David Donnan

AI Disclosure: This article was written by me, with AI assistance used for grammar, spelling, and formatting. The thoughts, reflections, and opinions are my own.

My son and I made a pilgrimage to meet at one of the top living biblical scholars and Christian theologians. Professor N.T. Wright has written dozens of books on theology, the New Testament, and biblical studies.

His devotional commentary series For Everyone is a great place to start for anyone reading the New Testament. Professor Wright was speaking at Wesley Church on St. Simons as part of a lecture series with Wycliffe Hall in Oxford.

Here are # insights from the lectures.

#1 Wright is Very Engaging

Using my spiritual gift of pessimism (not a real gift) I had low expectations. I had once concern of Professor Wright being flat in presentation. The man is in 70s. As someone who did an international trip to South Africa, I know the toll it can take on the body and I was in my 40s. Another concern I had was seeing him read a lecture. I have heard if you go to big academic presentations they can be rather boring. It is essentially someone reading a report.

Neither of these fears were realized. Wright was energetic, passionate, and excited. He had notes but I do not recall him using them a lot. I was leaning in the whole time.

He still has a strong desire to go back to the text and find its original meaning which is always refreshing.

#2 Play the Same Note in a Different Key

I am not a musical person. Is playing the same note in a different key possible? If you read Professor Wright there a few things you are going to hear. You will hear: (1) How the church has got their interpretation slightly off particularly in the middle ages and reformation. (2) How Platonic thought shaped the early church. (3) A strong emphasis on the new creation.

These are some of the common themes I have picked up on reading several of Wright’s books particuarly in my favorite Surprised by Hope.

His most recent book God’s Homecoming seems be focused on God’s desire to be with humanity with it’s final culmination in new creation. I have not read his latest book but he did spend part of his lectures focusing on this.

#3 Seeing it Through My Son’s Eyes

Other than a small four-month-old baby, my son was the youngest person there. I have no clue if he will go into ministry or study theology. However, if he does it will be wonderful to say he met N.T. Wright. While Professor Wright never had a line for book signings we still decided to approach him before the last session.

My son’s favorite book of the bible is Revelation. He brought Revelation for Everyone and had it signed. Professor Wright was gracious to sign it and also quick to point out he was no Revelation scholar and it was his only work on the book. I also gifted him a pocket cross and told him thank you for dedication his life to biblical scholarship.

Afterwards, my son said, “Sorry, you did not get a book signed.” I assured him it brought me much more joy for him to get the book signed he wanted. Also, my copy of Surprised by Hope was already defaced in the front. Probably by my son in his toddler years.

If you want to have the feather in your cap of seeing Professor Wright in person you should head up to Asbury Theological Seminary for The Christian Mind Conference February 16th – 18th, 2027.