Challenge of Jesus

Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is

By: N. T. Wright

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Today a renewed and vigorous scholarly quest for the historical Jesus is underway. In the midst of well publicized and controversial books on Jesus, N. T. Wright's lectures and writings have been widely recognized for providing a fresh, provocative and historically credible portrait.

The Challenge of Jesus poses a double-edged challenge: to grow in our understanding of the historical Jesus within the Palestinian world of the first century, and to follow Jesus more faithfully into the postmodern world of the 21st century.

©2000 N.T. Wright (P)2009 christianaudio.com

The Cliff Notes of Jesus and The Victory of God

If you don't have the time to read Wright's more scholarly work Jesus and the Victory of God then The Challenge of Jesus contains all of the incredible ideas and insights that the larger work contains but in a much more accessible version.

I will listen to this book many times.

Prescient, Penetrating,

Listening to and reading this late 90s book in 2021, I recognize it as exactly what I need as a participant/observer/lover of God and all he created until True, Complete, Flourishing Heaven.

Starts out slow, but ends well.

For me, the last couple chapters are worth listening to for the perspective on the gospel, how beautiful it is, and how it applies to our post modern world. The opening chapters are academic and only slightly helpful, so many may want to skip them.

Rich!

So rich, you will want to listen to it over and again, especially the final chapters.

Brilliant and solid biblical analysis.

Insightful and clear challenges to readers. Christ in you is the hope of glory for all. Bravo, N. T. Wright.

Perfect for Holy Week

By a historian, theologian, and impassioned believer. Last 2 chapters made the book. Recommended!

A great book!

NT Wright’s works are to be cherished. What a lovely book. I would highly recommend that you read/listen to this.

This is what we need!

If you could sum up Challenge of Jesus in three words, what would they be?

Challenging (of course), Fresh, Awakening

Who was your favorite character and why?

Though this is a non-fiction

Have you listened to any of Simon Vance’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but I did really enjoy his narration. He carries a great deal of authority, but maintains great accessibility. I imagine him as an older college professor that offers coffee to his students and no excuses for apathy.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I didn't laugh or cry, though my reaction to this book was still significant. Just after listening to the introduction I felt a huge constriction in my chest release. The sense of relief that another was thinking and conversing about these things was immense.

Any additional comments?

Though I would say first that the discussions in this book are very accessible to both avid readers and the just curious, I must caution that Wright does not shy from his intellectual and academic background. My father is a deep thinker, but not much of a reader. I thought of him often as I listened. Most of the book would have been very enjoyable and interesting to him, but I fear much still would be lost because of the scholastic tone and nature of the content.

Challenging but Rewarding

This book requires concentration from the layman. However, the effort is well rewarded with well thought out arguments, thorough explanations and good research.
N.T. Wright gives the reader a new perspective on the gospel. and certainly makes the Bible easier to understand.
Wonderful book, one that one can definitely listen to a few times in order to thoroughly lock down its message, and maybe Google a few words in the process.

Good book for class

I hade to read this for class. It's very inciteful
Not s book I would have ordinarily read. Kinda deep writing.