Last night (14 Sep 2010) I had the pleasure of listening to N.T. (Tom) Wright’s first public lecture as professor here at the University of St Andrews.  For all who are familiar with Professor/Bishop Wright, there is understandably a good deal of excitement among the students and university community here regarding his decision to leave the ministry and, once again, work in Academia, taking up a chair in New Testament here at St Andrews.

For those not familiar with N.T. Wright, he is one of today’s most recognized names in New Testament theology and Early Christianity. Educated at Oxford University, he has taught at Oxford in the past and has most recently served as the Bishop of Durham for the Church of England.  He has written numerous books and is a popular speaker — as I can’t do justice to his extensive accomplishments here, see his CV here. For LDS readers, you should note that Prof. Wright was recently quoted by Jeffrey R. Holland at General Conference (April 2008, see here, two-thirds the way to the bottom).

Prof. Wright was (this is my initial impression) poised and well-mannered, as some might expect an Oxford-educated Anglican Bishop to be, and also, at the same time, humorous and down-to-earth. He had a great mastery of the wide range of topics he addressed, was opinionated in his political observations, but also open-minded and refreshing. My notes from his lecture are brief and likely do not come close to capturing the full force and essence of his message. My mind was more fixed on following his rapid pace and various illuminating illustrations rather than on taking notes.  I hope, however, to give some idea of what he was trying to say.  His lecture was entitled:

Kingdom, Power and Truth: God and Caesar Then and Now

The focus of the first part of the lecture was on the conversation between Jesus and Pilate in the Gospel of John 18-19. 

The conversation of Jesus and Pilate relates to our modern public debates.  Christ was representing the Kingdom of God while Pilate represented the Kingdom of this World — the counterfeit, pagan kingdom that temporarily rules in place of God’s Kingdom. The focal points of the conversation are a debate over kingdom (Jn. 18:33–37), power (Jn. 19:10–11), and truth (Jn. 18:37–38). The kingdom, power, and truth of God versus that of the world.

–This conversation should not be seen as foreign to John’s presentation of the theology of the Cross, but should be seen as an essential part of it.  In John 12:31–32, Jesus says:

Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world (false rulers/usurpers) be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

The prince of this world is the evil power that is behind the “kingdom of this world”, those who are usurping power from the Kingdom of God and the true King.  This is an essential part of the meaning of what Jesus did on the Cross.

In John 16, apparently the victory over the prince of this world and his judgment had already happened in some sense [I would imagine that Jesus was referring to what he was about to do in ch. 17 and beyond]. Jesus says:

…the prince of this world is judged (Jn. 16:11).

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (Jn. 16:33).

In the second part of his lecture, Prof. Wright outlined some of the many public debates and social ills that fill today’s news.

The Papal visit this week is very significant — we should see the Catholic Church as sister church — we have so much more in common than we were previously willing to recognize.  His visit is interesting in that Britain has become a sort of world centre of atheism.  God/religion have largely been pushed out of the public domain.  It has been said for some time that “Downing Street doesn’t do God” (Dowining Street are where the British top gov’t residences/offices are located).

Who is Caesar in today’s western democratic world? Is it the government? Is it the voters? Where does God fit in among the rulers of the kingdom of this world? There are many debates over the place of God in public life.

The main forces that shape today’s debates are:

1. Gnosticism — religion/salvation is an introspective, individual affair — it is a trivial/irrelevant topic in public square — religion doesn’t solve society’s problems, but is a private affair only — for salvation one must turn inside and away from the world and its problems
2. Empire — promotes gnosticism because it is not politically threatening — willing to use power, force, deceit to have its way
3. Postmodernity — debunks myth of modern empire, saying truth claims are merely power claims — truth is what we desire it to be — after giving us the bad news about modernity, postmodernity has no good news to give

Kingdom, Power, and Truth

This third part of the lecture attempts to apply the first part to the second.

The Kingdom of God that Jesus referred to is not just a gnostic, otherworldly essence — it has much to do with this world.  When Pilate asked Jesus if he was a king, Jesus declared that his Kingdom was not from (a better translation than “of”) this world.  It came from outside this world — a higher authority– but was certainly for this world. Anciently, God was understood to be in control of the kingdoms of the world — he delegated power to human rulers. Those who abused this delegated power would be judged and punished. Although not all worldly rulers are just, it is better to have order than chaos, knowing that one day He will put everything right.  Jesus has the authority — exousia – to judge the world and rule in righteousness.

In ancient Judaism, the King of the Jews was also the King of the World.  Jesus was understood by his followers to be the King of the Jews, and so was not just the King of Heaven but also the rightful King over this world. It is interesting that the Jewish leaders accused Jesus of treason against the “prince of this world”, failing to recognize him as the true ruler.  Anyone that claimed to be king was seen to be against Caesar. They swore loyalty to this false ruler — they announced: “We have no king but Caesar” (Jn. 19:15).  The Jews accused him of claiming to be the Son of God, knowing that this epithet was reserved, in the Roman Empire, for Caesar.  While Jesus exemplified his rule by sacrificing himself out of pure love on the cross, Caesar ruled his kingdom by violence.

It is Pilate (representing prince of this world) that finally declares him King of the Jews (and thus true King of the World) by writing the title and having it put over Jesus’ head on the cross (Jn. 19:19–21).

Where does the exousia lie in our society today? Truth is something that happens. We need to be actively engaging in this conversation with the world — the same conversation that Jesus had with Pilate.  Jesus is the true King of the World, not just for our own private lives. Jesus came to bring a new creation, peace, renunciation of violence.  While some, like Stephen Hawkings, would leave God, and especially Jesus, out of the public debate, we must assert that Jesus is relevant to the world’s problems today. 

Again, the preceding summary is from my own notes and do not represent the exact wording nor full message of Prof. N.T. Wright’s lecture.