Great Quotes: Wright on the Purpose of the Bible
Apparently this week on my blog is brought to you (unbeknownest to him, of course) by N.T. Wright. Although in many ways, every week on this blog is brought to you by N.T. Wright – he has had a profound influence on how I think about my faith. Here is another great quote from his newest book, Scripture and the Authority of God:
“[W]e discover what the shape and the inner life of the church ought to be only when we look first at the church’s mission, and … we discover what the church’s mission is only when we look first at God’s purpose for the entire world, as indicated in, for instance, Genesis 1-2, Genesis 12, Isaiah 40-55, Romans 8, 1 Corinthians 15, Ephesians 1, and Revelation 21-22. We read scripture in order to be refreshed in our memory and understanding of the story within which we ourselves are actors, to be reminded where it has come from and where it is going to, and hence what our own part within it ought to be.” (p 116)
There’s a lot there, and its all good. He says we need to learn to work from the big picture to the small: from God’s purpose for the world, down to the mission of the church, and then to what life within the church (and therefore life as an individual believer) actually looks like. That way God’s overall purposes – and our mission as followers of Jesus – is always the main point.
I have a feeling I’ll be going through that list of passages in my own reading times very soon.
