Simply Christian by N.T. Wright

N.T. Wright, Bishop of Durham, is one of my favorite writers and theologians, although, I think he has said he is more a 1st century historian than theologian. Fortunately for thinking Christians, he looks continuously about 1st century Christianity and interpreting the Biblical texts in light of the historical context in which they were written.

I have just finished his book, Simply Christian, and will be posting some quotes from it periodically. In Simply Christian, Rev. Wright talks about a lot of things. And he does it in such a matter-of-fact and conversational tone that his books, while full of "Eureka" moments, aren't liable to give me a brain cramp. They can be read in little snatches at the restaurant while waiting for the food to come.

And while they are simple in presentation, the concepts he tackles aren't ones that lend themselves to today's "bumper sticker theology". As my priest is fond of replying to questions, "I think it's more complicated than that."

How much more complicated and complex must our Creator be and how arrogant is Man to think that we should be able to define and explain the Almighty?



So here's the first quote from Simply Christian by N.T. Wright:

...People often grumble as soon as a discussion about the meaning of human life, or the possibility of God, moves away from quite simple ideas and becomes more complicated. Any world in which there are such things as music and sex, laughter and tears, mountains and mathematics, eagles and earthworms, statues and symphonies and snowflakes and sunsets - and in which we humans find ourselves in the middle of it all - is bound to be a world in which the quest for truth, for reality, for what we can be sure of, is infinitely more comlicated than simple yes-and-no questions will allow. There is appropriate complexity along with appropriate simplicity.