Simply Christian: Tom Wright.

Simply Christian
Tom Wright
SPCK 2006

This book has been touted as the most thrilling attempt to re-express the heart of the Christian faith since CS Lewis's Mere Christianity. I can't say I was thrilled, I was certainly fascinated. The difficulty for Tom Wright is that the audience is much more diverse in their presuppositions and attitudes than it was when Lewis wrote. I got the feeling that the book is such that few would follow and nod in agreement with all the premises and arguments throughout. However, there is much that would ring bells for many. The difficulty is, in an age of image and sound bite, would they persevere through the parts of the book that seem somehow foreign to them.

In Part I Wright looks to connect with his audience through what he calls "Echoes of a voice." In an age where traditional concepts of sin, salvation, authority of the bible are but echoes of a bygone era, I think Wright does very well to find what I call a "point of engagement" with his audience. These are, simply: A shared passion for justice, a hidden spring of spirituality, an ache for right relationships, and an appreciation of beauty. Through each of these he paints a picture of seeing what is right, but having it so often slip through our fingers - justice not given in full, beauty marred by carelessness or greed. Both his points of engagement and the development of his argument are worth of study and imitation. The proof will be if they lead to a more in depth look at the claims of Christianity.

Wright goes on to place today's beliefs and believers in historical context. This is refreshing to see as so often the gospel has been presented out of context of God's story. He also introduces three options which he continually refers to as options 1, 2, and 3 as a way to avoid mentioning "isms" too much. I wish he'd come up with some more descriptive labels, though he is right to avoid the more academic, thought meaningless to most, pan(en)theism and deism labels. Perhaps "All God", "Distant God", and "Engaged God" would have served his purpose better.

This book is likely to be of benefit to many Christians who are lacking in seeking their faith in relationship with other faiths and with history. It is less likely to be understandable by the non-Christian unless they have some prior understanding of Christianity and the Christian language (despite Wright's efforts to minimize these). As such it will serve a very good purpose for many, but it is unlikely to be revelationary for the masses.