Paul

In Fresh Perspective

By: N. T. Wright

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

For me," says N.T.Wright, "there has been no more stimulating exercise, for the mind, the heart, the imagination and the spirit, than trying to think Paul's thoughts after him and constantly to be stirred up to fresh glimpses of God's ways and purposes with the world and with us strange human creatures."

Wright's accessible new volume, built on his Cambridge University Hulsean Lectures of 2004, takes a fresh look at Paul in light of recent understandings of his Jewish roots, his attitude toward the Roman Empire, and his unique reframing of Jewish symbols in relation to his experience of the risen Christ. Then Wright attempts a short systematic account of the main theological contours of Paul's thought and its pertinence for the church today.

©2009 N.T. Wright (P)2009 christianaudio.com

Interesting and Deep

I liked this book, but honestly, it was difficult to get through. The book is deep and not always easy to understand. I wish the writing was a little easier to grasp. Often I found the language complex when simplicity would have been more appropriate.

Like reading a commentary on audio

Definitely a hard listen. It's like reading a commentary on audio. I found myself having to rewind to listen again to what he says many times. If you want to really understand what he's saying I would suggest buying the book instead for this.

Second time around

Any additional comments?

When I originally purchased this audiobook and gave it a listen, I couldn't follow it at all, for I was completely alien to the context, the scholars debates and the different perspectives out there. Without a basic awareness of these things, N.T Wrights writings on Paul, didn't have any shelf to rest on, it was all Greek to me. But now several years later, having become a little more familiar with the issues, I listened to the book again and found it really interesting, so good in fact, that I may listen to it again and take notes.This work compilation of of lectures on matters of what Wright expounds on much more elsewhere, some of Wrights insights are subtle; that don't necessarily stick out or seem ground-breaking on the surface, even now I can follow him, if I am not paying close attention, what he writes brush right past me. But I have found when I do truly listen to what he is saying, Wright often is illuminating and does have some fresh perspectives

Stimulating Read, Yet Unclear on Justification

Overall I really enjoyed this challenge to: re-examine the linguistic context of scripture with relation to Paul, and examine afresh his ecclesiastical theology. Yet, I find John Piper correct in asserting that N.T. Wright's message on justification less than clarion in explanation, and unconvincing.

chapters mistaged, otherwise great!

I've read a chunk of Wright's Jesus stuff, including his academic stuff. This book was really a really good"big picture" book for his Pauline stuff. I also like to narrators accent, very appropriate.. the only thing was that the book Is 8 chapters, but this is divided into 7 that aren't even close to where the actual chapters are..

Not written for laymen

Hard book to get through, one must pay full attention and even then he is really hard to follow.
But there are some interesting tid bits I've walked away with, so it was not necessarily a waste of time.

exceptional, but very advanced and philosophical

I give it 5+ stars for the quality of the content but 4 stars here for accessibility, given its complexity. this is not for the casual Christian. While I come from a different Christian denomination with some differences in doctrinal understanding of the scriptures compared to wright, i enjoy the deepness in thought and the care he takes on the implications of the doctrinal stances we all take. I picked up this book expecting to get an even deeper dive into doctrine than his other books, and that's what you'll get here, as an understatement! I really enjoyed this book, but it is not for the theological novice. The vocabulary used, the assumption of previous knowledge of the historical setting and sociopolitical background is on par with someone with at least a few years of focused University-level study of the Bible and 1st century near-eastern and Mediterranean history. I can easily follow most theological books listening to them on 2x speed while biking to work, but I had to slow this one down and follow along in the printed book itself!

Book version of lecture

This is a formal academic lecture in book form. I found it pretty straightforward, but I’ve read his stuff before.

I particularly like his point that apocalyptic does not mean dualist in Paul.

Lots of good nuggets, but not a tome - therefore a good audiobook.

Must be a scholar…. Preferably doctoral level

The author is much more interested in demonstrating his intellect than actually presenting a work that might instruct someone who simply wants to understand who Paul was. I couldn’t get past chapter three and was totally confused the entire time and I happen to have a PhD… I would not recommend this book to anyone other than a Cambridge grad

Great book.

great book. The timer is off though, so it doesn't line up with the chapter breaks.

Good book but poorly edited

Good audio presentation spoiled by lazy editing.
As an acedemic book it is more likely a listener will want to listen again to a particular chapter rather than listen straight through. That being the case, why not have the audio chapters correspond to the book chapters and include chapter titles? How much work would it be?

Why bother reading anyone else?

NT Wright shows how Paul should be read and understood by taking the reader back in time. He makes sense of Paul by analysing the culture that he lived in and the way his audience understood their place in the big story or meta narrative.

Excellence

loved eat, easy to follow and refreshing to hear. A very good voice as well.

Plenty of food for thought

N.T. Wright is considered to be at the forefront of Pauline study. There are so many rich thoughts and proposals it is going to take me some time to thoroughly digest his ‘fresh perspective’. One of the strengths of this richness is that it really promotes sincere reflection. When reading the Pauline writings in future I will be measuring Wright’s proposals and seeing how closely his ideas marry with all I read ... absolutely fascinating.

Great stuff!!! Wonderful scholarship .

Wonderful scholarship and intelligence. Well analysed and wel l ththought out. Sheds a searchlight beam of light on Paul’s teaching.

Fantastic exploration

Loved it. Finished in one sitting! NT Wright does a lot of research with depth