Tom Wright is unquestionably one of the most influential NT scholars of our generation. It’s hard to overestimate the influence he has had on the Church’s understanding of Jesus and Paul.But what makes this great man tick? We asked you what you’d like to know about the man behind the theology. As a result, we ended up asking him everything from what his favourite childhood book was, to how he manages his work/life balance, through to which three people he’d most like to invite to dinner!Want more Tom? Then you could spend the rest of your life reading his many many books. Or, alternatively, listen to our three previous interviews with him
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NT Wright on Seminary Dropout
Tom took some time to talk with Shane Blackshear on his podcast Seminary Dropout in May of 2015. Some things discussed on the show……associating Reformed theology with people like John Piper, Tim Keller, and others with similar theology, and that sometimes causes confusion to know that Wright sees much of his own views in line with reformed tradition, when it seems like his tone is much different that those people just mentioned.…how do we know that God intended for his authority to be given through scripture. In other words how do we know that some day we’re not going to stand before God with him saying ‘Hey the Bible was just words that were written several thousands years ago by people who were just describing their experiences with me the best they can but it wasn’t suppose to be anything more to you than inspirational and a lose guide’ ?….in the new introduction The Challenge of Jesus, Wright spent some time talking about the idea that he originally wrote TCoJ on the other side Sept 11, 2001. In what ways Wright thinks that changes our perspective on the words he wrote in TCoJ?…what view the reformation brought of Jesus that was a change from the old view.…what view the enlightenment brought.…the historicity of Jesus and how the oral tradition worked.…the parable of the sower in Mark 4:1-20. What we usually miss by not paying attention to Jesus’ Jewish roots.…how all of this relates to the Christian task and vision today.
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Justification & New Perspective on Paul
Trevin Wax interviewed Bishop NT Wright for the Said At Southern Podcast. You can find a full transcript of the conversation on his website Kingdom People. This podcast was recorded on the campus of Asbury Theological Seminary on November 15, 2007.
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What's so Great About the Apostle Paul?
N.T. Wright is back for a third time to talk to the guys over at Nomad Podcast back in October of 2013.Okay, so perhaps on a popular level a new N. T. Wright book launch doesn’t quite match the razzmatazz of Rob Bell, but for those with a hunger for some meaty theology (written in a pleasingly engaging style), then it doesn’t get much bigger than this.Tom Wright is a rare breed. He somehow manages to bridge the divide between the academy and the pew (his academic stuff written as N. T. Wright, and his more popular stuff written as Tom Wright). He moves in traditional and emerging circles. And he’s a professional theologian who has a real, living faith.What a guy!And I got to talk with him (for the third time)!As with every time I hear Tom Wright speak, I’m left with a multitude of things to ponder. I was particularly struck this time though by his answer to my question ‘What do you think would be Paul’s message to the church today?’. Now obviously Tom can’t knowthe answer to this question, but he probably knows Paul better than anyone (he’s just finished a 1860 page book on him for goodness sake!). And Tom felt Paul would be deeply concerned with the disunity in the church.
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Heaven is Not the End of the World
Another interview of N.T. Wright from the Nomad Podcast back in October of 2011.Tom Wright was in town recently for the British New Testament Conference, so we took the opportunity to drag him away from his lunch (and a heated debate with a colleague) and ask him a few questions about his new job, his new book, and whether God is going to blow this world up. The belief that God is going to destroy this planet before he makes a new one has been around for a while. It strikes me though that this belief isn’t going to do much to motivate care for the environment (why bother reducing our carbon footprint if God is going to turn every atom of the universe into the mother of all atomic bombs?!). So as Nomad finds itself increasingly concerned about the environment, we thought we’d better track Tom down and get him to sort this one out once and for all. And I think he did a pretty good job.