Christianity Today Biblical Studies Award of Merit

For centuries the story of Adam and Eve has resonated richly through the corridors of art, literature and theology. But for most moderns, taking it at face value is incongruous. And even for many thinking Christians today who want to take seriously the authority of Scripture, insisting on a "literal" understanding of Genesis 2-3 looks painfully like a "tear here" strip between faith and science.

How can Christians of good faith move forward? Who were the historical Adam and Eve? What if we've been reading Genesis-and its claims regarding material origins-wrong? In what cultural context was this couple, this garden, this tree, this serpent portrayed?

Following his groundbreaking Lost World of Genesis One, John Walton explores the ancient Near Eastern context of Genesis 2-3, creating space for a faithful reading of Scripture along with full engagement with science for a new way forward in the human origins debate. As a bonus, an illuminating excursus by N. T. Wright places Adam in the implied narrative of Paul's theology.

The Lost World of Adam and Eve will be required reading for anyone seeking to understand this foundational text historically and theologically, and wondering how to view it alongside contemporary understandings of human origins.

The books in the Lost World Series follow the pattern set by Bible scholar John H. Walton, bringing a fresh, close reading of the Hebrew text and knowledge of ancient Near Eastern literature to an accessible discussion of the biblical topic at hand using a series of logic-based propositions.

In Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, top-selling author and Anglican bishop, N.T. Wright tackles the biblical question of what happens after we die and shows how most Christians get it wrong. We do not “go to” heaven; we are resurrected and heaven comes down to earth--a difference that makes all of the difference to how we live on earth. Following N.T. Wright’s resonant exploration of a life of faith in Simply Christian, the award-winning author whom Newsweek calls “the world’s leading New Testament scholar” takes on one of life’s most controversial topics, a matter of life, death, spirituality, and survival for everyone living in the world today. 

Was Jesus born of a virgin? Did he know he was the Messiah? Was he bodily resurrected from the dead? Did he intentionally die to redeem humankind? Was Jesus God? Two leading Jesus scholars with widely divergent views go right to the heart of these questions and others, presenting the opposing visions of Jesus that shape our faith today.

An in-depth study of Romans from today''s foremost interpreter of Paul.

Romans is often and for good reason considered a crux of Christian thought and theology, the greatest of Paul''s letters. And within Romans, chapter 8 is one of the most spectacular pieces of early Christian writing.

But to many readers, Romans can be a deceptively difficult book. Its scope and basic meaning may be clear, but it can be hard to see how it all fits together into a cohesive, if complex, doctrinal argument.

N. T. Wright—widely regarded as the most influential commentator and interpreter of Paul—deftly unpacks this dense and sometimes elusive letter, detailing Paul''s arguments and showing how it illuminates the Gospel from the promises to Abraham through the visions of Revelation. Wright takes a deep dive into Romans 8, showing how it illuminates so much else that God reveals in Scripture: God the Father, Christology, and the Spirit; Jesus'' Messiahship, cross, resurrection, and ascension; salvation, redemption, and adoption; suffering and glory; holiness and hope.

Into the Heart of Romans will help you become familiar with the book of Romans in a deeper way that will also deepen your understanding and appreciation of the Gospel itself.

An urgent call for Christians everywhere to explore the nature of the kingdom amid the political upheaval of our day.

Should Christians be politically withdrawn, avoiding participation in politics to maintain their prophetic voice and to keep from being used as political pawns? Or should Christians be actively involved, seeking to utilize political systems to control the levers of power?

In Jesus and the Powers, N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird call Christians everywhere to discern the nature of Christian witness in fractured political environments. In an age of ascending autocracies, in a time of fear and fragmentation, amid carnage and crises, Jesus is king, and Jesus’s kingdom remains the object of the church''s witness and work.

Part political theology, part biblical overview, and part church history, this book argues that building for Jesus''s kingdom requires confronting empire in all its forms. This approach should orient Christians toward a form of political engagement that contributes to free democratic societies and vigorously opposes political schemes based on autocracy and nationalism. Throughout, Wright and Bird reflect on the relevance of this kingdom-oriented approach to current events, including the Russian-Ukraine conflict, the China-Taiwan tension, political turmoil in the USA, UK, and Australia, and the problem of Christian nationalism.

A new and inviting introduction to the Acts of the Apostles from New Testament scholar and theologian N. T. Wright.

Acts is a substantial book. It sits right in the middle of the New Testament, looking back to the four Gospels and ahead to the mission of the early church. It provides a framework for our understanding of the letters; but it does more than that. Acts offers a sophisticated and nuanced view of what it means to think of the gospel of Jesus, Israel''s Messiah, going out into the world over which Israel''s Messiah claims the status of Lord.

This Christian movement and thinking, detailed in Acts, entailed confronting the wider culture of the Greek and Roman world, as well as the culture of the Jewish world, which provides us today with an important message as we ourselves face new questions about gospel and contemporary culture.

From the renowned author of Into the Heart of Romans, N. T. Wright brings to the book of Acts his expert''s eye on theological nuance and cultural context, distilling it down into an introductory commentary, perfect for anyone looking to take their own reading a little deeper and discover the profound (and often forgotten) potential of the church and the Way of Jesus Christ.

An accessible introduction to the book of Ephesians from New Testament scholar N. T. Wright.

Ephesians presents a wide-ranging panorama of the Christian gospel and its implications. It looks backwards toward the creation of the world, and it looks forward to the time when God will be "all in all." It foregrounds the work of Jesus the Messiah and the work of the spirit, and it positions the church as central to the purposes of God--a small, working model of new creation. This understanding of the church is central to the New Testament, but nowhere is it clearer than in Ephesians. Paul''s view of salvation is not about being rescued from the world, but about the coming together of heaven and earth in Jesus the Messiah. Against this backdrop, many of the most challenging parts of Ephesians--spiritual warfare, women in the church, powers and principalities, what Paul means by "salvation"--come into sharper focus.

In The Vision of Ephesians, well-known New Testament scholar N.T. Wright offers an accessible introduction that opens the text in a way that helps what may seem dense and allusive become clear, fresh, challenging, and encouraging. Wright works through the letter in nine sections, exploring both apocalyptic insights and bracing challenges for the church, whether in the first century or the twenty-first.

Christianity Today Biblical Studies Award of Merit

For centuries the story of Adam and Eve has resonated richly through the corridors of art, literature and theology. But for most moderns, taking it at face value is incongruous. And even for many thinking Christians today who want to take seriously the authority of Scripture, insisting on a "literal" understanding of Genesis 2-3 looks painfully like a "tear here" strip between faith and science.

How can Christians of good faith move forward? Who were the historical Adam and Eve? What if we've been reading Genesis-and its claims regarding material origins-wrong? In what cultural context was this couple, this garden, this tree, this serpent portrayed?

Following his groundbreaking Lost World of Genesis One, John Walton explores the ancient Near Eastern context of Genesis 2-3, creating space for a faithful reading of Scripture along with full engagement with science for a new way forward in the human origins debate. As a bonus, an illuminating excursus by N. T. Wright places Adam in the implied narrative of Paul's theology.

The Lost World of Adam and Eve will be required reading for anyone seeking to understand this foundational text historically and theologically, and wondering how to view it alongside contemporary understandings of human origins.

The books in the Lost World Series follow the pattern set by Bible scholar John H. Walton, bringing a fresh, close reading of the Hebrew text and knowledge of ancient Near Eastern literature to an accessible discussion of the biblical topic at hand using a series of logic-based propositions.

In Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, top-selling author and Anglican bishop, N.T. Wright tackles the biblical question of what happens after we die and shows how most Christians get it wrong. We do not “go to” heaven; we are resurrected and heaven comes down to earth--a difference that makes all of the difference to how we live on earth. Following N.T. Wright’s resonant exploration of a life of faith in Simply Christian, the award-winning author whom Newsweek calls “the world’s leading New Testament scholar” takes on one of life’s most controversial topics, a matter of life, death, spirituality, and survival for everyone living in the world today. 

Was Jesus born of a virgin? Did he know he was the Messiah? Was he bodily resurrected from the dead? Did he intentionally die to redeem humankind? Was Jesus God? Two leading Jesus scholars with widely divergent views go right to the heart of these questions and others, presenting the opposing visions of Jesus that shape our faith today.

An in-depth study of Romans from today''s foremost interpreter of Paul.

Romans is often and for good reason considered a crux of Christian thought and theology, the greatest of Paul''s letters. And within Romans, chapter 8 is one of the most spectacular pieces of early Christian writing.

But to many readers, Romans can be a deceptively difficult book. Its scope and basic meaning may be clear, but it can be hard to see how it all fits together into a cohesive, if complex, doctrinal argument.

N. T. Wright—widely regarded as the most influential commentator and interpreter of Paul—deftly unpacks this dense and sometimes elusive letter, detailing Paul''s arguments and showing how it illuminates the Gospel from the promises to Abraham through the visions of Revelation. Wright takes a deep dive into Romans 8, showing how it illuminates so much else that God reveals in Scripture: God the Father, Christology, and the Spirit; Jesus'' Messiahship, cross, resurrection, and ascension; salvation, redemption, and adoption; suffering and glory; holiness and hope.

Into the Heart of Romans will help you become familiar with the book of Romans in a deeper way that will also deepen your understanding and appreciation of the Gospel itself.

An urgent call for Christians everywhere to explore the nature of the kingdom amid the political upheaval of our day.

Should Christians be politically withdrawn, avoiding participation in politics to maintain their prophetic voice and to keep from being used as political pawns? Or should Christians be actively involved, seeking to utilize political systems to control the levers of power?

In Jesus and the Powers, N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird call Christians everywhere to discern the nature of Christian witness in fractured political environments. In an age of ascending autocracies, in a time of fear and fragmentation, amid carnage and crises, Jesus is king, and Jesus’s kingdom remains the object of the church''s witness and work.

Part political theology, part biblical overview, and part church history, this book argues that building for Jesus''s kingdom requires confronting empire in all its forms. This approach should orient Christians toward a form of political engagement that contributes to free democratic societies and vigorously opposes political schemes based on autocracy and nationalism. Throughout, Wright and Bird reflect on the relevance of this kingdom-oriented approach to current events, including the Russian-Ukraine conflict, the China-Taiwan tension, political turmoil in the USA, UK, and Australia, and the problem of Christian nationalism.

A new and inviting introduction to the Acts of the Apostles from New Testament scholar and theologian N. T. Wright.

Acts is a substantial book. It sits right in the middle of the New Testament, looking back to the four Gospels and ahead to the mission of the early church. It provides a framework for our understanding of the letters; but it does more than that. Acts offers a sophisticated and nuanced view of what it means to think of the gospel of Jesus, Israel''s Messiah, going out into the world over which Israel''s Messiah claims the status of Lord.

This Christian movement and thinking, detailed in Acts, entailed confronting the wider culture of the Greek and Roman world, as well as the culture of the Jewish world, which provides us today with an important message as we ourselves face new questions about gospel and contemporary culture.

From the renowned author of Into the Heart of Romans, N. T. Wright brings to the book of Acts his expert''s eye on theological nuance and cultural context, distilling it down into an introductory commentary, perfect for anyone looking to take their own reading a little deeper and discover the profound (and often forgotten) potential of the church and the Way of Jesus Christ.

An accessible introduction to the book of Ephesians from New Testament scholar N. T. Wright.

Ephesians presents a wide-ranging panorama of the Christian gospel and its implications. It looks backwards toward the creation of the world, and it looks forward to the time when God will be "all in all." It foregrounds the work of Jesus the Messiah and the work of the spirit, and it positions the church as central to the purposes of God--a small, working model of new creation. This understanding of the church is central to the New Testament, but nowhere is it clearer than in Ephesians. Paul''s view of salvation is not about being rescued from the world, but about the coming together of heaven and earth in Jesus the Messiah. Against this backdrop, many of the most challenging parts of Ephesians--spiritual warfare, women in the church, powers and principalities, what Paul means by "salvation"--come into sharper focus.

In The Vision of Ephesians, well-known New Testament scholar N.T. Wright offers an accessible introduction that opens the text in a way that helps what may seem dense and allusive become clear, fresh, challenging, and encouraging. Wright works through the letter in nine sections, exploring both apocalyptic insights and bracing challenges for the church, whether in the first century or the twenty-first.