Practical Apologetic
Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense
by N. T. Wright
HarperSanFrancisco, 2006
(256 pages, $22.95, hardcover)
reviewed by Louis Markos
Just as C. S. Lewis began Mere Christianity by arguing that our intuitive sense of the moral law points toward a supernatural Director of that law, so N. T. Wright, Anglican bishop of Durham, begins Simply Christian by arguing that our inbred yearnings for justice, spirituality, relationship, and beauty point beyond our world to a Creator.
In this “pre-evangelical” section of his book, Wright appeals to the general experience of his readers rather than to abstract theological or philosophical propositions. He nudges us gently toward a realization that there is a troubling, gnawing mismatch between our desire to set things right and the realities of the world in which we live.
Like Lewis, Wright is conscious of the need to first argue for the existence of God before arguing for the unique theological claims of Christianity, and he locates that argument, like Lewis, precisely in that gnawing mismatch.
However, once he has established his foundation for a belief in God, he parts company with Lewis to take a more historical, Bible-based approach. As a prominent and prolific New Testament scholar who has defended the historicity of the Gospel narratives and explored the full context for and ramifications of Jesus’ messianic claims, Wright brings to his apologetical
primer a rich understanding of how Christian theology and practice is rooted in the history of Israel.
Wright defines God not in terms of abstract philosophy but in terms of God’s work in and through Israel. He first shows how God effects his divine plan through the royal Davidic line, the Temple, the Torah, and the prophetic promise of a new creation; he next shows how Jesus fulfills and incarnates all four; he concludes by describing how the church participates in the messianic fulfillment.
Christian Springs
Of course, Wright does not plunge his reader immediately into the salvation history of Israel and the Church. He first leads us to the River Jordan by fashioning a simple parable of our modern world.
Once upon a time, there was a country fed by a thousand natural springs, which carried fresh water to the inhabitants but also left them prey to floods and the subsequent danger of muddy, disease-ridden water. A dictator seized control of the country and decided he would regulate these wild and often polluted springs through a series of man-made dikes and pipes. The project succeeded for a generation, but the springs eventually burst through the concrete.
Louis Markos , Professor in English and Scholar in Residence at Houston Baptist University, holds the Robert H. Ray Chair in Humanities. His 19 books include Lewis Agonistes; Restoring Beauty: The Good, the True, and the Beautiful in the Writings of C. S. Lewis; On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue with Tolkien and Lewis; and From A to Z to Narnia with C. S. Lewis.
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