How God Became King
The Forgotten Story of the Gospels
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4.3 • 51 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
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: the powerful arrival of the kingdom of God, where 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. Wright’s powerful re-reading of the Gospels, a landmark work of Christian theology, helps us re-align the focus of our spiritual beliefs, which have for too long been focused on the afterlife. Instead, the forgotten story of the Gospels reveals why we should understand that our real charge is to sustain and cooperate with God's kingdom here and now as part of our Christian mission. Echoing the triumphs of Simply Christian and The Meaning of Jesus, Wright’s How God Became King is required reading for any Christian searching to understand their mission in the world today.
How has the modern church forgotten the central story of its own Scriptures—and what can be done to recover it?
The Kingdom and the Cross: Discover why the Gospels tell a single, powerful story of God’s victory, not a “kingdom” message that ends in failure or a “cross” message detached from Jesus’s life.A Radical Re-Reading: Challenge the assumption that the Gospels are primarily about “going to heaven” and uncover their true, world-changing message for our lives and mission on earth.The Story of Israel: Understand how the life and work of Jesus serves as the astonishing climax to the long, unfinished story of Israel and what that means for the entire world.Your Mission in the World: Move beyond a passive faith by grasping your active role in cooperating with God’s kingdom in the here and now, transforming the world around you.
Customer Reviews
Not Just an Intellectual Exercise
This small book by Tom Wright is certainly worth the investment of dollars and time to read and understand.
Be warned: Reading it, one takes on the Yoke of the Kingdom. The challenge then becomes keeping it "easy" and "light". Walking by faith in lock step with the Spirit is the challenge for all, new and old. The book is NOT just an intellectual exercise; it is a manifesto. Or should be. Again, be warned.
Tom lays out the outlines of where he (under the authoritative rubrics of The Text) has been headed for years, explains the problem(s), elucidates the key Texts which generate his premise, and points us in the direction(s) The Kingdom is coming to actuality today on Planet Earth.
It does raise as many questions as it answers... which is a good thing. It does not say everything can and needs to be said (admittedly), but it outlines the proper ideas concerning The Kingdom in Jesus' words and deeds.
And... St. Paul's too! It explains much that is implicit in the how and whys found in St. Paul's (and the others) words and action in The Acts of the Apostles, and those writings we have theirs in the Canon. It seems to me, that beyond itself and it's own substantive content and message, this book is laying out necessary markers for Tom's next "Big Book" on St. Paul due out the Summer of 2013.
Tom Kushman
St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
A Beautiful Display of the Gospels
When Christians read the gospels, they think a God who came to earth, died for their sins, and was raised to promise them heaven. NT Wright shows how that is true and so much more! He exposes the missing middle of the gospels... the Kingdom! Jesus did not live for bye and bye, pie in the sky, but for power in the spirit to restore a broken world! If you haven’t read or have heard Dr. Wright is unorthodox try this book and test it with the scriptures! Jesus is a Jewish man bent on bringing a kingdom of suffering (from Isaiah). It inspired me to look at the gospels with fresh eyes! God bless.
Stuck”D short and blind
Lost me in the first pages with the hyper-overloaded, and wordiness - No words… simply put I have no words.. seems like he’s reading way too much between the lines on the biblical story that he has bloated and muddied the waters of the simple story that starts with Genesis and ends with revelations. A don’t read, unless you want confusion to reign.