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Rating: 
Summary: THE CHALLENGE OF JESUS AS LORD
Review: In his Preface, Wright states the thesis for his book: that to celebrate the Millennium does not mean preparing for the end of the world, but saying to our world what the calendar was designed to say in its day: Jesus is Lord. He begins the book with an explanation of the origin of our present calendar, proposed by Dionysius around 500 AD to mark time in which Jesus reigns as King. He includes an excellent discussion of the dating problems involved, and offers a very brief review of various interpretations of the thousand years of Jesus' reign, based on Revelation 20.Next, he summaries the main reasons for his argument that January 1, 2000 has nothing to do with anything in biblical prophecy: 1) the calendar was invented in the sixth century and got the date wrong; 2) the calendar dates from the conception of Jesus, but the reign began from his resurrection; 3) even assuming no problem in the dating, and allowing for prophecy, that event would have occurred around 1030 AD; etc. In the chapter on "Apocalypse Now?" Wright has an excellent discussion, in popularized and easy to read language, of the meaning of Apocalyptic language, extremely well illustrated. He also has a very brief but helpful discussion of heaven and earth and their mutual relation, and of Christian future hope. The third and fourth chapters are full of comparisons of Christian faith and modern and postmodern thinking. Chapter four contains basic characterizations of the Christian "story" such as we find in Wright's other works (e.g. NTPG & JVG). The final chapter is a recommendation on how to properly celebrate the Millennium, with an extended treatment of the theme of Jubilee, in which Wright proposes that we begin to live out the reality of our faith as Jesus' first followers did, in a community in which everything is shared and none are in want! In view of Wright's treatment (or lack) of the resurrection of Jesus in his other writings, many have queried how he really thinks about it, but it is a theme he stresses throughout this little tract, and upon which he bases the Lordship of Jesus. Without the resurrection no Jesus, no Jesus, no Millennium; and without him the world would date itself--but, Oh, what a different world it would be....
Rating:
Summary: THE CHALLENGE OF JESUS AS LORD
Review: In his Preface, Wright states the thesis for his book: that to celebrate the Millennium does not mean preparing for the end of the world, but saying to our world what the calendar was designed to say in its day: Jesus is Lord. He begins the book with an explanation of the origin of our present calendar, proposed by Dionysius around 500 AD to mark time in which Jesus reigns as King. He includes an excellent discussion of the dating problems involved, and offers a very brief review of various interpretations of the thousand years of Jesus' reign, based on Revelation 20. Next, he summaries the main reasons for his argument that January 1, 2000 has nothing to do with anything in biblical prophecy: 1) the calendar was invented in the sixth century and got the date wrong; 2) the calendar dates from the conception of Jesus, but the reign began from his resurrection; 3) even assuming no problem in the dating, and allowing for prophecy, that event would have occurred around 1030 AD; etc. In the chapter on "Apocalypse Now?" Wright has an excellent discussion, in popularized and easy to read language, of the meaning of Apocalyptic language, extremely well illustrated. He also has a very brief but helpful discussion of heaven and earth and their mutual relation, and of Christian future hope. The third and fourth chapters are full of comparisons of Christian faith and modern and postmodern thinking. Chapter four contains basic characterizations of the Christian "story" such as we find in Wright's other works (e.g. NTPG & JVG). The final chapter is a recommendation on how to properly celebrate the Millennium, with an extended treatment of the theme of Jubilee, in which Wright proposes that we begin to live out the reality of our faith as Jesus' first followers did, in a community in which everything is shared and none are in want! In view of Wright's treatment (or lack) of the resurrection of Jesus in his other writings, many have queried how he really thinks about it, but it is a theme he stresses throughout this little tract, and upon which he bases the Lordship of Jesus. Without the resurrection no Jesus, no Jesus, no Millennium; and without him the world would date itself--but, Oh, what a different world it would be....
Rating:
Summary: How Christianity Answers Postmodernism
Review: Wright goes in to show that Christianity claims a metanarrative that isn't a powerplay. True Christianity is about worshipping and imitating the Lord of All who was the SERVANT of All.
A treat at the end of the book is Wright's dealing with the present question of third world debt.
A great read.
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