Title: Scripture and the Authority of God
Author: N.T. Wright
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year: 2011
Pages: 210
N.T. Wright other works: N.T. Wright Page
[Disclaimer: I paid for this book with a gift card I received at Christmas 2013. It was a very happy time in my life when I could freely spend at amazon.com. It also prevented me from having to humbly admit that I got the book free in exchange for a fair review. I can be as nasty as I wanna be in this review. :-) ]
No one will ever accuse N.T. Wright of cutting corners when it comes to Scripture. What he does in Scripture and the Authority of God is take his readers on a whirlwind tour of the complex cultural cancers that have affected and distorted the way we read the Scripture. And if I have read this book correctly, Wright is saying that it is far less about the external forces and far more about internal pressures that have, in a sense, ruined the Scripture. To wit: "This strongly suggests that for the Bible to have the effect it seems to be designed to have it will be necessary for the church to hear it as it is, not to chop it up in an effort to make it into something else" (25). To repeat myself, this is akin to saying: it is less the cultured despisers we have to worry about when it comes to Scripture and far much more the prophets, priests, and preachers in the church. And isn't this, if we are honest, the truth?
Throughout the book Wright maintains a singular thought, which he repeats in earnest as often as he can: "...the phrase 'authority of Scripture' can make Christian sense only if it is a shorthand for 'the authority of the triune God, exercised somehow through scripture" (20). The main problem we have in the church is that we tend to ignore context when it comes to Scripture. Preachers are so bent on a particular theological or political system that the entire corpus of Scripture gets forgotten, the story from beginning to end is either ignored or forgotten. In my opinion, N.T.Wright is absolutely prophetic in this regard because he always, I mean always, keeps this overarching metanarrative in mind when spelling out some of the more microcosmic ideas found in Scripture. And no one is safe from his pen: conservative, liberal, right, left, high-church or country-bumpkin. His solution? There is a profound need for 'fresh, Kingdom-oriented, historically rooted exegesis' (112). I have read many of Dr. Wright's books and if anything can be said of his work, perhaps the best thing that can be said is that he is undeniable consistent: the metanarrative never leaves his focus regardless of the topic he is discussing.
This is like telling people who have been doing the same thing for 100 years that they are doing it wrong and need to change to which they would respond, "We have always done it this way." I hear such sentiments in churches, in schools, in business. And again it is hard to argue when the current methods have resulted in the modern phenomenon of the mega-rich, mega-churches. It's a lot easier to use Scripture to make some politically expedient point or some culturally relevant pop-psychological jabberwocky than it is to do the hard work of actually reading Scripture from front to back, and back to front, seeing what it says and then thinking about what it means. I remember sitting in my office one Sunday morning and listening to the women's Sunday school class on the other side of the wall. We had just started a Bible reading campaign designed to take the entire church the entire Bible in 90 days. I distinctly remember hearing one of the women say, "I don't know why we have to do this."
Wright takes his time explaining to his readers the insidious nature of the various cultural developments and church reactions that have so distorted and warped our reading of Scripture. He covers sixteen centuries of warped exegesis in about 20 pages before he moves on to discuss the enlightenment period in a little more than 20 pages. He then demonstrates for us how those on the 'left' and 'right' have used the flawed methods of those previous generations to distort the Scripture for their own purposes. Then, finally, he moves on give us thoughts on how to get back on track. (Yes, there was much more at the beginning of the book, and I'm not overlooking it. It's there and lays an important foundation.) It is here that I find most agreement with Wright based on my own experience as a local church preacher and a well read Christian. This newer version of the book I read also features two 'test cases' at the end of the book--one on the Sabbath and the other on monogamy.
One wonders what the world would look like if preaching was not always a reaction to the goings on in the world or a mere 'how to feel better about life' medicinal word? I'm sure there is a place to address such things, but the best way to do so is found by consistently preaching how God has brought about his grace in the fullness of time in Jesus--his Kingdom where broken people find hope, peace, and love. We cannot ignore the world and what is happening--indeed, it is the world we are to redeem through our witness to Jesus and the preaching of the Gospel! When we keep the metanarrative in mind, not merely as a backdrop, or for illustrative material, or as I saw in a book I recently read, a place for good quotes, but as the sure historical foundation through which God was bringing about his redemptive purposes and preparing the world for Jesus, we can see how God's word is authoritative in the midst of our own cultural upheaval and turmoil and political intrigue. This is precisely the reason Paul writes that God gave us preachers, teachers, apostles--to equip us...then we will no longer be tossed about by the waves of this world (Ephesians 4:1-16).
Whatever else we take away from this book, it is imperative that we read chapter 8 carefully and thoughtfully. This might mean, gasp, that we are going to be confronted individually or collectively with ideas that challenge us, change us, or choke us: "We who call ourselves Christians must be totally committed to telling the story of Jesus both as the climax of Israel's story and as the foundation of our own" (126). It is especially when he talks about five strategies for honoring the authority of Scripture that we ought to pay attention. I say yes to all of them! Contextual reading? Yes! Liturgically grounded reading of Scripture? Yes! I pause here because my own tradition has a nagging history of neglecting the liturgical, contextual, public reading of Scripture. That is, we prefer a bit before communion or a bit before the sermon or a bit before the plate is passed but we have failed greatly when it comes to the type of reading that reminds us of who we are, of the greater story being told, and our place within that narrative. This will not do. I weep for my tradition precisely at this point because we who have prided ourselves for so long as being a 'people of the book' have utterly neglected our historical roots and the reading Scripture in a liturgical fashion: "It also means that in our public worship, in whatever tradition, we need to make sure the reading of Scripture takes a central place" (131). Amen.
I highly recommend Scripture and the Authority of God and it is my hope that when people read this they will begin to hold their leaders accountable. So I have some suggestions myself of how churches can hold leaders accountable.
First, change your worship. That is, drop a song or two or three in order to create space for the unfiltered reading of the Scripture. This is what Ezra did (Nehemiah 8); this is what Jesus did (Luke 4); and this is what Paul told Timothy he was to do (1 Timothy 4:13). There is just as much worship in hearing the Scripture simply read as there is in singing and dancing (Revelation 1:3).
Second, insist that your preacher have ample time and resources to study the Scripture. Demand less of him in areas where others can serve competently (Acts 6:1-7) so that his/her time in the Scripture is undiluted and undisturbed (2 Timothy 2:14-15). You want the church to grow? Count on the one thing in Scripture that God said would provide growth: Isaiah 55:10-12.
Third, engage your congregation in consistent reading of the entire Bible. Interesting that one of the commands the king was to obey was that he was to write for himself a copy of the law (Deuteronomy 17:18-19) and have it with him all the days of his life. The congregation should do the same, always reading and studying and learning because when we are in Scripture we are bound to see Jesus (Luke 24:25-27, 44). Keep this metanarrative in mind at all times when reading, studying, and preaching.
Surely there are things I could add to this list, but for now it will do. If churches could get motivated again to take the Scripture seriously, as Wright is ultimately suggesting, we might see the sort of revival take place in our churches. I say this especially to those among my own tradition who have, for far too long, neglected Scripture in favor of methodology.
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Debates about the Bible are nearly as old as Christianity itself. Which books should be considered canonical? How should we interpret scripture? Is the Bible meant to be read ‘literally’? How do scripture and tradition interact?The questions are nearly endless and they’re not insignificant. Many of these questions (and the answers given) have divided believers for hundreds of years.And the situation today is no different. Conservative Christians argue for a ‘literal’ interpretation of the Bible. Theological liberals counter that the words of scripture are so culturally tied-up, they must be unbound and allowed to speak in new ways (or fresh ways – liberals love the word fresh).But what does a ‘literal’ reading of scripture mean? - Should Christians embrace polygamy since it’s never explicitly condemned in the Bible? The same could be asked of slavery. - The books of Exodus and Leviticus describe Sabbath keeping as a permanent practice – it’s even in the Ten Commandments. So why don’t most Christians observe it? - What does apocalyptic and prophetic literature even look like when read ‘literally’?Reading scripture ‘literally’ isn’t as simple as it sounds. The Bible is filled with different types of literature addressed to a variety of audiences for a number of different reasons. We don’t read the Bible ‘literally’ by treating it like a dictionary or newspaper. So, how do we read it faithfully?And how far can this holy text be stretched before it breaks? - If we relativize scripture based on culture, doesn’t it cease to have any meaning of its own? - When we pick and choose what we’re going to accept as ‘authoritative’, don’t we elevate our own thinking above God’s special revelation? - Are there limits to where and how far we can accept scripture being understood as culturally-bound?Christians today need a solid understanding of how to interpret scripture faithfully. I’ve seen too many believers dragged off into the ditch of flat literalism – where Revelation is an advanced copy of tomorrow’s nightly news – or that of squishy liberalism – where scripture’s meaning is found in the prevailing beliefs of the culture. Neither is a place I want to be.Fortunately, N.T. Wright has written a book that cuts through the detritus on both sides of the debate. While holding scripture up as the authority for the Church, Wright isn’t satisfied with pat or simplistic answers to the question, ‘What does that mean?’ Instead, he examines what it means for scripture to be called an ‘authority’ at all.One of the most important statements Wright makes on this front is that “the phrase ‘authority of scripture’ can make Christian sense only if it is a shorthand for ‘the authority of the triune God, exercised somehow through scripture.'” Since the Bible is largely narrative in nature, the ‘authority of scripture’ cannot solely be about giving the Christian authoritative commandments or lists of sins. God’s Spirit works through all of scripture to lead us into a story he is still telling – in the life of the Church. And scripture gives us the bounds within which we can improvise our lines faithfully.While always acknowledging the truth of scripture, Wright encourages us not to read the Bible as if it’s a repository of divine facts. Instead, he argues that we need to see it as it is – a divine story. More specifically, he writes, “we must once more see the Bible as a story with different movements, a play in different acts, and we must understand the whole story in terms of the climax which is reached in Act 4 and the resultant resolution, and the restoration of the original project, in Act 5″ (pg.194). This scheme of interpretation may sound foreign to many of our ears but I have to say, it makes so much more sense of the entirety of scripture than most of the alternatives.Seeing scripture as a divine comedy – a story in which God creates man in Act 1, man sins and falls into rebellion in Act 2, God rebuilds a relationship with man through the nation of Israel in Act 3, Jesus fulfills the promises of God and institutes new creation in Act 4, and the Church carries that new creation into the world in Act 5 – aids us in understanding why Sabbath laws aren’t binding on Christians or why monogamy is God’s preferred marital arrangement even though scripture never explicitly says that or how we can live faithfully under the authority of God and into the story he is telling.Wright examines how scripture has been read (and misread) over the past 2,000 years and lays out certain principles which he hopes will get the Church back on track. I believe his prescription is exactly what we need today: reading scripture contextually, liturgically, privately, in concert with contemporary (and past) scholarship, and alongside faithful preachers and teachers. He also puts tradition, reason, and experience in their proper place, as helps to understanding what scripture is saying to us.The last two chapters are case studies in which Wright examines the issues of Sabbath and Monogamy in detail. He models how we can use this understanding of scripture as a five-act play to more faithfully understand what is going on in the pages of the Bible.If more Christians could get ahold of this view of the Bible, I believe it would revolutionize the way they see both the text of scripture and their place in God’s work in the world. You see, the story God is telling in the pages of the Bible is not over. That story is being written each and every day – in the lives of Christians all over the world. In my life and in yours. And as we understand the Bible better, we will also understand how we can live more faithfully and more fully under the authority of God.May we all seek to live into the story God is telling.
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