parables of a prodigal world

Chapter 14 Reshaping the Church for Mission (1): Biblical Roots With all due respect to Scot McKnight, and with utter appreciation to his dedicated and insightful review series on the book over at Jesus Creed , I find myself forced to vigorously disagree with the premise of his introduction to his last post on the series, where he chooses to summarize these last chapters of the book with the barest of details "because we have already come to terms with the central ideas." Well, yes and no. Wright has, up till now, brought us to terms with the central foundational ideas, but it is in these last few chapters, I believe, where the whole purpose for those ideas is found. Without taking seriously the natural consequences of the solidified vision of the historical Christian faith, and the hope generated by it, wouldn't this all be an exercise in futility? If we are at least intrigued by the picture Wright has painted so far, wouldn't we naturally want to see where this ...

Chapter 13 Building for the Kingdom The precise wording of Chapter 13's title is critical to Wright's main theme here. Having set forth the map of the ultimate Christian hope, framed at either end by the first Easter and the final coming of the new Jerusalem from heaven to earth, our task, in the middle of those two events, is precisely to build " for the kingdom." Not to "build the kingdom," as assumed by much of the old "Social Gospel" proponents, and to sit back and let God do what God is going to do, and to get as many people on board in the meantime, as assumed by many that lean toward a more fundamental view of the Christian message. Our task, as Wright outlines, is to build for the kingdom in three primary categories (Justice, Beauty, and Evangelism), reflecting our status as those in whom new creation has begun in Christ, and thereby anticipating and setting up markers for the ultimate new creation in the future, that day when all space, ...

Chapter 12 Rethinking Salvation: Heaven, Earth and the Kingdom of God Chapter 12 culminates the final section of the book. where Wright will attempt to tie in all that he has put forward regarding the proper understanding of the Christian hope to the question of what it all means for us today. This, as Wright likes to say, is the "So What?" moment. The main theme of the book so far, if we can reduce it to just one, is the insistence that the historical Christian hope has very little to do with a disembodied life after death, and very much to do with life here on earth, both today and in the future when God's promise to make "all things new" (not "all new things") is fulfilled. And Chapter 12 continues on pressing that point, but here in the context of clarifying our ideas of Salvation and The Kingdom of God . I thought about summarizing Wright's take on these two themes from Chapter 12, but inasmuch as (1) they are so similar to two lectures that ...