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Loading ...After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters by N.T. Wright
If you want to write a Christian best-seller these days, there are a few tried-and-true methods. One is to write Christian self-help; how to have your “best life now.” Another is to write taking an extreme position on some theological matter or another, like how we need to change or die, or why we need to retrench in our received traditions or die. But what if the things that pique our ears are drowning out other, subtler – but absolutely crucial – themes in Christian spirituality, themes long-lost and long-overdue for recovery?
This is the conviction of New Testament scholar, gentle provocateur, and Anglican bishop of Durham, England N.T. Wright. Following up on his widely-acclaimed Simply Christian and Surprised by Hope, Wright poses a simple question: What is our purpose? If that question sounds familiar (see the above discussion about Christian bestsellers), Wright’s answer is decidedly unfamiliar in today’s spiritual and intellectual climate: Christ-like virtue in the here and now. And if that answer sounds boring, well, you haven’t heard it coming from Bishop Tom’s pen.
Wright dispels the common misconception that Christian living is nothing more than a checklist of dos and don’ts. Nor is it a prescription to “follow your heart” wherever it may lead. Instead, After You Believe reveals the Bible’s call for a revolution—a transformation of character that takes us beyond our earthly pursuit of money, sex, and power into a virtuous state of living that allows us to reflect God and live more worshipful, fulfilling lives.
In so doing, the question of what we’re doing in this ambiguous time between baptism and funeral becomes much less staid and much more invigorating, as we discover the essence of Kingdom living here and now.
Dan
In August of 1989, I was 27 years old and on a warm summer morning I literally said to myself, “I believe this stuff”. I had been reading the Bible to convince myself of its irrelevance when I realized Jesus is real. That began a wonderful 20 plus year journey. Ups and downs and ins and outs, I have never stopped learning more and more about the faith bestowed on me.
As I read “After You Believe” I couldn’t help thinking, “Where was this book when I first believed?” N.T. Wright has written a special little book about, “Why Christian character matters” and the importance of virtue. All wrapped in a package of gentle encouragement.
I thoroughly enjoy reading Wright’s works and this book was no different. It is never too late to learn new things (even 20 years later) and I wholeheartedly recommend “After You Believe”.
http://edan0889.blogspot.com/2010/03/after-you-believe.html
Mar 22nd, 2010
Carrie Bevell Partridge
The title of this book–*AFTER YOU BELIEVE: WHY CHRISTIAN CHARACTER MATTERS–is what drew me to it. As N.T. Wright acknowledges within these pages, there is very often an either/or factor among Christians. We either live our lives trying to legalistically adhere to a bunch of rules (though the rules vary from person to person), or we give very little thought or care to how we live, knowing that “God’s grace is sufficient” (which is true). But how we live between our conversion and our funeral very much does matter, and it is not found in either of these approaches. Wright reminds us that God will one day fully combine Heaven and Earth, but the process has already begun. And so has the transformation of character, or virtue.
Wright explains that “virtue is what happens when wise and courageous choices have become ‘second nature’ . . . Those who follow Jesus can begin to practice, in the present, the habits of heart and life which correspond to the way things are in God’s kingdom–the way they will be eventually, yes, but also the way they already are because Jesus is here . . . But virtue is always the result of work and cost” (pgs. 21, 105, 216).
Having virtue does not mean that we are to be sinless (not that we ever could be), nor is it simply a matter of following someone’s example–even Jesus’ example! Rather, we are to engage in what Wright calls “The Virtuous Circle”–which involves scripture, stories, examples, community, and practices–and our character will thus be transformed. Our thoughts, words, and actions will begin to reflect our love for God and for other people, and it will just be “second nature,” not our pursuit of following a list of rules.
Wright states, “The key is this: the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ does not grow automatically. The nine varieties of fruit do not suddenly appear just because someone has believed in Jesus, has prayed for God’s Spirit, and has then sat back and waited for ‘fruit’ to arrive . . . The point of using the term ‘fruit,’ after all, is that these are things which grow from within rather than being imposed from without” (pgs. 195, 206).
I had never read any of N.T. Wright’s books before this one, but I am anxious now to read his previous works. Although I was a bit intimidated to dive into this Bible scholar’s teachings, I found that this book was challenging but not arduous, complex but not insurmountable. Truthfully, the only negative aspects of the book, in my opinion, are that it becomes somewhat repetitive and that Wright continually tells the reader of things he is going to talk about later in the book. (I’d rather he just let me know when I get there.)
Overall, this is an excellent book and one that I recommend every Christian read.
*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the product mentioned above for free by The Ooze Viral Bloggers in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Mar 23rd, 2010
tiffanymalloy
http://tiffanymalloy.blogspot.com/2010/03/nt-wrights-after-you-believe.html
I got the privilege of reviewing N.T. Wright’s newest book: After You Believe. In this book, Wright explores the questions- what are we hear for? how does character develop? how does the new testament teach us about who we are and the role of virtue? This book is an easy read (unlike some of his other books) and is immediately applicable to our everyday lives. This is a book about kingdom living- not living by rules and regulations- but the Spirit of God, allowing him to get inside of us and BE the humans that we were originally created to be.
This would be a great book to walk through with a new believer or maybe a college student who is really struggling to figure out how to live life in the new kingdom. Wright leaves the reader with a feeling of freedom, mission, and hope. He uses illustrations that many will be able to identify with — because these are the same questions that we ask in our hearts and in our communities.
This is one to put on your wishlist- check it out at http://www.amazon.com/After-You-Believe-Christian-Character/dp/0061730556
*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the product mentioned above for free by The Ooze Viral Bloggers in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Mar 23rd, 2010
edwardgoode
There are several authors that I have struggled to connect with over the years. Barbara Brown Taylor is one of them – until her most recent book, An Altar in the World, I had never actually finished one of her books. Its nothing against her writing personally, but it just never seemed to connect with me. NT Wright is another of those authors – I have tried reading several of his books in the past and ran into the same thing that I did with BBT – I just didn’t seem to connect or get drawn into the his writings.
I wish that I could say that I had a revelatory moment with Wright’s newest book, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters, but honestly it didn’t happen. Technically I did finish the book, but it was not without a lot of skimming and feeling like I was going over ground that had already been covered.
Wright has an excellent point as the thesis of this book and I completely resonate with his central point. Our character as Christians matters and matters absolutely. He begins the book with an illustration of a conversation with a young man who basically asked Wright several years ago, “Ok, I believe in Christ, so now what?” This young man was struggling with the “what’s next” of Christianity where he had heard so much about accepting Christ as Savior and receiving the gift of new life, but he wasn’t hearing a lot more in the church he was attending about the “what’s next.”
I 100% resonate with Wright’s central premise of the book that it definitely matters what’s next – not in a legalistic “earn your salvation” type of way, but in a life-change sort of way. Our character matters, how we are reflecting the reality of Christ’s work in the here and now matters, and not just being sure that our names are written in heaven. So, I resonate with Wright’s overall point, but as I have struggled with in the past, I did not resonate with the writing itself.
Wright makes many excellent points throughout the book and I do recommend the read, especially if you are asking a similar question about “what’s next”. It may connect with you in a way that it did not wth me. I am thankful for Wright’s book and for the point he is making because I think its a message that needs to be heard and taken in.
http://www.edwardgoode.net/2010/03/24/after-you-belive-review/
Mar 24th, 2010
Chris Wiles
Wright’s latest work is entitled After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters, the third in a series, preceded by Simply Christian and Surprised by Hope. Whenever there is a new release by N.T. Wright, the content is guaranteed to be both substantive and challenging.
While I generally ascribe to the reformed theological tradition, Wright comes from both an Anglican background as well as embracing the “new perspective” on Paul that seeks to relegate “works of the law” to ethnic exclusivity. Additionally, while he does passingly affirm the penal substitutionary view, he tends to emphasize the Christus Victor motif of the atonement.
Thus, in reviewing this book I must simultaneously affirm these soteriological and ecclesiological differences as well as seek to find areas of agreement, and I’m pleased to say that I found much to appreciate not only in Wright’s usual debonair literary style, but also his lucid articulation of the call to Christian character.
THE FOCUS OF THE BOOK
Wright defines character as “…the transforming, shaping, and marking of a life and its habits ,” which stands in marked contrast to the equal and opposite extremes of “rule-keeping” and simply “being true to yourself” (p. 7).
Character must be seen as situated in terms of the overarching Christian experience, which for Wright is governed by the knowledge of the union of heaven and earth. He therefore suggests three options for Christian living:
Option one: The Wait for Heaven Option
Option two: The Work for the Kingdom Option
Option three: The Live out by way of Anticipating the Kingdom
As you might expect, Wright advocates the latter option. True, these options are oversimplified almost to the point of being caricatures, but to be fair Wright’s broad brushstrokes are not intended to form a complete portrait.
The kingdom – both the present manifestation and its coming fulfillment – is the stage on which character is developed, always in the context of the mission of God. He writes:
“We urgently need to recapture the New Testament’s vision of a genuinely ‘good’ human life as a life of character formed by God’s promised future, as a life with that future- shaped character lived within the ongoing story of God’s people, and, with that, a freshly worked notion of virtue.” (p. 57)
Therefore, virtue is the business of living as “priests and rulers” of God’s kingdom program.
[...]
VIRTUE
A great deal of the book focuses on the value of “virtue,” accompanied by a discussion on how this concept has been lost in our culture. He emphasizes both the three cardinal virtues as well as the “nine varieties of fruit” and the unity achieved through virtue.
This discussion felt a bit verbose at times, and was strongly colored by Wright’s kingdom perspective. Additionally, I was nowhere else more fully aware of our theological differences, most specifically my tendency (“though it is not I, but the reformed theologian in me”) to draw a distinction between justification and sanctification, a distinction not drawn in Wright’s perspective. This is to say nothing of the strong synergistic bent (the view that God and man work together to produce character), which while I cautiously affirm I would have liked to have heard a better articulation of pneumatology – how the Spirit influences this process, a subject that receives only passing mention in the context of the book.
However it is also this focus on virtue that leads to many excellent thoughts that thoughtful Christians would do well to listen to. “Love,” for instance, is a word that is “trying to do so many different jobs at the same time that someone really ought to sit down with it and teach it how to delegate (p. 183)…Love is not a ‘duty,’ even our highest duty. It is our destiny.” (p. 188)
Elsewhere, Wright speaks of freedom and morality, claiming that “moral constraints” are not restrictive, but “create the conditions for [true freedom] to flourish.” (p. 234)
And these issues are discussed with many excellent examples, ranging from the heroism of the pilot landing his plane on the Hudson to recent medical research in the field of neruoplasticity.
The key, of course, is understanding this virtue as “second nature.” In one especially memorable passage Wright describes the life of virtue to learning to play music, learning to play the notes the composer intended rather than his own interpretation.
[...]
ISSUES NEEDING CONSIDERATION
Wright’s focus on spiritual formation as participation in the life of the church (which in turn participates in the life of the kingdom) often leads to strong inclinations toward social justice. I strongly affirm social justice as a response to God’s grace as well as an active demonstration of neighborliness (Luke 10:36-37).
The problem, it seems, is that when justification has been redefined in the new perspective in nationalistic terms (rather than the righteousness of God achieved through Christ), then evangelism will invariably become subsumed in working for the kingdom.
Which brings us back to my earlier remarks of the differences I have with Wright, which I will not detail here.
CONCLUSION
The book is worth reading. Those who appreciated Dallas Willard’s The Divine Conspiracy will find a similarly substantive look at spiritual formation – albeit from a different theological perspective.
It is also a book to be read discerningly – those unfamiliar with Wright’s theological leanings may have difficulty navigating some of the book’s content. Additionally, some of the exegetical material may be a bit challenging for the lay person.
This is a good resource for the pastor, or even a small group study provided the leader is suitably skilled to exercise theological discernment.
View original post: http://thornscompose.wordpress.com/2010/03/24/after-you-believe-why-christian-character-matters-n-t-wright-review/
Chris Wiles is an avid writer and speaker. You can read his blog at http://www.thornscompose.wordpress.com or follow him on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/wilescj.
Mar 24th, 2010
ShawnaAtteberry
Have you ever thought: “I’m saved, not what?” Or “I know I’m a Christian, but there has to be more to Christian living than waiting around for heaven.” If so, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters* is the book for you. Bishop N. T. Wright (Anglican Bishop of Durham, England) has taken up the topic that most Protestants have been shying away from or vilifying for the last 500 years: good works. First Wright picks up with the topic of his last book, Surprised by Hope, which corrected one of the biggest fables of Christianity: that heaven is the ultimate destination of the Christian. Our ultimate hope is not as disembodied spirits somewhere out there. The true Christian hope is bodily resurrection and inhabiting the new earth and new heavens. After You Believe tells us what difference our ultimate hope makes in living this life in this body (both individual and corporate) on this earth. Because we are called to be priests and one day will rule creation with Christ in the new earth, we need to learn the ways and language of that new world and that new way of life.
The way we learn to live this new life and prepare for our roles in God’s new creation, is through learning and living the Christian virtues of faith, hope, and love. This goes beyond a “keeping the rules” mentality or the “if you go with your heart you can’t go wrong” philosophy. Like learning a new language or learning how to play an instrument, this is not easy or natural at first. But the more we keep committing ourselves to choosing the ways of faith, hope, and love, the easier it becomes until it is second nature. Wright ties the Christian virtues to the fruit of the Spirit: “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, greatheartedness, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self control” (p. 194). He notes that “‘the fruit of the Spirit’ does not grow automatically. The nine varieties of fruit do not suddenly appear just because someone has believed in Jesus, has prayed for God’s Spirit, and has then sat back and waited for ‘fruit’ to arrive” (p. 195, emphasis author’s). Just like gardening which takes pruning, watering, mulching, and looking out for blight and mildew to grow plants, we each have to cultivate a life in which the fruit of the Spirit can grow. For those who think that the Spirit’s fruit does come automatically Wright points them to the last characteristic on the list: self-control. No one comes by self-control automatically: it’s something everyone has to work on and develop throughout his or her life.
The final chapter of the book describes how virtue can be practiced, and how we learn to start living as the priests and co-rulers that we will be in the new creation. Wright calls it the virtuous circle, and the circle includes Scripture, stories, examples, community, and practices. It is by engaging with this circle as both individuals and communities, that our character will be transformed and loving God and loving others will become our second nature. These practices will prepare us for the new language and the new way of life that we will have in the new creation. There is an excellent “For Further Reading” appendix for those who want to delve more into virtue, Christian virtue, ethics, and character.
My few criticisms about the book have more to do with style than content. Wright does get repetitive, and you go over a lot of the same ground again. I was also annoyed when he would bring up a subject then say we would get to that later on in the book. It happens numerous times, and I thought: wait till we get to that part before bringing it up. There are also several occasions where he makes a comment, then says something to the effect of, but we can’t go into that here; it’s another book. If those asides are any indication, there are several more books on the way.
Overall I thought this was a good, informative book, and it starts to fill a gaping void in Protestant practice: where do good works and character fit into the Christian life without becoming something we have to do to earn salvation. I recommend it for anyone who wants to know more about how to live as a Christian in this body, in this world, at this time.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the product mentioned above for free by The Ooze Viral Bloggers in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Original Post: http://www.shawnaatteberry.com/2010/03/25/book-review-after-you-believe-by-n-t-wright/
Shawna R. B. Atteberry is a writer, storyteller, and theologian. You can read more of her writing at http://www.ShawnaAtteberry.com.
Mar 25th, 2010
rckhff
I received N.T. Wright’s latest book After You Believe from Ooze Viral Bloggers. This is probably the first book I’ve received from that program that I don’t have any major disagreements with. In it Wright tries to show what the future has to do with the here and now. His goal is not to lay out some sort of Christian ethical rulebook. Rather this book is about the formation of Christian character. Wright attempts to travel a path between a rules-based approach and a authenticity-based approach to the Christian way of life. This book is definitely worth a read.
Mar 26th, 2010
danieljmjones
Book Recommendation; After You Believe by N. T. Wright
The premise of what N.T. Wright sets out to do in After You Believe is best summed up in the subtitle, “Why Christian Character Matters”. This is a fair and honest question that deserves the 280 pages that Wright dedicates in exploring this question. In a world of propositional faith within western Christianity, (Problem? Sin! Solution? Jesus!), this question seems to beg us for an answer. One may be surprised by the direction that Wright takes this premise. You will not find a list of do’s and don’ts. Instead, as a seasoned archeologist uses the finest tools and due diligence to uncover an ancient civilization, Wright too uncovers the New Testament world in relation to Christian character.
Wright argues that Christian character is not something that can be accomplished in rules and laws. Yet, Christian character also cannot be accomplished by spontaneity of the heart either. (You may find forms of this ongoing/polarized conversation in many churches today). What Wright does purpose is an active aligning of ourselves to the unfolding story in God’s kingdom. As we do so, our character, or virtue, will be shaped by our hope for a resurrection. Wright points to faith, hope, and love along with the fruit of the Spirit, to give a frame work that will allow “virtue” to flourish.
What do we do after we believe? If you are like me the pat answers to this question have never sufficed. Some say we should wait for heaven and bring as many people with us. But is there more? Are we just here for good behavior and a shared morality? If these questions resonate with you, then After You Believe is an excellent starting point for a proper framing of purpose within the context of virtue.
Original Post:
http://audaciousliturgy.blogspot.com/2010/03/book-recommendation-after-you-believe.html
-Dan Jones
Mar 27th, 2010
cirdog
There is no shortage of books for new Christians. Often these books take on a “how to” feel and focus on points of doctrine and spiritual disciplines. While learning to pray, study Scripture, and live in community are essential to the Christian life, what is often missed by such an approach is the broader picture. Why are we here? What is our purpose? Are Christians simply biding time, going through the motions until Christ returns and rescues us from this mess?
N.T. Wright’s latest book, though titled “After You Believe,” is aimed rather emphatically not at newer Christians, but at those struggling to deepen their faith. It’s part of a growing canon of literature that addresses Evangelicalism’s saggy middle. How is it that we have become so doctrinally dogmatic and so culturally irrelevant? Says Wright,
“Many Christians have so emphasized the need for conversion, for the opening act of faith (“believing that Jesus died for me” or whatever), that they have a big gap in their vision of what being a Christian is all about.”
This “big gap” has left many churches detached from the real world, without significant societal influence (save in the realm of metaphysics or philosophy), and without a compelling, comprehensive vision for the perpetuation of the Gospel. I mean, is making people happy and prosperous — or enforcing biblical commands — the only validation for our existence?
After You Believe is not a how-to book, but a study of Christian virtue and its underlying purpose. Wright springboards into this study by contrasting two Christian people. The first defines their existence in terms of “freedom,” following their heart and living free from the tyranny of external rules. The second is tethered to “law,” the application of rules and adherence to biblical strictures. These opposing paradigms of “internal freedom” and “external law” form a scaffolding for Wright’s discussion.
Belief has become the end-all for many Christians, with behavior often taking a back seat. As long as I believe the right things, we say, everything else will fall in place. Sadly, this point of view has led to a Church that is theologically orthodox and behaviorally flaky. Wright broadens our perspective to include becoming. Behavior, living virtuous lives, is the means to becoming what we are meant to be. Virtue is not just a subjective state we individually define. Neither is it something that one artificially achieves through obedience to pointless moral commands. Rather, virtue is an “anticipation” or “foreshadowing” of our future, heavenly existence. We don’t pursue virtue to get to heaven or simply because God said we should behave ourselves down here, but because it manifests our truest nature and our eternal state.
This was my first encounter reading N.T. Wright and, while After You Believe is an important book, it is not a light read. The concepts here are worthy of prolonged meditation, for both old and new believers. But as someone with a moderate interest in theology, I still found myself backtracking, re-reading, and grappling with Wright’s ideas. This was good. I only wish that the discussion in After You Believe would have been a little more accessible to the lay reader.
Mike Duran
Mar 28th, 2010
trooperdog
N.T. Wright, the Church of England’s Bishop of Durham, has become one of the most prominent theologians of our time. His books, Simply Christian and Surprised by Hope have become standards for understanding Christianity today. His newest book, After You Believe, is a fantastic study of Christian character. The subtitle of the book, “Why Christian Character Matters” is an important idea for anyone in the Church to consider. In a time when “Christian character” either seems to polarize our society or get blurred with the prevailing culture, this question is of utmost importance.
Wright is careful to make it clear that true Christian character is not about upholding a list of do’s and don’ts and yet it is also not something that is left to the whim of someone simply trying to pursue his/her good. As Wright makes clear, what it really comes down to is one word: virtue. As we align ourselves with the unfolding story of God going on all around us…and as we participate in basic Christian practices, virtue will be developed in our lives. Add in faith, hope, love, and the Fruit of the Spirit, and virtue will begin to come second nature. THAT, my friends, is the goal of this book, and according to Wright, the whole point of how we should live. Our goal is to have virtue become second nature…so that virtue naturally flows from us when choices are made.
After You Believe is not a book for the casual Christian who goes to church because “that’s what you do”. This book is for people who desire to become mature disciples of Jesus and who pursue in-depth reading to help in the maturation process. For those who like to read such deeper books, I highly recommend it!
http://chrishydeonline.wordpress.com
*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the product mentioned above for free by The Ooze Viral Bloggers in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Mar 28th, 2010
Canadian Evangelical
Bishop Wright’s latest book will surely be one of his least controversial. In this volume we get very little about “the New Perspective on Paul” or on “life after life after death.” What we do get is in many ways a quite old fashioned book on an old fashioned but perennially necessary topic: Christian living.
How do we live as Christians? What should our moral standards be, how do we articulate them, and where do they come from? What do we do when they conflict with the lifestyles of others? These are the sort of questions that the bishop wants us to be able to answer for ourselves by the time we finish this book.
Bishop Wright’s approach is Aristotelian, centering on the practice of virtues which enable us to flourish as human beings. Of course, these virtues and how we practice them will be different for Christians than for Aristotle. By leading us through a tour of the New Testament, and in particular the Pauline writings, Tom Wright shows us what the virtues are for Christians and where our ultimate telos (goal) lies. In traditional evangelical terms, this could be expressed as the process of sanctification leading to Christian maturity.
This is a very fine book indeed, one that will repay careful study. However, I suspect that as well as being one of the Bishop’s least controversial books it will also, unfortunately, be one of his least read.
Mar 30th, 2010
mattdabbs
I am working my way through Wright’s newest book, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters and I have to admit it is not quite what I thought it was going to be. Of the dozen+ books I have read by Wright I have always been pleased. By the end of this book I expect that to be the case but so far it hasn’t met my expectations. Expectations are powerful. Even if they are misguided or not based on anything they can still leave us wanting something other than what we find. I don’t know why I thought it, but I did…the first thought I had when I heard the title was that this book might be helpful for someone who has recently become a Christian or is seeking God and wants to know how to work through the process of becoming more Christ-like in a helpful and practical way.
So far I haven’t found that at all. The first clue that should have warned me was that this book was written under the name N.T. rather than Tom. I think I was hoping to read a book by Tom Wright, rather than his more scholarly counterpart – N.T. What we have instead is not knee deep in scholasticism but I would not say that it is all that accessible to someone just starting out. I can’t say it is a complaint because the book just wasn’t written to address what I thought it might.
Another thing that stands out about this book is that Wright has gotten wordier than ever. The first 25 pages can be summed up as follows – Most people either try to live by the rules or neglect the rules in order to find out what it takes to be true to themselves (their ambitions, dreams, etc). Neither of these things really get at what God is after – a transformed heart where the inside is transformed by someone from the outside. At times he tells three or more stories in a row to make one point. It just seems excessive and makes the book that much easier to put back on the shelf.
One thing he has alluded to is answering the question of why Christian character matters in a Christian culture that insists there is nothing we can do that has anything to do with our salvation. The whole saved by grace alone line is one that needs to be better informed because as Wright repeatedly points out, character really does matter as it points to the heart of one who is actually in process of being transformed by God.
But I am hanging in there. I am not done reading this book and I expect there are some very good things on the way. I will keep you posted along the way.
Mar 30th, 2010
pat.hannon
http://www.embracethegodlife.com
Original post: http://www.embracethegodlife.com/post/484934046/after-you-believe-by-nt-wright
New Testament scholar and prolific author N. T. Wright’s latest book is After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters. I was happy to receive a review copy through the Ooze Bloggers program. I am trying to be more selective in the books I take on to review (although some days I just can’t say no to a free book). This book is definitely worth the time investment. So much so that I’m anticipating several posts that develop out of this book instead of my normal 200-word review.
Wright sees After You Believe as third in a line with Simply Christian and Surprised by Hope. Simply Christian serves as Wright’s primer to the Christian faith, laying out the basics of Christian belief. In Surprised by Hope, Wright asks: what happens when we die? With After You Believe Wright tackles the time between. What happens after you believe? You’ve professed faith in Christ, now what? What is the goal of life between baptism and heaven?
Wright starts by giving two common answers to this question. One option is that Christians follow the rules. You’ve committed your life to Christ, now follow the rules as best as you can. The second option is to claim freedom in Christ and live “true to yourself”. Wright suggests there is another option that transcends mere rule keeping or following your heart. Instead, Wright says the Christian life is a journey of the transformation of character.
Yes, we will keep the rules of Christian living, but out of our character, not as an external obligation. And we will live authentically, but only when our character has been transformed such that choosing the good becomes second nature for us.
If transformation of character doesn’t occur through the following rules or through following our heart, how does this happen? I’ll enter into Wright’s answer with my next post.
Mar 30th, 2010
Mark
I have recently been enjoying N. T. Wright’s latest book, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters.
In this insightful work, Wright declares that there is much more to Christian conduct than “just keeping the rules” on one hand, or “just being yourself” on the other. He says Christian character is a matter of virtue. . . or Christlikeness. . . or living as Kingdom people.
The good bishop’s emphasis on virtue reminds me of another Anglican — John Wesley (although Wesley uses other words, it’s the same concept of heart holiness.)
As usual, Wright brings it back around to eschatology. We are called to live virtuous lives, as a reflection of the Kingdom that has already come (in Christ) — and WILL come in fullness.
We are Kingdom people — and thus, our lives should reflect this citizenship.
If we’re falling short, we need to keep practicing! As Peter Bohler told John Wesley (my paraphrase), “Preach it until you have it, and then. because you have it, you will preach it.”
Or, “Practice it until you have it, and then, because you have it, you will practice it.”
Mar 31st, 2010
jessemedina
What now?
As post-conversion people – that is, Christians – how should we live? And how do we know how to live?
Do we strive to be as authentic as possible, being true to who we really are as humans at the core of which is the image of God? Or do we strive to keep the rules?
These are the questions N.T. Wright explores in his newest AFTER YOU BELIEVE and the same answer applies to all of these questions. But before we nail down just what that answer is, I want to frame this in the larger conversation which Wright started in his previous book, SURPRISED BY HOPE and which he rehashes in this one.
This world is not all there is.
We know that much (well, most of us do). But neither is heaven as a disembodied other-wordly existence all we have to hope for. Instead, it is the life after life after death – the new heavens and the new earth. That is our ultimate destination and we will be there with resurrected bodies.
This, Wright maintains, is not a different goal from what God started in the Garden with Adam and Eve as though, once they ate the forbidden fruit, God scrapped that idea altogether. Quite the opposite, the restoration of the Garden – where humans are in right relationship with God, one another, and the rest of creation – that is the goal we are moving towards and the one which Jesus inaugurated in his life, death, and resurrection.
For many of us, that message in itself was a breath of fresh air. We’re not just waiting around for Jesus to come get us and take us away to some better place. What we do actually matters.
But how?
That’s what Wright seeks to answer through this work. But he gives in to neither the true-to-self-ers or the rule-keepers. Jesus, he demonstrates, said neither, “Here are the rules you need to obey” or “What you need to do is follow your heart, your dream.”
Instead, he said something quite simple…and profound: “Follow me.”
Whereas most of us fumble around our lives somewhere between keeping the rules because we think God wants us to and pursuing our dreams and fulfillment, Jesus’ call transcends both while encapsulating and deconstructing them as well.
And the call is to a particular type of character, what Aristotle called virtue, but as Wright demonstrates, a different kind of virtue entirely (though not completely unrelated). The call is to develop the character and virtue of Jesus which is for the purpose of one’s own happiness or fulfillment, but which puts happiness in its rightful place as the byproduct of participation in the Kingdom of God.
These are not two different conversations as some of us suppose. Our lives and actions are not as disconnected from God’s plan of redemption as we often belief. In fact, they are integral. To use Wright’s own analogy, this Christian character/virtue is perhaps best understood as the language of God’s now but not yet kingdom. It will shape everything we do in eternity as we live the way we were meant to in the restored Garden. But we can begin speaking it now, too.
Even more, our learning to speak this language now is actually being used by God as he redeems the whole cosmos.
And it revolves around one stumbling block: rules. Should we strive to keep them or not? And why?
Wright dives deep into some of these pressing questions offering deep theological exegesis in easy-to-understand language even while analyzing and critiquing psychology, philosophy, and Christian history itself. The book is densely packed with insight that chances are readers will find themselves experiencing “A-ha!” moments more often than not.
The result is a profoundly deep work with the potential to literally change the lives of Christians, offering them something which actually makes sense…for once!
It is not without work, though. Wright is verbose and takes his time taking his readers on intellectual and philosophical journeys so that his major points have the ability to stick. If you’re a skimmer, this is the not the book for you. After You Believe requires a concerted effort to focus on the text. But fear not, Wright has a conversational, almost poetic, style and, if you’re willing to stick with him, it is undoubted that you’ll find yourself loving his work.
For those familiar with Wright, this work is right up there with Surprised by Hope. For those unfamiliar…just know this: this book will offer you more than ten of the typical Christian books written by today’s popular authors.
If you want a book that encourages, inspires, and challenges – particularly on an intellectual level – pick up After You Believe.
You won’t regret it.
*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the product mentioned above for free by The Ooze Viral Bloggers in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Apr 4th, 2010
kragtbakker
I was reading NT Wright’s Surprised by Hope around Easter last year and I remember thinking that the themes of the book were appropriate – we won’t just become disembodied spirits, but rather renewed bodies on a renewed earth and heaven. A friend’s comment rang true after I finished the book: that’s all fine and good, but what about here and now? It seems that Wright tackles that question in his latest book, After You Believe.
“…part of the problem is that for many centuries, Christians have assumed that virtually the only point in Jesus’ death was ‘to save us from our sins,’ … in God’s kingdom human beings are rescued, are delivered from their sin, in order to take their place…not only as receivers of God’s forgiveness and new life, but also as agents of it.” (p.112)
Read more:
http://www.larynandjanel.com/blog/after-you-believe-by-nt-wright
Apr 5th, 2010
BLePort
There are many things that have been said about this book and many more that will be said. I want to emphasize an important, possible pragmatic function for this book. If you are a professor of ethics, or you are teaching a class on Christian living for your local church, this book should be highly considered as a supplemental text book if not a primary one.
I say this because I have sat in multiple ethics classes where ethics were equated with rules, precautions, or mere theories on morality. Some of this was good; some of it was useless. In the end the downside of many of the texts that I have been asked to read is a simple one: I am left asking ‘but what about this scenario or that scenario’ because pure principles alone will not suffice when we are considering all the possible more conundrums one might face.
N.T. Wright avoids this roadblock by asking us to think about ethics from the perspective of being part of God’s act of ‘new creation’. This moves the discussion from rules and regulations to eschatology. It is ethics being lived because there is an important metanarrative being written to which our day to day behaviors are contributing. We cannot fluctuate between antinomianism and legalism. We must seek virtue because we are to live as the people of God who are part of God’s bringing forth of the kingdom of God.
So I will let you read the many other fine reviews here for details on the content of the book. As for this review I hope I was able to highlight an important function of the book. On the other hand, I will be saying more about the content over time so please feel free to visit my blog at http://nearemmaus.wordpress.com .
Apr 12th, 2010
DashHouse
It’s hard to know what to make of N.T. Wright sometimes. He’s a brilliant theologian and compelling writer. He’s quoted by evangelicals on topics like the resurrection, and yet distrusted by some when it comes to books like Justification. This explains why someone like Trevin Wax feels the need to begin a book review explaining how to read a book by someone like Wright.
Whatever you think of Wright, he’s always worth reading. And Wright’s latest, After You Believe, is no exception. It’s third in a series of books that includes Simply Christian and Surprised by Hope. Having explained why Christianity makes sense and what really happens when we die, Wright now focuses on the question of how Christians should live in the present. In short, this is a book on virtue, specifically Christian virtue. It asks how our characters can be “shaped, together and individually, to become the human beings God meant us to be.”
There’s a lot of ground to cover. Wright points past mere rule-keeping to the transformation of character. He examines the ancient concept of virtue, and wrestles with how the Christian understanding of virtue is different from other views. It has much in common, but it also has radical differences. Wright understands that the transformation of character is a slowly forming thing, similar to learning a new language or learning to play a musical instrument. It feels strange at first, but slowly becomes second nature.
You can’t talk about these issues without confronting counterfeits. So Wright dismantles some views that are prevalent today: that virtue is discovering the real you buried deep inside (a modern version of Gnosticism), or that it’s just a matter of living authentically and spontaneously without any rules. He argues that character is formed through the kingdom-establishing work of Jesus and the Spirit, anticipating the ultimate reality of our future in a renewed heaven and earth, allowing that future reality to shape how we live now. It’s about reclaiming our original vocation. “God’s future is arriving in the present, in the person and work of Jesus, and you can practice, right now, the habits of live which will find their goal in that coming future.”
Wright then applies this, using some well-known passages of Scripture on love and the fruit of the Spirit and the unity of the church. He applies all of this to the worship and mission of the church. And he explores some of the practices that will aid in developing Christian character with God’s help.
This is a profound book. I especially appreciated chapter 3, which talks about our original vocation as humans, and how this vision has been recaptured and restored through Jesus’ inauguration of the kingdom. This chapter alone is worth the price of the book. Overall, Wright does a masterful job of clearly explaining some challenging concepts without getting bogged down.
I didn’t find this book to be a page-turner. At times I found myself searching for the structure of the book. And I’m not completely sure of the intended audience: it’s not quite a popular-level book, nor is it an academic one. It’s a great book for pastors to read as we work at understanding our role in helping God’s people develop Christian character.
Wright is always worth reading. This isn’t a perfect book, but it’s a profound one, and I’m sure I’ll be reading it again.
Apr 12th, 2010
TgotK
N.T. Wright has become one of my favorite authors over the past couple of years. “Simply Christian” is the 21st century answer to C.S. Lewis’s “Mere Christianity.” “Surprised by Hope” explains the POINT of Christianity in ways I had never truly explored or understood before. “Justification” helped me understand just how small my gospel was and how HUGE the full Gospel of Jesus Christ truly is. His “For Everyone” commentary series has helped so many Christians; his lectures and essays are educated but not stuffy; heavy but overly thick.
So when I came across “After You Believe,” Wright’s newest book, I was understandably excited. What new things were I to learn from this Biblical scholar and pastor.
However, I was disappointed with the book. Having been a Biblical Studies and Philosophy major in college, I don’t shy away from technical writing or more dense expositions. However, I found Wright particularly difficult to understand in this tome. His usually easy-to-understand prose was now much more dense than I was used to. It took me a long to time to get through the book, usually due to having to reread sections to understand.
In the end, I have few problems with what Wright actually said. His section on the fruit (singular) of the Spirit is particularly illuminating and–more importantly–true! But I’m afraid that the more technical elements of this book will keep people from accessing some of the most basic truths of the Christian faith. One reviewer noted not knowing the intended audience of the book. I agree. It was published by HarperOne which published Wrights more popular works such as “Simply Christian” and “Surprised by Hope,” (as opposed to IVP Academic who published the much more technical “Justification”), and Wright even wrote that he saw this book as their legitimate sequel. However, those coming from one or both of those books to this one hoping for the same brevity and clarity of writing will be disappointed.
I have trouble recommending this book to the general audience. It would need to be read with the understanding that it takes a serious commitment. Which is fine. Learning about our faith SHOULD take commitment. Just know that ahead of time. Read it with a pastor or one of those theology students at a university nearby.
As for pastors and dedicated learners, this book leans toward a “must-read.” Wright is doing a fantastic job in this “series” of explaining the full gamut of what God–through His work in Christ–is calling us too. This may not be Wright’s best writing, but it certainly is some great thinking! Read this book so that, if for no other reason, you can explain it to your congregation, your classroom, your small group, etc.
***
(Three stars out of Five)
Apr 14th, 2010
Chilly
N.T. Wright’s book “After You Believe” is designed to answer the question of what our purpose is after becoming Christians.
In what way should I behave … by what means will I be able to put these things into practice? … Interestingly, Jesus seems to have given both sides of this question the same answer: “Follow me!” That is both what you should do and how you should do it.
p.14
That, I believe, is the most profound statement this book makes. It seems that the world either over-complicates this commandment by making Christianity into a mere set of rules, or to reduce Christianity to simply finding one’s self. Wright addresses this by saying:
In the last analysis, what matters after you believe is neither rules nor spontaneous self-discovery, but character.
p.7
He reminds the reader that they are not alone in this character-development process and that they can’t be good enough on their own, that we have the Holy Spirit:
… the grace which continues to be active by the Spirit in the lives of believers. It is simply not the case that God does some of the work of our salvation and we have to do the rest.
What’s more, if we try to put God in our debt by trying to make ourselves “good enough for him” (whatever that might mean), we are prone to make matters worse.
p.60-61
Referring to Romans 12:1, he says “…the mind must be transformed, so that you can think out for yourself, weigh up and consider, what God’s will actually is.”
When Paul talks about the “mind,” he is not ranking Christians in terms of what we would call their intellectual or “academic” ability. Some Christians have that sort of mind. Plenty of others don’t. But Paul wants all Christians to have their minds renewed, so that they can think in a different way.
p.151
Wright also mentions virtue frequently throughout the book, basically saying virtue is developing natural reactions after much effort and concentration (p.20) which he says is “what happens when habitual choices have been wise.” (p.76-77)
But to insist that the three primary virtues are faith, hope, and above all love is to insist that to grow in these virtues is precisely to grow in looking away from oneself and toward God on the one hand and one’s neighbor on the other. The more you cultivate these virtues, the less you will be thinking about yourself at all.
p.204
Overall, the book gives a great perspective on what we should do after becoming Christians and why we’re actually doing it. I enjoyed the well-researched scientific facts, real world examples, and philosophy that were littered throughout the book along with scripture(which is N.T. Wright’s own translation). The book was a bit repetitious, but rightfully so in making clear the goal or “telos” of our Christian walk. I would encourage using discretion as Wright’s eschatological views are presented very clearly and convincingly. I’d say with some theological and eschatological disagreements aside, this book is a great read on character development.
Apr 14th, 2010
patjdawson
Another great resource for what happens between the point where we believe and the life on earth after that. Not enough could be said about that middle period in which he believe (and thus are saved) and in the time when we will spend it with God in eternity. N.T. Wright again does a great job of putting the Bible in its original context in order to speak to 21st century listeners.
Apr 22nd, 2010
jroddy
My review has been posted on my blog. Check it out!
http://jroddysworld.blogspot.com/2010/04/after-you-believe.html
Apr 22nd, 2010
movementandmemory
We’ve all heard the stock answers: read the Bible, pray, worship, and evangelize. This book is an attempt to answer the question that is left lingering in the post-conversion and pre-heaven world of Christ-followers: What am I here for? Are we just stuck here, twiddling our spiritual thumbs until God wraps things up? Or is there something more to this all? Bishop N.T. Wright suggests (along similar lines to philosopher Dallas Willard’s Divine Conspiracy) that the answer lies in living a resurrection kind of life now.
Though Wright has entered into the centre of no few theological debates, he makes it clear that After You Believe is not polemical – he steers clear of his more controversial scholarship (the most controversial being his work on justification and the so-called “new perspective on Paul”) His purpose, as he writes in the preface, is to stimulate believers to be excited about Christian virtue. The book is intended as a sequel of sorts to Simply Christian and Surprised By Hope. In these previously-published books, Wright (an evangelical hero of sorts when it comes to writing on the resurrection) worked out what has been his theological hobby-horse: the idea that hope for Christians is not limited to simply being whisked off to an ethereal heaven after death, but rather the resurrection that has already begun to break into creation, which will culminate in the new heaven and new earth (he cleverly refers to this as “life after ‘life after death’”). What he hopes Christians will see is that new creation has already begun, that this new resurrection reality has already taken root, and that the way the story ends is going to shape how we live today. Picking up where he left off, Wright ventures into the world of Biblical ethics and the question of a New Testament morality in this book about Christian character.
If there is something N.T. Wright is known for, it is communicating difficult and important theological ideas to a popular-level audience in an approachable way. This book is no exception. Though its length may prove daunting (and I don’t really know of any books on ethics that haven’t), After You Believe is, from the beginning, not an intimidating read. Full of everyday illustrations and examples from the lives of ordinary folks, it is a thorough and accessible introduction to what comes between new life and life after death.
You can check out my review in full at my blog: nickschuurman.blogspot.com
Apr 26th, 2010
JayGuin
N. T. Wright’s After You Believe: Introduction
N. T. Wright’s After You Believe: Love, For Discussion
N. T. Wright’s After You Believe: Fruits of the Spirit, For Discussion
N. T. Wright’s After You Believe: The Nature of the Spirit’s Work, For Discussion
N. T. Wright’s After You Believe: Regarding Denominationalism, For Discussion
N. T. Wright’s After You Believe: On Service, For Discussion
N. T. Wright’s After You Believe: A Theory of Virtue, For Discussion
Apr 28th, 2010
BLePort
If you have not read Simply Christian and/or Surprised by Hope you may not understand the final installment of this trilogy by N.T. Wright. After You Believe brings together everything Wright has written in those first two books applying it to Christian living. If you are familiar with Wright you will recall his meta-narrative of Scripture: “…the overall drama of scripture, as it stands, forms a single plot whose many twist and turns nonetheless converge remarkably on a main theme, which is the reconciliation of heaven and earth as God the creator deals with all that frustrates his purpose for his world and, through his Son and his Spirit, creates a new people through whom his purpose–filling the world with his glory–is as last to be realized.” (261) In other places (e.g. here) he has written of a five-act drama: (1) Creation, (2) Fall, (3) Israel, (4) Jesus, and (5) Now (or Church?). For Wright the modern church is playing her part in the fifth act awaiting the consummation of the drama which ends with the appearance of Christ and the coming together of heaven and earth.
In the midst of such a large structure it may seem that ethics are insignificant. It is the opposite. If God is recreating a new humanity to rule and reign with his Son, by the Spirit, in a new heaven and a new earth then the development of character is essentially an eschatological endeavor. We live now (by the Spirit) in anticipation for how we will live then.
An example that is used by Wright is when the Apostle Paul corrects the Corinthian church for suing one another in pagan courts. The reason for his is because Christians will one day “judge the world” and “judge angels” (1 Cor. 6.1-11). It seems that for the Apostle our behavior here and now is in preparation for our behavior then. The same can be said for how we treat our bodies now (although they are corrupting and dying) and even the creation around us (think Rom. 8.18-23).
Wright shows throughout this book that from Genesis to Revelation a common theme is that of a new restored humanity caring for a new restored created order. What was lost through Adam has been regained through Christ. We are preparing for this now.
Wright challenges those who would see this as “hypocrisy” on one end and a return to “works-based” legalism on the other. It is neither of those two things. It is a becoming externally who we are internally because of the work of Christ and the Spirit.
What does this process include? Wright argues that it is the development of virtue. Aristotle was “not far from the kingdom”. Christ, and others like Paul, took what was right about Aristotle’s ethics but redirected it away from the happy human to the incoming Kingdom of God. Our growth in virtue is not so people see us as really good people. Rather, it is an act of (1) worship and (2) mission. Both of these aspects place virtue ethics in the context of directing people’s attention to the one true God.
I am sure there are a dozen other more sufficient reviews of this book available. I want to say from a personal perspective that it has done more for me in regards to reflecting upon my own Christian growth and living that any other book on ethics I have ever read (though I have not read all that much). It gives me a bigger picture for why I should seek to live a life of virtue. I hope that these few paragraphs inspire people to read the book though again I recommend reading the first two books if you are not familiar with Wright.
See full post here: http://nearemmaus.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/book-review-after-you-believe-by-n-t-wright/
May 9th, 2010
smh00a
From my blog: http://harvestboston.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/christian-virtue-and-the-wider-world/
Something that’s been on my mind for a while now is the subject of Christian witness — virtue, character — and its relationship (reaction to, impact on) “secular” society. Do people of faith really have anything significant to add to efforts for peace and justice when so many of the non-faithful are already out there in the trenches? I say we do. In fact, I maintain that the struggle for human rights and justice are based in issues of faith — the world is not as it should be, humans have dignity and beauty, we should seek to bolster the well-being of others, love, etc. I’m not entirely convinced that humans would come to these conclusions were it not for faith and religion.
This is (partly) the argument N.T. Wright makes in his new book, After You Believe. The following passage gets us down the path a ways in the discussion of Christian witness in “secular” societies:
“Those who are called to reflect God’s image through their own work must give attention to the task of working out, in a highly contested contemporary world, what that restorative justice ought to look like and how we might help bring it about. This will mean engaging with political debates and processes of various sorts, campaigning on key issues, and highlighting oppression and injustice wherever they occur. The Western world has supposed, for two hundred years and more, that splitting off questions of social justice from questions of God and faith would give us a more just society. The revolutions, totalitarianisms, and all-out wars of that period have proved us wrong. But to put God and human justice back together again will require a sustained effort, not only by individuals but by the church as a whole, developing the corporate virtues of justice-work that will become habits of the church’s heart and will appeal to the conscience of the wider world.” (Wright, p. 231)
Put another way, to eliminate religious speech and expression from the public square (as we’re seeing in many European countries) is to cut off the branch on which human rights rest. Christian witness has a place at the table in conversations about justice and the betterment of society. A crucial place.
May 12th, 2010
pomotheo
Before I could read this one I made a point to finish the first two (to try to get a perspective of Wright’s progression of ideas).
After You Believe is preceded by Surprised by Hope, an exceptional work that challenges the conservative Christian perspective of heaven (that we say a prayer and go to heaven by eternity.) It’s not only a challenge but quite simply a return to orthodoxy. I found Surprised by Hope to be an exceptional contemporary work that should hit everyone’s must read list.
Simply Christian precedes Surprised by Hope. Simply Christian is another gem, not quite on par with Surprised by Hope IMO, but best described as a contemporary ‘Mere Christianity’.
But of course, this post is about ‘After You Believe’. Admittedly, the third was my least favorite, however, that’s not to suggest it’s not an important read. Rather, the first two, especially Surprised by Hope, were of exceptional value that could not be matched in the third. (I was reading Brian Mclaren’s latest while reading After you Believe and the former doesn’t hold water against the latter.)
Simply Christian dealt with the ‘urges of humanity (beauty, relationships, justice, spirituality)’; Surprised by Hope deal with Heaven & Kingdom language; AFter you Believe dealt with Christian character.
Wright re-uses the term ‘virtue’ to highlight the need for Christians to adopt more than vein morality goals or individual authenticity when it comes to maturing in Christ. He compares three primary ways people approach their faith:
Option one: The wait for Heaven Option (condemning and discarding this world a la evangelicals right-wing)
Option two: The work for the Kingdom Option (a la left wing)
Option three: The live out by way of Anticipating the Kingdom
The third option is Wright’s proposition to reclaim virtue in Christian culture that’s barely skin deep.
Wright is not the most accessible writer, but given his content and scholarship he IS highly accessible. For that reason it makes sense for Christians to pay attention to the message he is trying to communicate. It’s not necessary to accept everything he’s saying part and parcel, but it DOES emphasize the need to accept his words as grounded in scholarship and orthodoxy.
The discussion obviously extends beyond virtues and character, including church systems and interesting expositions on passages in Romans and Corinthians to support his ‘KIngdom’.
May 15th, 2010
tiffanymalloy
http://tiffanymalloy.blogspot.com/2010/03/nt-wrights-after-you-believe.html
May 20th, 2010
petermcarey
Here is my all too brief review of N.T.’s wonderful and challenging book:
After You Believe, by NT Wright
NT Wright’s book, After You Believe, is a wonderful and challenging book for all of us who strive to be Christian, and especially, after we have wondered what it is that we should do, and be, “after we believe.” This is a wonderful book that enumerates a vision of the Christian Life that takes seriously the richness and truth of our tradition, and also takes seriously the difficulty of living out our faith in our “everyday world.” Truth be told, I am still digesting this book, but I have assimilated enough to recommend it highly … a wonderful and challenging read. Read it.
~The Rev. Peter M. Carey
http://santospopsicles.blogspot.com/2010/05/after-you-believe-by-nt-wright.html
May 20th, 2010
Todd Littleton
I recently noted an interview with N.T. Wright by my friend Tripp Fuller. One of the subjects covered in the interview was Wright’s new book After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters. Explaining the hope he had in writing the book, Wright mentioned a possible titled included “Virtue.” There was some concern it would not “sell.” Imagine living in the 21st Century and “virtue” not selling.
Even if someone may not buy a book on virtue, nearly everyone should be concerned about character. The matter runs to the root of what kind of person we choose to be. Too often we get confused about “doing the right thing.” Asking someone to “do the right” thing without addressing the aim of personhood and what kind of person you or I would want to be seems a bit wrong headed – to borrow a Wrightism. I am reminded of C.S. Lewis’ essay, “The Abolition of Man.” There in that classic essay Lewis notes how insufferable it is to remove the framework for making moral decisions and then asking a person then to be moral. He write something like, “. . . then bid the gelding to produce.”
Wright, for me, runs along the same track Dallas Willard has been running on. When the question is about deciding to do right, we are managing our impulses. When we determine what kind of person we will be then we choose according to that aim. One tends to begin at the point of behavior. The other emphasizes living out a way of life that is constructive and formative in keeping with the personal decision to be this kind of person or that kind of person.
It is no secret that I like Bishop Tom. We have shared a meal, a conference, and a plane – public not private. He is affable and memorable. He has determined to be a kind of person that flows from his understanding of the grand project of redemption of all things in Jesus. That aim is born out not only in his writing but in his person. Go get it. Read it. Let it inspire you to move from managing impulses to charting a course for what your lie may look like as it reflects the life of Jesus.
http://www.toddlittleton.net/2010/05/20/wright-redeems-talk-of-virtue-in-after-you-believe/
May 20th, 2010
cthomasdavis
From Tom Davis
Here’s my link Mike: http://tomdavis.typepad.com/tom_daviss_blog/2010/05/surprised-by-hope.html
May 20th, 2010
Mark Wilson
Book Review At Revitalize Your Church here:
http://revitalizeyourchurch.blogspot.com/2010/03/after-you-believe.html
May 20th, 2010
circularthoughts
Mike, here is mine as well:
http://www.circularthoughts.com/circular_thoughts_on_foll/2010/05/homebrewed-bishop.html
May 20th, 2010
Chad Estes
How do we practice living our lives in Jesus-styled virtues so that our second nature becomes second nature to us?
http://captainestes.blogspot.com/2010/05/after-you-believe-why-christian.html
Chad
May 20th, 2010
kristinemac
I love to read books that challenge me to grow in my faith, provoke me to consideration of spiritual topics, and help me understand what it means to be a Christian in this day and age. However, if you are anything like me, books on theology can seem…well…a little dry or difficult to read.
Enter the Bishop of Durham, England, N.T. Wright.
I first encountered the writings of Bishop Wright a number of years ago before I re-dedicated my heart to Christ and was reading books by more liberal theologians such as Marcus Borg and Elaine Pagels.
At one point I picked up a book Marcus Borg had co-authored with N.T. Wright called The Meaning of Jesus, a kind of written debate between their disparate views of scripture, Wright’s being the traditional.
I remember that even though I was more in line with Marcus Borg’s thinking at the time, I was intrigued by N.T. Wright’s ability to present theology in such a way that someone who’s never stepped foot in a seminary could understand some of the deeper meanings he was trying to get across.
Eventually I began reading more of N.T Wright’s work and he quickly became one of my favorite theologians. So it was with great pleasure I snapped up the opportunity to review After You Believe by N.T. Wright for Viral Bloggers….
You can read more at Kristine ReMixed: http://kristinemcguire.com/?p=3985
May 21st, 2010
austin_p
N.T. Wright is a quirky case of controversy amongst the blogosphere and Christian world. In a world of extremes Wright tows the line of orthodoxy and moderation in progress, which in many other contexts would make him a figure of bridging. Sadly, for many, he is not decisive (or divisive) enough. Wright’s thoughts and words are approachable, plain, engaging, and refreshing for many, but he is also bold enough to be a critical thinker of new ideas and gripping of historical foundations often lost today. To the reader able to see the forest for the trees, Wright is great because he is paradoxically playful and deep.
His new book After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters is soothing in its plain talk, gliding a relative society back into the lost comforts of now archaic (even taboo) words like virtue and character. These words have been hijacked by the religioso as terms of condemnation and Wright reclaims them with unpretentious anecdotes. He does a fantastic job of appealing the reader towards a principled life through anecdote and exploration of the New Testament’s “moral vision…peace, justice, freedom, love” liberating the reader to their true existence in the moral vision of God. He argues, “We urgently need to recapture the New Testament’s vision of a genuinely “good” human life with that future-shaped character lived within the ongoing story of God’s people, and, with that, a freshly worked notion of virtue.”
http://www.peacemakerrevolution.org/2010/03/after-you-believe-by-nt-wright.html
May 22nd, 2010
mickmurray
I’ve had so many things going on recently that I have not actually written a review. I did, however, post the link you sent out. Check it out here:
http://blogofmick.com/2010/05/20/nt-wright-after-you-believe/
I’m almost done with ‘The Naked Gospel,’ so be looking for that one soon as well.
May 22nd, 2010
for “After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters by N.T. Wright”
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