The Big Picture According to N.T. Wright
I and others keep talking about N.T. Wright's "Big Picture," his overarching theological vision, etc., and it just occurred to me that there is very little discussion about what that "Big Picture" is. In one sense, defining Wright's "Big Picture" would be an exercise in missing the point, and I would hope that people would engage directly with his work in order to get a clear vision of the full scope of what he's trying to say. But to the extent that it can be reduced to a summary, to the same extent and for the same reasons that a majestic mountain range can be reduced to a topographical map, I think the following excerpt from The New Testament and the People of God works quite well:
Reality as we know it is the result of a creator god bringing into being a world that is other than himself, and yet which is full of his glory. It was always the intention of this god that creation should one day be flooded with his own life, in a way for which it was prepared from the beginning. As part of the means to this end, the creator brought into being a creature which, by bearing the creator’s image, would bring his wise and loving care to bear upon the creation. By a tragic irony, the creature in question has rebelled against this intention. But the creator has solved this problem in principle in an entirely appropriate way, and as a result is now moving the creation once more toward its originally intended goal. The implementation of this solution now involves the indwelling of this god within his human creatures and ultimately within the whole creation, transforming it into that for which it was made in the beginning.
There it is. Handle with care.
Grace and Peace,
Raffi
Reality as we know it is the result of a creator god bringing into being a world that is other than himself, and yet which is full of his glory. It was always the intention of this god that creation should one day be flooded with his own life, in a way for which it was prepared from the beginning. As part of the means to this end, the creator brought into being a creature which, by bearing the creator’s image, would bring his wise and loving care to bear upon the creation. By a tragic irony, the creature in question has rebelled against this intention. But the creator has solved this problem in principle in an entirely appropriate way, and as a result is now moving the creation once more toward its originally intended goal. The implementation of this solution now involves the indwelling of this god within his human creatures and ultimately within the whole creation, transforming it into that for which it was made in the beginning.
There it is. Handle with care.
Grace and Peace,
Raffi
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