![]() Chapter 1 starts with Joseph Butler and other writers of the early 1700s who accepted that “the world of creation and the world of scripture belonged closely together” (4). The first section traces the history of natural theology in general and then considers its implications for the historical study of Gospel texts. Wright’s arguments move through four sections, each with two chapters. ![]() ![]() The question for the reader is whether-and how!-all these parts are held together. Wright promises to show in this chapter that “with Jesus’ resurrection (a strange event, to be sure, within the present world but the foundational and paradigmatic event within the new creation) a new ontology and appropriate epistemology are unveiled” (xvii). This is the work of chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4.Īn astute reader should now wonder how chapter 6 fits into the picture. We might think of his argument for doing natural theology as his attempt to restore the life of Jesus as a signpost for natural theology. He wants “to relocate Jesus and the New Testament within the real first-century world without sacrificing their theological relevance” (xvi). Thus, the life of Jesus ought not to be excluded from the task of natural theology (because this historical work does not depend on revelation). He contends that the life of a historical (natural) person, Jesus of Nazareth, who can be investigated using historical methods (human reason), has much to contribute to an understanding of God (existence and divine purpose). Seen in a more positive light natural theology is the part of theology that does not depend on revelation.” 2 All these terms receive consideration as Wright unfolds his argument. The Gifford website defines natural theology as “the attempt to prove the existence of God and divine purpose through observation of nature and the use of human reason. The book is also an argument for a new vision of what natural theology might be, and this is a vision rooted in history. He uses this sense of eschatology to suggest new loci for natural theology, and he charts this eschatological vision primarily in chapters 5, 7, and 8. According to Wright, God’s plan for the creation has been inaugurated in time and space through the death and resurrection of Jesus, and that plan now waits for full redemption. Wright’s vision for how we are called to engage comes from his understanding of Christian eschatology-the end plan of God. In these “broken signposts,” we see hints of God’s glory that will be restored, and these hints of glory offer places for followers of Jesus to engage in the world (chapter 7). He contends that we see the presence of God in the world in such things as beauty, justice, and human relationships, however compromised our human experience of such things is. The lectures were adapted into this book, History and Eschatology, in which Wright makes two main arguments. Wright gave his lectures in 2018 at the University of Aberdeen under the title “Discerning the Dawn: History, Eschatology, and New Creation.” 1 The lecture series was launched in 1888 to sustain a conversation about the possibility and character of natural theology. Wright is the first biblical scholar since James Barr and Rudolf Bultmann, in 19, respectively, to receive a prestigious invitation to present a Gifford lecture. History and Eschatology: Jesus and the Promise of Natural Theology (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2019).
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