Special guest Andy Crouch from Christianity Today magazine joins the podcast today to talk about the latest Christianity Today cover story on N.T. Wright. Who is this bearded British theologian, and why is he having such a huge impact on the church?
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Fascinating discussion.
I died at the ending of your closing song.
That is pretty much why we all still subscribe to magazines…
I was very encouraged to hear discussion of the New Testament as also, in conjunction with the Old Testament, being about Israel. Skye’s insights were very interesting and I generally agreed with him. As a messianic Jew, however, I don’t agree that the “marker” commandments of the Torah (dietary laws, Shabbat, etc.) are done away with. I believe that they are still incumbent upon Jews as a matter of covenant. As was somewhat alluded to by Skye and Andy Crouch in their discussion of N.T. Wright’s new opus, Paul was writing to help Gentile believers understand their role and place in the Kingdom of God. Romans 9-11 and the whole of Galatians discusses these matters, which are also addressed in Acts 10 and 15. Paul’s thrust is that Gentiles no longer, thanks to the death and resurrection of Messiah, have to convert to Judaism to be part of the people of God. By virtue of their belief, they are part of the Kingdom. However, that doesn’t make them Jews, at least covenantally. That, to Paul, is the mystery of the Gospel, that Gentiles are brought near to God without becoming Jews. You can read a clear exposition of these ideas in “The Holy Epistle to the Galatians” by D. Thomas Lancaster, available at http://ffoz.com/the-holy-epistle-to-the-galatians-book.html. He also discusses related ideas in his new audio teaching “What About the New Covenant?”
If God flooded Noah’s region with Coca-cola, would he have gotten drunk after getting off the ark? With the N.T. Wright discussion, I haven’t read his works yet but beware of the Judaizers. God’s promises to Israel were fulfilled. He has established a new covenant. Many want to keep you bound to the old covenant system that was destroyed. Wright’s work on Paul must be very interesting if he focuses so much on the people of God from Abraham’s seed only. I wish that phrase was clarified-‘people of God’. Most Judaizer/Messianics do not like Paul and ignore him based on the doctrines he taught. Did Paul create new laws or reveal them only from what the Spirit taught him personally or how Jesus lived or instructed that was not recorded in the gospels? It can be hard to see how the tree should grow after being grafted in. Thanks for the different point of view to view..
@ Curtis. You really should read Wright. He is not a Judaizer at all, but rather, focuses on understanding how the people to whom and about whom, the Bible was written viewed things. I’m pretty sure Judaizing and Anglicanism are not compatible. 😉
You can find his podcast on itunes if you want to start familiarizing yourself with some of his ideas. There are a lot of sessions in itunes University too. Go slow and digest. He speaks English (as opposed to Americanish which I am more used to) and has a different framework than us yanks.
I agree about the Catholic Church needs to emphasize a personal relationship with Jeses. My parish is doing the Alpha courses and even have Alpha 201 which my pastor created. Fr. John Riccardo went to the Alpha Leadership conference in London a few weeks ago. I saw the video of Fr John on stage thanking Nicky Gumbel for Aloha.
A church was created with the thinking that if Indiana’s unknown law protected faithful practices, then it should also permit marijuana run through as take a part in of a broader spiritual philosophy.