The Imagination of N.T. Wright -or- A New Vision of the Conversion of Saul of Tarsus
As I was listening to an audio post (from a link from the the N.T. Wright Page) of one of Bishop Wright's more recent lectures concerning his exegetical overview of the Book of Acts, one portion struck me as so fascinating that I couldn't wait until tomorrow to share it. I've been commenting of late on John Piper's critique of one narrow aspect of Wright's theological vision (as have Trevin Wax and Ken Schenck) in his new book, The Future of Justification. My take on Piper's book has been not so much a criticism of his particular points but of his overall vision. I don't necessarily agree with the particular points, but my concern is more on the meta- level, while Trevin ad Ken get down into the nitty-gritty (which I greatly appreciate and by which I have been illuminated, by the way).
But I think the following passage is a good example of the fundamental difference between Piper's vision and Wright's. Beyond the particular disagreements, beyond the doctrinal disputes, beyond the theological minutia, there lay, I think, a fundamental difference in these two men's ability to imagine, and in their propensity to allow their imaginations, grounded by Scripture, to tell that great story afresh to a world that is dying to hear it as such.
So this is what Wright says about a story that I've read and heard a thousand times, but which compelled me to rush to my computer to share it with whoever may hear:
I have a theory about Acts, Ch. 9...it may or may not be right, but let me just run in past you because it seems to me to make a lot of sense. It goes with that temple theology, and goes with the patterns of prayer that many Jews of that period, and subsequently, used, a pattern of prayer based on the first chapter of the Book of Ezekiel, (which is) all about the whirling wheel full of eyes, darting this way and that, and sometimes we get so bothered about these wheels that we forget to think 'What is actually being described here?' And the answer is, this is a heavenly throne chariot being described. The prophet has a vision of the chariot on which God is sitting and the chariot is being borne upon by seraphim and is darting this way and that. And the point about the vision is not to stop with the wheels but to go up until you see the form that's sitting on the chariot, and then, ultimately, up to the face itself. And Ezekiel fell on his face when that happened as though dead.
Now, it has been guessed, and it is only a guess, but it is not an implausible guess, that on the long, boring trudge, trodding upon his horse on the way up to Damascus, what would Saul of Tarsus be doing? He was going to do God's work. He was filled with holy and righteous zeal. He was zealous for the Kingdom of God. And these blasphemers who were talking about this wretched man, Jesus, who had been killed on a cross, and good riddance to him, the sooner we've got them all rounded up and put in prison or killed as well, so much the better. And the way you prepare yourself for a holy task like that is in prayer and fasting and meditation to go and do God's work.
And so I imagine Saul of Tarsus, going along on his horse and, in prayer, meditating on the throne chariot, thinking he sees the wheels, and with the eyes of his heart looking up to the chariot itself, and then on up, and dare he, and yes he dare, and here is this form sitting on the chariot, and then it gets clearer, and its as though he's seeing it with his real eyes, and then its so vivid that he realizes he is seeing it with his own eyes, and his eyes go up and up and he comes to the face, and the face is the face of Jesus of Nazareth. And at that moment, Saul does what Ezekiel does, and falls on his face as though dead.
In this day, do we not need a fresh (not new, "fresh") vision if the biblical narrative more so than a detailed analysis of the doctrinal statements derived therefrom?
Grace and Peace,
Raffi
But I think the following passage is a good example of the fundamental difference between Piper's vision and Wright's. Beyond the particular disagreements, beyond the doctrinal disputes, beyond the theological minutia, there lay, I think, a fundamental difference in these two men's ability to imagine, and in their propensity to allow their imaginations, grounded by Scripture, to tell that great story afresh to a world that is dying to hear it as such.
So this is what Wright says about a story that I've read and heard a thousand times, but which compelled me to rush to my computer to share it with whoever may hear:
I have a theory about Acts, Ch. 9...it may or may not be right, but let me just run in past you because it seems to me to make a lot of sense. It goes with that temple theology, and goes with the patterns of prayer that many Jews of that period, and subsequently, used, a pattern of prayer based on the first chapter of the Book of Ezekiel, (which is) all about the whirling wheel full of eyes, darting this way and that, and sometimes we get so bothered about these wheels that we forget to think 'What is actually being described here?' And the answer is, this is a heavenly throne chariot being described. The prophet has a vision of the chariot on which God is sitting and the chariot is being borne upon by seraphim and is darting this way and that. And the point about the vision is not to stop with the wheels but to go up until you see the form that's sitting on the chariot, and then, ultimately, up to the face itself. And Ezekiel fell on his face when that happened as though dead.
Now, it has been guessed, and it is only a guess, but it is not an implausible guess, that on the long, boring trudge, trodding upon his horse on the way up to Damascus, what would Saul of Tarsus be doing? He was going to do God's work. He was filled with holy and righteous zeal. He was zealous for the Kingdom of God. And these blasphemers who were talking about this wretched man, Jesus, who had been killed on a cross, and good riddance to him, the sooner we've got them all rounded up and put in prison or killed as well, so much the better. And the way you prepare yourself for a holy task like that is in prayer and fasting and meditation to go and do God's work.
And so I imagine Saul of Tarsus, going along on his horse and, in prayer, meditating on the throne chariot, thinking he sees the wheels, and with the eyes of his heart looking up to the chariot itself, and then on up, and dare he, and yes he dare, and here is this form sitting on the chariot, and then it gets clearer, and its as though he's seeing it with his real eyes, and then its so vivid that he realizes he is seeing it with his own eyes, and his eyes go up and up and he comes to the face, and the face is the face of Jesus of Nazareth. And at that moment, Saul does what Ezekiel does, and falls on his face as though dead.
In this day, do we not need a fresh (not new, "fresh") vision if the biblical narrative more so than a detailed analysis of the doctrinal statements derived therefrom?
Grace and Peace,
Raffi
0 Comments:
Post a Comment