The Resurrection of the Son of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God, Vol. 3) [Paperback]

N. T. Wright (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2003

Why did Christianity begin, and why did it take the shape it did? To answer this question – which any historian must face – renowned New Testament scholar N.T. Wright focuses on the key points: what precisely happened at Easter? What did the early Christians mean when they said that Jesus of Nazareth had been raised from the dead? What can be said today about his belief?

This book, third is Wright’s series Christian Origins and the Question of God, sketches a map of ancient beliefs about life after death, in both the Greco-Roman and Jewish worlds. It then highlights the fact that the early Christians’ belief about the afterlife belonged firmly on the Jewish spectrum, while introducing several new mutations and sharper definitions. This, together with other features of early Christianity, forces the historian to read the Easter narratives in the gospels, not simply as late rationalizations of early Christian spirituality, but as accounts of two actual events: the empty tomb of Jesus and his "appearances."

How do we explain these phenomena? The early Christians’ answer was that Jesus had indeed been bodily raised from the dead; that was why they hailed him as the messianic "son of God." No modern historian has come up with a more convincing explanation. Facing this question, we are confronted to this day with the most central issues of the Christian worldview and theology.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"- 'The sweep of Wright's project as a whole is breathtaking. It is impossible to give a fair assessment of his achievement without sounding grandiose: no New Testament scholar since Bultmann has ever attempted - let alone achieved - such an innovative and comprehensive account of New Testament history and theology.' Richard B. Hays on The New Testament and the People of God --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

N.T. Wright is Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey. He formerly taught at Cambridge, Montreal, and Oxford. His Fortress Press publications include The Climax of the Covenant (1990), The Contemporary Quest for Jesus (2002); and the first two volumes in this widely heralded series: The New Testament and the People of God (1992) and Jesus and the Victory of God (1996).

Product Details

• Paperback: 740 pages
• Publisher: Fortress Pr (April 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800626796
• ISBN-13: 978-0800626792
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,229 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #65 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Jesus

More About the Author

N.T. Wright is Bishop of Durham and was formerly Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey and dean of Lichfield Cathedral. He taught New Testament studies for twenty years at Cambridge, McGill and Oxford Universities. Wright's full-scale works The New Testament and the People of God, Jesus and the Victory of God, and The Resurrection of the Son of God are part of a projected six-volume series entitled Christian Origins and the Question of God. Among his many other published works are The Original Jesus, What Saint Paul Really Said and The Climax of the Covenant. He is also coauthor with Marcus Borg of The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions and the volume on Colossians and Philemon in The Tyndale New Testament Commentary series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

130 of 136 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an unexpected treasure, July 26, 2003

By 

A Reader (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Resurrection of the Son of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God) (Hardcover)

while nodding in approval to what the other reviewers have said thus far:
having devoured the first two works in Wright's _Christian Origins and the Question of God_ series, i was eagerly anticipating the third volume, which i expected to be on the life and theology of St. Paul; thus i was somewhat disappointed by the subject matter of the third volume when it finally (at last!) appeared. i kept asking myself (with my head slowly shaking), "an entire volume on the resurrection?"
but my doubts were quickly laid to rest when i received the work. Wright offers us here a masterpiece on the resurrection, as theologically deep as it is historically broad in scope. Wright not only persuasively argues for the fact of the resurrection, but places it firmly in context as he brings to light the many aspects which constitute it, and upon which it bears definitive influence. the "world-affirming" nature of Wright's conclusions, which he highlites continually throughout the text, actually reminded me something of Maximus Confessor.
which brings up my final point: N. T. Wright is an unusually excellent exegete. so often, New Testament exegetes are simply dull; such is not the case with Wright. his work is saturated in wit and laced with solid reason. one always leaves his work feeling somewhat "charmed". but the best thing about Wright, in my opinion, is that he is capable of actually being an exegete and a theologian at the same time (yes, this is in fact uncommon in our day and age). thus we are left with not simply an argument based on texts, or dry analyses stacked one atop another; rather, we see perhaps the finest New Testament scholar of our era approaching the texts with a master's touch, and the reader is thus in a position wherein the full radiance of the subject matter can be perceived.
the only critique i have is that it is somewhat repetitive; it almost seemed as though it would be better to consult its various chapters in reference format--as needed--rather than "reading it straight through". yet considering the above mentioned breadth of scope, this is certainly a small price to pay.
in sum, this book is highly recommended--there are few New Testament scholars who can be placed alongside Wright, and those of us who are interested in this field are certainly blessed that he chose to write an enourmous work on this particular topic. with this work, Wright has succesfully placed the Resurrection of the Son of God where it belongs--in the center of Christian theology, world history, and the cosmos itself.
... which makes the wait for his work on Paul (if on Paul it be) all the more nerve-racking.
five stars, without a doubt.

219 of 237 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Massive, definitive work on the resurrection of Jesus, May 11, 2003

By 

Alvin Kimel (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Resurrection of the Son of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God) (Hardcover)

With this 800 page volume, N. T. Wright has now written the definitive work on the resurrection of Jesus. From this point on, scholars will be arguing with, for, or against Wright. All discussion must now start with this book and Wright's discussion of the biblical accounts of the resurrection of Jesus. In breadth and depth of scholarship, *Resurrection of the Son of God* can only be compared to Raymond Brown's *Death of the Messiah*.

Wright thoroughly dismantles all attempts to interpret the resurrection narratives as "interpretations" of the death of Jesus or as symbolizations of the new found faith of the disciples of Jesus. Wright also effectively destroys the arguments of those who advance the theory that the first Christians employed resurrection language to speak of Jesus' eternal, though spiritual, life with God after his death on the cross. The evidence does not allow us to entertain the possibility that the apostles might have claimed that Jesus had been raised from the dead even while his corpse was still lying in the tomb. If the desire was to simply assert that Jesus was now "with God" or that his soul was in heaven, there was language and conceptuality available to make such claims. To speak of someone being "raised from the dead" can only have one meaning within first century Judaism--God has acted to bestow upon that person an embodied, "physical" form of existence. The surprising thing is that the early Christians employed this language about Jesus even though it was clear that the expected general resurrection of the dead had yet to occur! There was no precedent at all for such a restricted use of resurrection language; but such was the mystery of Easter!

It is time for the Church to finally move beyond Bultmann, Marxsen, and Crossan and confidently reclaim the New Testament proclamation of Jesus' embodied resurrection. This message may be wrong; but let's at least be clear that this is the message of the Church.

Highly recommended.

119 of 131 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What the first christians really said about Jesus, June 25, 2003

By 

Catpeople "catpeople" (Aguascalientes, Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Resurrection of the Son of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God, Vol. 3) (Paperback)

We finally have with us the third volume of Tom Wright's great work. If after reading the second volumen, Jesus and the victory of God, anyone thought that Tom wasnt interested or didnt believe in the resurrection of Jesus, now is the time to find out. Important in his exposition is making clear that when Paul and the evangelists talked about Jesus being raised and/or resurrected, they were NOT talking about a post-mortem spiritual existence or Jesus's continued prescence in the early church. They werent either talking about a mere resucitation or using the word resurrection as another way of saying that he was dead and resting with God. They were literally speaking about death's reversal, about someone being dead and then being alive again, with a (trans)physical body.

My favorite chapter was the one devoted to what Paul actually said about his encounter with Jesus. You might be surprised to learn that there was no falling from the horse in the road to Damascus, and that the narrative in Acts about a blinding light and a voice is only a biblical model to tell about an encounter with God's sphere. Tom Wright is more interested in what Paul himself said, not Luke. And Paul's words cannot be read in another way: he says that he saw Jesus.

If the early christians were wrong or right about Jesus being raised from the dead is another point. Tom puts the evidence in front of us and lets us decide. What remains clear at the end is that those 1st century christian-jews really believed that Jesus raised from the tomb in the first Easter.