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Surprised by Scripture
- Engaging Contemporary Issues
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
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Publisher's summary
Bishop, Bible scholar, and best-selling author N. T. Wright here provides a series of case studies on how to apply the Bible to the pressing issues of today. Among the topics Wright addresses are the intersection of religion and science, why women should be allowed to be ordained, what we get wrong and how we can do better when Christians engage in politics, why the Christian belief in heaven means we should be at the forefront of the environmental movement, and many more.
Wright fearlessly wades through the difficult issues facing us. Listeners will find new models for understanding how to affirm the Bible in today's world as well as encouragement and renewed energy for deepening our faith and engaging with the culture around us.
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85% is really solid
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N. T. Wright—widely regarded as the most influential commentator and interpreter of Paul—deftly unpacks this dense and sometimes elusive letter, detailing Paul's arguments and showing how it illuminates the Gospel from the promises to Abraham through the visions of Revelation. Wright takes a deep dive into Romans 8, showing how it illuminates so much else that God reveals in Scripture: God the Father, Christology, and the Spirit; Jesus' Messiahship, cross, resurrection, and ascension; salvation, redemption, and adoption; suffering and glory; holiness and hope.
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Deep dive into Romans 8
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Surprised by Hope
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For years, Christians have been asking, "If you died tonight, do you know where you would go?" It turns out that many believers have been giving the wrong answer. It is not heaven. Wright outlines the present confusion about a Christian's future hope and shows how it is deeply intertwined with how we live today. Wright asserts that Christianity's most distinctive idea is bodily resurrection, and provides a magisterial defense for a literal resurrection of Jesus. Wright then explores our expectation of "new heavens and a new earth".
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A valuable yet partial lens for viewing mission
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Simply Christian
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Simply Christian walks the listener through the Christian faith step by step and question by question. With simple yet exciting and accessible prose, Wright challenges skeptics by offering explanations for even the toughest doubt-filled dilemmas, leaving believers with a reason for renewed faith. For anyone who wants to travel beyond the controversies that can obscure what the Christian faith really stands for, this simple book is the perfect vehicle for that journey.
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Excellent
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On Earth as in Heaven
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Modern pastors and their flocks have long considered N. T. Wright a role model for being a thoughtful Christian in today’s world. His bestselling books, including Simply Christian, Surprised by Hope, Simply Jesus, and After You Believe, have guided Christians in their belief and practice of the faith. Now, Christians can rely on his wisdom to guide them through each day of their lives with this thoughtful book of daily meditations, featuring short selections from his classic works.
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Beautiful encouragement to live the real Christian life. Following our King Jesus
- By Charlton & Natasha on 02-03-24
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Simply Jesus
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“Jesus - the Jesus we might discover if we really looked,” explains Wright, “is larger, more disturbing, more urgent than we had ever imagined. We have successfully managed to hide behind other questions and to avoid the huge, world-shaking challenge of Jesus’s central claim and achievement. It is we, the churches, who have been the real reductionists. We have reduced the kingdom of God to private piety; the victory of the cross to comfort for the conscience; Easter itself to a happy, escapist ending after a sad, dark tale. Piety, conscience, and ultimate happiness are important...."
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A must read for today's church
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Revelation for the Rest of Us
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-
85% is really solid
- By G Brandon Cunningham on 04-20-23
By: Scot McKnight, and others
-
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- A Deep Dive into Paul's Greatest Letter
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Overall
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Performance
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-
A valuable yet partial lens for viewing mission
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-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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-
Excellent
- By James on 04-29-08
By: N. T. Wright
-
On Earth as in Heaven
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Performance
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Beautiful encouragement to live the real Christian life. Following our King Jesus
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A must read for today's church
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The Day the Revolution Began
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In The Day the Revolution Began, N. T. Wright once again challenges commonly held Christian beliefs, as he did in Surprised by Hope. Demonstrating the rigorous intellect and breathtaking knowledge that have long defined his work, Wright argues that Jesus' death on the cross was not only to absolve us of our sins, it was actually the beginning of a revolution commissioning the Christian faithful to a new vocation - a royal priesthood responsible for restoring and reconciling all of God's creation.
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Standard Wright, both the strengths and weaknesses
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Paul
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In this definitive biography, renowned Bible scholar, Anglican bishop, and best-selling author N. T. Wright offers a radical look at the apostle Paul, illuminating the humanity and remarkable achievements of this intellectual who invented Christian theology - transforming a faith and changing the world. For centuries, Paul, the apostle who "saw the light on the Road to Damascus" and made a miraculous conversion from zealous Pharisee persecutor to devoted follower of Christ, has been one of the church's most widely cited saints.
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Different type of writing for Wright is helpful
- By Adam Shields on 04-25-18
By: N. T. Wright
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How God Became King
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
New Testament scholar N. T. Wright reveals how we have been misreading the Gospels for centuries, powerfully restoring the lost central story of the scripture: that the coronation of God through the acts of Jesus was the climax of human history. Wright fills the gaps that centuries of misdirection have opened up in our collective spiritual story, tracing a narrative from Eden to Jesus to today.
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Jesus' life matters, not just his death
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By: N. T. Wright
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The New Testament for Everyone Audio Bible (Third Edition)
- A Fresh Translation
- By: N. T. Wright
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The New Testament for Everyone is an updated translation of the New Testament by renowned biblical scholar and author N.T. Wright, which builds upon on the work done in N. T. Wright’s The Kingdom New Testament. This audio edition read by N.T. Wright himself, features slight translation revisions from N. T. Wright along with new book introductions—providing a fresh and dynamic translation of the New Testament for the next generation.
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A must-have for your library.,
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After You Believe
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We are all spiritual seekers, intuitively knowing there is more to life than we suspect. This is a book for anyone who is hoping there is something more while we’re here on Earth. There is. We are being called to join the revolution, and Wright insightfully encourages readers to find new purpose and clarity by taking us on an eye-opening journey through key biblical passages that promise to radically alter the work of the church and the direction of our lives.
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True Spirituality
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By: N. T. Wright
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Broken Signposts
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Performance
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N. T. Wright argues that every world view must explain seven “signposts”, indicators inherent to humanity. Using the Gospel of John as his source, Wright shows how Christianity defines each signpost and illuminates why we so often see them as being "broken" and unattainable. Drawing on the wisdom of the Gospels, Wright explains why these signposts are fractured and damaged and how Christianity provides the vision, guidance, and hope for making them whole once again, ultimately healing ourselves and our world.
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Favorite NT Wright Book
- By Theologator on 02-03-21
By: N. T. Wright
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The New Testament You Never Knew: Audio Bible Studies
- Exploring the Context, Purpose, and Meaning of the Story of God
- By: N. T. Wright, Michael F. Bird
- Narrated by: N. T. Wright, Michael F. Bird
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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In this eight-session Bible study, well-known Bible scholars N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird team up to take you on a tour of the story behind the explosive story of the New Testament. You will discover things you never knew about Jesus’ baptism and journey into the wilderness, the meaning behind his parables and miracles, the significance of his death and resurrection, the incredible expansion of the early church into the Greco-Roman world, and how the transforming mission of Jesus can still turn the world upside down today.
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I wouldn't recommend this one
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By: N. T. Wright, and others
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Simply Good News
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Overall
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Performance
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Many people think the message of the Gospel is that if we believe in Jesus, we will be saved from hell and be transported to heaven after we die. But what if that is not what the Bible actually teaches? What if the good news Jesus came to announce is much bigger, much better, and includes much more than merely what happens after we die? Revered best-selling scholar N. T. Wright reveals what the gospel really is and how it can transform our todays just as much as our tomorrows.
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Best entry point for a new NT Wright reader
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By: N. T. Wright
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The Case for the Psalms
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- By: N. T. Wright
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 4 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Reading, studying, and praying the Psalms is God's means for teaching us what it means to be human: how to express our emotions and yearnings, how to reconcile our anger and our compassion, how to see our story in light of God's sweeping narrative of salvation. Wright provides the tools for understanding and incorporating these crucial verses into our own lives. His conclusion is simple: all Christians need to read, pray, sing, and live the Psalms.
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Psalms are an important part of historic worship
- By Adam Shields on 04-26-14
By: N. T. Wright
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Scripture and the Authority of God
- How to Read the Bible Today
- By: N. T. Wright
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In this revised and expanded edition of The Last Word, Wright, Bishop of Durham, one of the preeminent Bible scholars of our day and author of such beloved works as After You Believe and Simply Christian, gives new life to the old, tattered doctrine of the authority of Scripture, delivering a fresh, helpful, and concise statement on the current battles for the Bible and restoring Scripture as a place to find God's voice.
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Takes scripture very seriously
- By Adam Shields on 05-31-11
By: N. T. Wright
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Thinking Through Paul: Audio Lectures
- A Survey of His Life, Letters, and Theology
- By: Bruce W. Longenecker, Todd D. Still
- Narrated by: Bruce W. Longenecker, Todd D. Still
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The study of Paul and his letters can be exciting, challenging, and life-changing, but only if it is done well and only if listeners achieve more than a basic familiarity with the subject. This is exactly what Pauline experts Bruce W. Longenecker and Todd D. Still accomplish with Thinking Through Paul: Audio Lectures.
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Very interesting and useful resource
- By NOAH T. SMITH on 03-09-23
By: Bruce W. Longenecker, and others
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Evil and the Justice of God
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
With every earthquake and war, understanding the nature of evil and our response to it becomes more urgent. Evil is no longer the concern just of ministers and theologians but also of politicians and the media. We hear of child abuse, ethnic cleansing, AIDS, torture and terrorism, and rightfully we are shocked. N. T. Wright says that we should not be surprised. For too long we have naively believed in the modern idea of human progress.
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Good Answers, but not full.
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- Unabridged
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The Bible is meant to be about transformation, not merely information. In Things Hidden, Richard Rohr invites you to experience Scripture as spirituality - as a living text that can breathe new life into your relationship with God and change your way of seeing the world.
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excellent and inspirational in the insights
- By Nana on 11-03-22
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The Evolution of God
- By: Robert Wright
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins
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In this sweeping narrative, which takes us from the Stone Age to the Information Age, Robert Wright unveils an astonishing discovery: there is a hidden pattern that the great monotheistic faiths have followed as they have evolved. Through the prisms of archeology, theology, and evolutionary psychology, Wright's findings overturn basic assumptions about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and are sure to cause controversy.
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Very heavy reading
- By Stephen on 08-07-09
By: Robert Wright
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The Heart of Christianity
- Rediscovering a Life of Faith
- By: Marcus J. Borg
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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World-renowned Jesus scholar Marcus J. Borg shows how we can live passionately as Christians in today's world by practicing the vital elements of Christian faith. For the millions of people who have turned away from many traditional beliefs about God, Jesus, and the Bible, but still long for a relevant, nourishing faith, Borg shows why the Christian life can remain a transforming relationship with God. Emphasizing the critical role of daily practice in living the Christian life, he explores how prayer, worship, Sabbath, pilgrimage, and more can be experienced as authentically life-giving practices.
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book worth rediscovering for both head and heart
- By connie on 06-30-12
By: Marcus J. Borg
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The Reason for God
- Belief in an Age of Skepticism
- By: Timothy Keller
- Narrated by: Timothy Keller
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Abridged
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The End of Faith. The God Delusion. God Is Not Great. Letter to a Christian Nation. Best seller lists are filled with doubters. But what happens when you actually doubt your doubts? Timothy Keller, the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, addresses the frequent doubts that skeptics, and even ardent believers, have about religion.
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Unrivaled Apologetics
- By Daniel on 05-01-13
By: Timothy Keller
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How Jesus Became God
- The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee
- By: Bart D. Ehrman
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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In a book that took eight years to research and write, leading Bible scholar Bart D. Ehrman explores how an apocalyptic prophet from the backwaters of rural Galilee crucified for crimes against the state came to be thought of as equal with the one God Almighty Creator of all things. Ehrman sketches Jesus's transformation from a human prophet to the Son of God exalted to divine status at his resurrection. Only when some of Jesus's followers had visions of him after his death - alive again - did anyone come to think that he, the prophet from Galilee, had become God.
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Wishing for a bit more meat on the bones
- By Darwin8u on 04-09-14
By: Bart D. Ehrman
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Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time
- The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith
- By: Marcus J. Borg
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Of the many recent books on the historical Jesus, none has explored what the latest biblical scholarship means for personal faith. Now, in Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Marcus Borg addresses the yearnings of those who want a fully contemporary faith that welcomes rather than oppresses our critical intelligence and openness to the best of historical scholarship. Borg shows how a rigorous examination of historical findings can lead to a new faith in Christ, one that is critical and, at the same time, sustaining.
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first thing he did was deny Christ's deity.
- By Amazon Customer on 03-15-19
By: Marcus J. Borg
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Reasons to Believe
- How to Understand, Defend, and Explain the Catholic Faith
- By: Scott Hahn
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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In Reasons to Believe, Scott Hahn, a convert to Catholicism, explains the "how and why" of the Catholic faith - drawing from Scripture, his own struggles, and those of other converts, as well as from everyday life and even natural science. Hahn shows that reason and revelation, as well as nature and the supernatural, are not opposed to one another; rather, they offer complementary evidence that God exists. He is someone, and He has a personality, a personal style, that is discernable and knowable.
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A Catholic for convition and tradition
- By benigno on 05-29-12
By: Scott Hahn
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Medieval Wisdom for Modern Christians
- Finding Authentic Faith in a Forgotten Age with C.S. Lewis
- By: Chris R. Armstrong
- Narrated by: Jon Gauger
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Many Christians today tend to view the story of medieval faith as a cautionary tale. Too often, they dismiss the Middle Ages as a period of corruption and decay in the church. They seem to assume that the church apostatized from true Christianity after it gained cultural influence in the time of Constantine, and that the faith was only later recovered by the 16th-century Reformers or even the 18th-century revivalists. As a result, the riches and wisdom of the medieval period have remained largely inaccessible to modern Protestants.
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A splendid introduction to Medieval faith from an Evangelical perspective
- By Daniel on 03-07-20
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Jesus' Alternative Plan
- The Sermon on the Mount
- By: Richard Rohr OFM
- Narrated by: Dean Gallagher
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Richard Rohr Rohr goes through the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount, explaining the historical and cultural context of each verse and offering guidance for what it means for Christians today.
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Updated Version
- By Anonymous User on 03-30-23
By: Richard Rohr OFM
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The Truth War
- Fighting for Certainty in an Age of Deception
- By: John MacArthur
- Narrated by: John MacArthur
- Length: 3 hrs and 43 mins
- Abridged
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Right now, Truth is under attack, and much is at stake. Christians are caught in the crossfire of alternative Christian histories, emerging faulty texts, and a cultural push to eliminate absolute Truth altogether. As a result, many churches and Christians have been deceived. Worse still, they propagate the deception that poses itself as Truth!
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Pure Truth Necessary For the Times
- By Tracie on 09-27-08
By: John MacArthur
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Anti-Judaism
- The Western Tradition
- By: David Nirenberg
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 17 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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This incisive history upends the complacency that confines anti-Judaism to the ideological extremes in the Western tradition. With deep learning and elegance, David Nirenberg shows how foundational anti-Judaism is to the history of the West. Questions of how we are Jewish and, more critically, how and why we are not have been churning within the Western imagination throughout its history. Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans; Christians and Muslims of every period; even the secularists of modernity have used Judaism in constructing their visions of the world.
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Great Book: Terrible Narrator
- By LB on 12-29-16
By: David Nirenberg
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For years, Christians have been asking, "If you died tonight, do you know where you would go?" It turns out that many believers have been giving the wrong answer. It is not heaven. Wright outlines the present confusion about a Christian's future hope and shows how it is deeply intertwined with how we live today. Wright asserts that Christianity's most distinctive idea is bodily resurrection, and provides a magisterial defense for a literal resurrection of Jesus. Wright then explores our expectation of "new heavens and a new earth".
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A valuable yet partial lens for viewing mission
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Deep dive into Romans 8
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N. T. Wright argues that every world view must explain seven “signposts”, indicators inherent to humanity. Using the Gospel of John as his source, Wright shows how Christianity defines each signpost and illuminates why we so often see them as being "broken" and unattainable. Drawing on the wisdom of the Gospels, Wright explains why these signposts are fractured and damaged and how Christianity provides the vision, guidance, and hope for making them whole once again, ultimately healing ourselves and our world.
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Favorite NT Wright Book
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Simply Christian
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Simply Christian walks the listener through the Christian faith step by step and question by question. With simple yet exciting and accessible prose, Wright challenges skeptics by offering explanations for even the toughest doubt-filled dilemmas, leaving believers with a reason for renewed faith. For anyone who wants to travel beyond the controversies that can obscure what the Christian faith really stands for, this simple book is the perfect vehicle for that journey.
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Excellent
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The Case for the Psalms
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Reading, studying, and praying the Psalms is God's means for teaching us what it means to be human: how to express our emotions and yearnings, how to reconcile our anger and our compassion, how to see our story in light of God's sweeping narrative of salvation. Wright provides the tools for understanding and incorporating these crucial verses into our own lives. His conclusion is simple: all Christians need to read, pray, sing, and live the Psalms.
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Psalms are an important part of historic worship
- By Adam Shields on 04-26-14
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After You Believe
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We are all spiritual seekers, intuitively knowing there is more to life than we suspect. This is a book for anyone who is hoping there is something more while we’re here on Earth. There is. We are being called to join the revolution, and Wright insightfully encourages readers to find new purpose and clarity by taking us on an eye-opening journey through key biblical passages that promise to radically alter the work of the church and the direction of our lives.
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True Spirituality
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For years, Christians have been asking, "If you died tonight, do you know where you would go?" It turns out that many believers have been giving the wrong answer. It is not heaven. Wright outlines the present confusion about a Christian's future hope and shows how it is deeply intertwined with how we live today. Wright asserts that Christianity's most distinctive idea is bodily resurrection, and provides a magisterial defense for a literal resurrection of Jesus. Wright then explores our expectation of "new heavens and a new earth".
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A valuable yet partial lens for viewing mission
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Excellent
- By James on 04-29-08
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Psalms are an important part of historic worship
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New Testament scholar N. T. Wright reveals how we have been misreading the Gospels for centuries, powerfully restoring the lost central story of the scripture: that the coronation of God through the acts of Jesus was the climax of human history. Wright fills the gaps that centuries of misdirection have opened up in our collective spiritual story, tracing a narrative from Eden to Jesus to today.
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Jesus' life matters, not just his death
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In this revised and expanded edition of The Last Word, Wright, Bishop of Durham, one of the preeminent Bible scholars of our day and author of such beloved works as After You Believe and Simply Christian, gives new life to the old, tattered doctrine of the authority of Scripture, delivering a fresh, helpful, and concise statement on the current battles for the Bible and restoring Scripture as a place to find God's voice.
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Takes scripture very seriously
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On Earth as in Heaven
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Modern pastors and their flocks have long considered N. T. Wright a role model for being a thoughtful Christian in today’s world. His bestselling books, including Simply Christian, Surprised by Hope, Simply Jesus, and After You Believe, have guided Christians in their belief and practice of the faith. Now, Christians can rely on his wisdom to guide them through each day of their lives with this thoughtful book of daily meditations, featuring short selections from his classic works.
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Beautiful encouragement to live the real Christian life. Following our King Jesus
- By Charlton & Natasha on 02-03-24
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The Day the Revolution Began
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In The Day the Revolution Began, N. T. Wright once again challenges commonly held Christian beliefs, as he did in Surprised by Hope. Demonstrating the rigorous intellect and breathtaking knowledge that have long defined his work, Wright argues that Jesus' death on the cross was not only to absolve us of our sins, it was actually the beginning of a revolution commissioning the Christian faithful to a new vocation - a royal priesthood responsible for restoring and reconciling all of God's creation.
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Standard Wright, both the strengths and weaknesses
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By: N. T. Wright
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Simply Jesus
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“Jesus - the Jesus we might discover if we really looked,” explains Wright, “is larger, more disturbing, more urgent than we had ever imagined. We have successfully managed to hide behind other questions and to avoid the huge, world-shaking challenge of Jesus’s central claim and achievement. It is we, the churches, who have been the real reductionists. We have reduced the kingdom of God to private piety; the victory of the cross to comfort for the conscience; Easter itself to a happy, escapist ending after a sad, dark tale. Piety, conscience, and ultimate happiness are important...."
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A must read for today's church
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Jesus and the Powers
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Should Christians be politically withdrawn, avoiding participation in politics to maintain their prophetic voice and to keep from being used as political pawns? Or should Christians be actively involved, seeking to utilize political systems to control the levers of power? In Jesus and the Powers, N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird call Christians everywhere to discern the nature of Christian witness in fractured political environments.
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Excellent biblically sound treatise on Christianity and politics
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What listeners say about Surprised by Scripture
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Abraham Ndūng'ū
- 01-15-15
Special. I have enjoyed every moment of listening.
What did you love best about Surprised by Scripture?
The reader is clear and audible.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Hmmm.. N character was there. But it is easy to follow N.T. Wright's arguments.
What does James Langton bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
He is not just a reader. He is dramatic - giving the listener an opportunity to "experience the events in the book.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
no.
Any additional comments?
I consider Audible.com an excellent "find" and a gift for the year 2015.
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- Sophy
- 07-29-24
Good food for thought
Interesting takes on traditional Protestant thought especially role of a woman in regards to teaching congregation .
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- Paul F. Evans
- 10-07-15
Wright or Wrong!
If you could sum up Surprised by Scripture in three words, what would they be?
Mostly right on!
Any additional comments?
I must first say that I enjoy N. T. Wright, his writing, his style, his form of expression, and I usually agree with him, about 90% of the time. But this book is flawed, not necessarily in its conclusions, but in its analysis of American evangelicalism, and I think, in some of its eschatology.
Wright was mostly right on with his scriptural analysis, in my opinion. With a few exceptions, I agreed with his theology of the kingdom of God, its now, but not yet point of view. I also agreed with his appeal for the church to become more culturally relevant through its implementation of the principles and life of genuine New Testament righteousness, as a result of the transformative power of Christ's death and resurrection (though I am still not sure of all of his views about the death of Christ in terms of atonement).
What I found very disappointing was his continual reference to American Christianity in these essays, especially what he called fundamentalism, as extreme, and politically right (to the extent that it misrepresents the gospel and New Testament). He paints with a very broad brush! His portrayal of virtually all American evangelicalism as wide-eyed fanaticism, focused on escaping the material world, in favor of an eternity in heaven, the rest of it be damned, suffers from gross oversimplification. Indeed, his claim that he has spent some time in America, knowns some American Christians, has debated some Americans Christians in theology, and has read American newspapers, and the like, rings entirely hollow.
To effectively caricature American evangelical Christianity as dangerous, misrepresentative of the intention of God, and in gross error concerning the kingdom of God and indeed the atonement of Christ, simply because it is passionate and politically engaged, more openly and visibly, than, say, in the UK, is to betray his lack of real knowledge of the genuine hearts of millions of ordinary and sincere American Christians. It is a fact that the American church in general is more culturally and politically resistive to what it sees as liberal government policies, than in the UK, but his evaluation does not take into account the generosity and engagement of millions of sincerely committed American Christians, and of thousands of churches that make genuine efforts to meet the needs of disadvantaged people at home and abroad, regardless of their religious affiliation, contributing per capita and in percentage (in the church), far more than the overage church-goer in Europe, liberal or conservative. I can vouch for the fact, that the overwhelming generosity of Americans as a people, displayed not least by the millions of dollars contributed to alleviate the suffering of people world wide, is precisely fueled by their faith and church connections. (Unlike Brits you can check most Americans charitable contributions every year in their tax returns. By contrast, Americans who identify as Christian often give in excess of 10%, (up to 20% is not uncommon) of their income to charity and the church, in contrast to those who identify as liberal, where the percentage is often below 1%). It is a shame that Wright believes the liberal press, and the BBC in particular when they speak authoritatively about the American church and what it believes. It would be equally wrong for me to characterize the British church as so hopelessly anemic as to be virtually irrelevant in the public square, or to a have sufficiently influential enough voice to make even a modest contribution to reversing the decline of British moral culture. That would be an unfair caricature, despite appearances from outside of the UK.
Many of us in the American protestant, evangelical tradition believe in the role of the church, almost exactly as Wright describes it. Fundamentalism is not the only or even the majority constituency in the American church. Furthermore, serious minded believers are not all escapists. Wright leaves the impression that pretty much everyone who is evangelical or fundamentalist has a hopelessly truncated and unsophisticated eschatology, A good number of preachers and teachers do realize that the new heaven and earth will recapitulate the original overlapping dimensions of heaven and earth, and not a perpetual material - "spiritual" dichotomy. Furthermore, the American evangelical church works as hard as it does, is as politically and culturally active as it is, precisely because it does believe in the breaking into this age of the kingdom of God, for the sake of the world that God created. To criticize American evangelicals because their theology leads to passion and action which he considers over the top, presumably in contrast to the the more measured and less confrontational UK model, is to split hairs. Maybe the American church can be a bit brash, but at least it is raising a blip on the radar.
In case, you are wondering, I am a Brit, who came to the United States as an adult. I have lived here 36 years, in the South, where the "radicals" live and move and have their being. If Wright can claim to know the American church in general, I can a least claim to have an acquaintance with the church in its evangelical (radical) heartland! I am a pastor too (30+ yeas), so I do modestly claim credibility for these remarks, although compared to Wright, I am of course small potatoes.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Joshua David Snell
- 12-31-19
Great Collection of Challenges
This was a great book and I recommend it to anyone who wants to be challenged to look at contemporary topics and how Scripture speaks to them! Even though I don’t agree with every Wright on every aspect of every topic I never finished a chapter without thinking, “hmm...I need to think through that.” The chapter on Art and Apocalypse was very encouraging as a Christian who loves art!
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- David
- 09-06-16
Excellent read, a must!
First of all, GREAT narration.
NT Wright does not disappoint in this book, a very helpful and informative read that poignantly summarizes his positions on a variety of issues that impact modern Christianity on a daily basis. I HIGHLY recommend this book.
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- Mrs. Brister
- 04-15-21
NT Wright never disappoints
Another amazing work by Tom Wright. This one is both theologically interesting but written in a way you can really apply to every day issues. It challenges you to see scripture as not just a story of individual salvation, as is so often taught, but of joining in God’s restoration work of the kingdom..here and now and daily.
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- Ruben
- 11-22-21
Fantastic
I like how the author dives in deep into every topic he brings up. Not merely relying on surface answers to popular Christian topics but thought-out and systematically answered. The narration of this work is well done and I would recommend this book to anyone that studies scripture.
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- Eric
- 04-16-15
Brilliant but mischaracterizations abound
Wright is an extremely gifted thinker and author but I honestly felt that he repeatedly mischaracterized others' points of view and tended to attack the easy straw-men at the extremes of a competing belief. I'm sure he is familiar with logic, but I noticed many logical problems as he laid out his arguments. My guess is that this is due to motivated reasoning, but perhaps I'm mistaken and I'm the one who has it wrong. Unfortunately, we can't really discuss it further to find out. :(
I both loved and strongly disliked this book. Give it a read for yourself. :)
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- Adam Shields
- 06-10-14
Previously published chapters compiled to a book
I am an unabashed fan of NT Wright. I have read most of his popular level books (except the commentary series) and a few of his more academic oriented books. I appreciate his focus on calling people to a fresh look at scripture and his ability to take scripture seriously while maintaining real academic quality.
But on the whole I was disappointed by this book. It is a re-working of articles that have previously appeared elsewhere. Most of them were commissioned by US journals or from chapters in books that were for US audiences, so as a Brit, he is most of the time consciously writing for the North American Evangelical audience.
His basic arguments, like most of Wright, is that given historical realities of the original writers and audience, we modern readers tend to be missing the intended point of the original writers.
As with most Wright he needs to go through a fairly long narrative to be able to help the reader understand his point. And I think that is why his full length book treatments are better than these shorter issue based chapters.
The problem is not so much the individual chapters, but that in almost every case, he has a better response in a full length books (and he frequently tells the reader that there is more to the story if you want to pick up another one of his books.) So his first three chapters on science and religion, the historical Adam and the resurrection were all better handled by his book Scripture and the Authority of God.
The fourth chapter, The Biblical Case for Ordaining Women, is actually one of the two issues in the book that was new to me (although he says he has brought up several of the issues before in his commentary series.)
The fifth chapter is theoretically about environmentalism, but is really a short version of his Surprised by Hope book about eschatology.
The sixth chapter is the only chapter that I think might be better as a chapter than the book. Wright's Evil and the Justice of God was decent, but in this chapter he does a better job of summarizing by saying, we cannot solve the problem of evil. Instead, God has chosen to give us scripture, not as a way to intellectually solve the problem of evil, but as a way to remind us that God is with us through difficult times.
Several of the later chapters are more political and this is where likely a number of bad reviews will focus. Wright have a very good defence of why a scriptural church is a political church. And Wright also is theologically consistent with his politics. The problem for many readers is that those politics do not match well with our US political systems. So Wright is 'conservative' about sexual issues, 'liberal' about environmentalism, international debt and immigration policy, and off the political map in regard to terrorism. He is against anabaptist retreat and attempts of re-creating Christendom. As I have said in regard to his discussion of politics in other books, I think he is theologically right about most of his points, but he is not a great economist, political historian or political theorist. (And I agree with him in a large number of his political stances.)
If there is a main theme in the book it is that we are now all Epicureans. It is the focus of the chapter on Idolatry, but comes up multiple times throughout the book. Essentially this is not unlike what some others describe as modern Deism. But Wright believes that Epicureanism is actually a better description. The short description of Epicureanism is that it is a believe that the gods don't really care about us or at least don't have much influence over our daily lives, so we might as well live for pleasure because that is something we can do.
The rest of the chapters not mentioned are basically the same. Good topics, fairly well handled by Wright, but always feeling a bit too rushed and too thematically squeezed into the book. On the whole, I would just suggest that you read Wright’s others books and skip this one, unless you are really interested in his take on Epicureanism or Women in Ministry.
Personally, I think you should start with Scripture and the Authority of God, then read Surprised by Hope and Simply Jesus and expand from there as you have time and interest.
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3 stars is probably too harsh, but I give very few 5 stars and this just isn't quite a 4.
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