellectual fearlessness and a disciplined spirituality in the next generation of church leaders. We look forward to welcoming him and Maggie back to Oxford.
NT Wright (b.1948), who prepared for ordained ministry at Wycliffe Hall, is one of the world’s leading New Testament scholars, and a world authority on the apostle Paul. Wright is the author of over 80 academic and lay-level books such as Surprised by Hope, The Day The Revolution Began and Paul: A Biography (writing under the name Tom Wright for a general audience). Wright is ordained in the Church of England and, among other roles, served as Bishop of Durham between 2003 – 2010. Since 2010, NT Wright has been Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St Andrews. He is much in demand as a lecturer around the world and author of the bestselling For Everyone commentary series and the New Testament For Everyone Bible translation. In 2018, Wright delivered the prestigious Gifford Lectures, soon to be published as History and Eschatology: Jesus and the Promise of Natural Theology, entitled Discerning the Dawn: History, Eschatology and New Creation.
NT Wright was educated at Sedbergh School, then in Yorkshire, where he specialised in Classics.
From 1968 to 1971, he studied Literae Humaniores at Exeter College, Oxford, receiving his BA with First Class Honours in 1971.
During that time, he was president of the undergraduate Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union. He won a half-blue for Rugby Fives, and represented Exeter College in Rugby, Squash and Rowing
From 1971 to 1973, he studied for the Anglican ministry at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, receiving his (Oxford) MA in 1975 at the end of this period.
In 1975, he became a Junior Research Fellow at Merton College, Oxford and later also junior chaplain. From 1978 to 1981, he was Fellow and Chaplain at Downing College, Cambridge. In 1981, he received his DPhil from Merton College, Oxford, for his thesis, “The Messiah and the People of God: A Study in Pauline Theology with Particular Reference to the Argument of the Epistle to the Romans”.
After this, he served as Assistant Professor of New Testament Studies at McGill University, Montreal (1981–1986), then as Chaplain, Fellow and Tutor at Worcester College and lecturer in New Testament in the University of Oxford (1986–1993).
He moved from Oxford to be Dean of Lichfield (1994–1999) and then returned briefly to Oxford as Senior Research Fellow of Merton College, before taking up his appointment as Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey in 2000.
In 2003, he became the Bishop of Durham.
In August 2010, he was appointed Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, which enabled him to concentrate on his academic and broadcasting work.
“Tom”, as he is universally known, has done a great deal for orthodox Christianity. He has unfortunately, as I understand it, sidelined the doctrine of justification by faith only. I stand to be corrected, but I think he has actually denied that doctrine. More astute minds might correct me and/or elaborate.
Tom certainly does not deny the doctrine of justification. Far from it! A look at his book entitled (of all things) “justification” is one way of seeing how he understands what he takes to be a crucial Pauline doctrine.
+Grant LeMarquand
Thanks, Grant. From my reading and listening to snippets of Wright and those who comment on him, he seems to deal with straw men on the one hand, whose ideas are decidedly not held by his main critics. On the other hand, I haven’t come across him using the phrase “justification by faith alone (or only)”. In saying that most theologians have been wrong on the topic, starting with Augustine, he seems to be putting himself at odds with Luther and Calvin, most other Reformers, most Puritans, the great confessions of faith, including the 39 Articles, and the more prominent evangelical scholars and preachers of the past couple of centuries. Back to my study.
David, I agree with what +Grant LeMarquand writes about N. T. Wright. Wright takes several pages early in that book”Justification” to clarify what his detractors/critics have written about him and his ideas. He makes it crystal clear that he agrees with many of the ideas of theologians. He leans more toward Luther than Calvin (his own words). I would summarize his book in saying that his ideas are perhaps clarifications of things that did not make sense. Ideas that theologians of earlier times had not really dealt with in their writings. Before you criticize Wright too harshly based on what his critics have written, I suggest you actually read his book ‘Justification’. I really liked it… [well the first half…. the second half delved quite deeply into scriptural interpretation and I did not read that].
I don’t intend to criticise N T Wright harshly! I would like to know whether he believes in justification by faith alone. As an Anglican, does he agree with Article XI? I write in fear and trembling of course, because I have reason to believe that bishops and archbishops read some of these comments.
Don’t be afraid, David. Any bishop or archbishop who believes himself to be above pondering the opinions (and experience) of ordinary people would certainly be unworthy to hold his office.
In fact, before reading your comments, I was about to offer a comment on how on earth someone could be appointed bishop of Durham without having served at least a decade or two in at least two different English parishes. We lesser mortals may quake a bit at offering a view regarding anything at all to do with someone of unquestioned academic brilliance or a daunting Christian reputation among his fellow clergy but we need to consider whether the worth of what the brilliance produces might not be more useful, or even more brilliant, if it were tempered by a wider experience of real life away from the dreaming spires.
I have ordered the book on justification. In a couple of weeks I’ll be an expert on NT.
He has strongly supported the doctrine. “The teaching of present justification is thus a central means whereby the fruits of the Spirit — love, joy, peace and the rest — may be produced.”
He has strongly supported the doctrine. “The teaching of present justification is thus a central means whereby the fruits of the Spirit — love, joy, peace and the rest — may be produced.”
I like Bp Wright. I’ve met him. I served as a priest under him. He seems to me to be a genuine Christian man with an honest heart (but the Lord knows…). He’s undeniably an influential scholar regardless of one’s views of his work. However, he made vows when he was consecrated a Bishop, and his departure from active episcopal ministry in the CofE resulted in the HoB becoming void of any real and authoritative orthodox voice (along with Nazir Ali’s departure). Personally, I don’t think his work will exercise much influence beyond his lifetime (very few have such influence), but the collapse of the CofE will take generations to rebuild (if it ever gets rebuilt – north Africa was once of an influential hotbed of Christianity)… Maybe if he had stayed active there would be no real difference in the CofE… Maybe he and Bp Nazir-Ali saw the writing on the wall… If that’s the case I’d appreciate more candour from him regarding that. When I served under his episcopal authority in Durham I was left with impression that Bishops ultimately have very little influence in their dioceses unless they are willing to shake things up and properly rankle people. There seem none willing to do so except liberal protestant bishops. Anyway, I have mixed feelings about this appointment. Academia is virtually, if not actually, beyond redemption. The Church needs top notch scholars on the ground in the local church preaching and teaching across the demographic range. As it is, too many Christian scholars disdain the ministry, opting instead to become detached in so called ivory towers, grappling with the sins of vanity and self-importance, which seem to have utterly infected academia in general, including our seminaries. Personally, I have next to no hope that Wycliffe Hall will actual contribute anything to the intellectual renewal of the church. It’s just too shot-through with theological incoherence, and is in league with an institution which has embraced theological incoherence.
A simple idea for consideration. Tom Wright believes that to understand the cross you need to look at the whole Bible. I think that to understand the whole Bible you need to look at the cross. I’m right. Why? Because the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and fearing God means bowing at the cross – dying with Jesus.
So penal substitution relies on nothing else to be understood. But other things rely on penal substitution to be understood.
To understand the cross by looking at the whole Bible is elitism. It’s what this article calls “intellectual renewal” – whatever that is. To understand the whole Bible by looking at the cross is the religion of every man. The fact that a five year old can have faith but Wright cannot tell the gospel to a five year old (in his interviews he cannot explain it to adults!) is telling.
I have enjoyed the several of Wright’s books I’ve read. Don’t necessarily agree, but I find his writing accessible, and well reasoned. My advice would be to read what he writes, to get an idea what he does and does not believe and teach, rather than others’ assessment of what he says.
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Major edit here to remove all the things I said thinking that Bp. Wright was coming to Wycliffe in Toronto.
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LOL, thanks LfxN….. that’s what I get for being so focused on things on my own side of the Atlantic. I saw “Wycliffe” and just went with the one I was more familiar with.
Correction: he’s going to Wycliffe Hall (Oxford) not Wycliffe College (Toronto).
As indicated above, I shall make an infallible pronouncement when Wright’s book on justification arrives in a few day’s time. I’ll even wait until I’ve read it before doing so!