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CNLP 772 | The Making of NT Wright: His Calling, What He Gave Up, His Influences, And His Views on Spiritual Warfare and Demonizing Your Enemies

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Dec 9, 2025

Guest

N.T. Wright

N.T. Wright, a renowned New Testament scholar and former Bishop of Durham, shares insights from his journey in scholarship and ministry. He discusses his early calling, his passion for research, and the influences of C.S. Lewis and his priest grandfather. Wright explores complex topics like spiritual warfare, emphasizing the danger of demonizing opponents in today's polarized culture. He advocates for reconciliation and the power of prayer as essential tools in overcoming such divisiveness.

01:18:20

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ANECDOTE

Oxford Debates Ignited A Scholarly Calling

N.T. Wright traced his scholarly calling back to Oxford undergraduate debates and reading Romans with friends.
He fell in love with research and realized scholarship was a world he wanted to join and influence.

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INSIGHT

Original Languages Are Foundational

Mastery requires learning original languages; Wright calls reading the New Testament without Greek like playing Beethoven on a mouth organ.
Regular, disciplined reading of Scripture in original languages shaped his lifelong research priorities.

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ADVICE

Build A Daily Scripture Habit

Read Scripture daily in disciplined chunks and map books' themes and divisions to spot puzzles and questions.
Then consult commentaries and scholarship to pursue the problems that genuinely trouble you.

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How Wright First Felt Called to Scholarship

02:15 • 2min

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From Hobby to Lifelong Research Habit

04:43 • 2min

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Childhood Interests: Music, Sport, and Lewis

06:44 • 4min

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Early Religious Influences and Scripture Habit

10:16 • 4min

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Sensing a Call to Ministry and Academia

Oxford Path: Classics, Philosophy, Theology

16:40 • 4min

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Balancing Academic and Pastoral Roles

20:16 • 9min

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Developing Language Skills and Daily Reading

29:21 • 5min

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Reading, Writing, and Scholarly Discipline

Trade-offs: Time, Music, and Physical Limits

37:18 • 9min

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Influential Writers and Scholars

46:06 • 6min

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Family, Friendship, and Pastoral Rhythms

52:25 • 5min

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Introduction to Spiritual Warfare Topic

57:30 • 43sec

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Wright's View of Spiritual Warfare

58:13 • 5min

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Armor of God and God's Victory

01:03:40 • 3min

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Signs of Opposition During Preaching

01:06:48 • 1min

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Demonizing Opponents and Cultural Polarization

01:08:17 • 5min

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Practical Steps Away from Demonizing Others

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Paul and Palestinian Judaism

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This book revolutionized New Testament studies by comparing Paul with Palestinian Judaism, both understood on their own terms. Sanders critiques traditional views of rabbinic Judaism and offers a distinct understanding of Paul's religious patterns, highlighting differences in their religious frameworks. The work has reshaped the field by emphasizing the importance of Second Temple Judaism as the context for Paul's life and teachings.

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Surprised by Hope

Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (Great Britain) Staff

N.T. Wright

In *Surprised by Hope*, N.T. Wright addresses the biblical question of what happens after we die, arguing that most Christians misunderstand the concept of heaven. Wright posits that instead of going to heaven, Christians will be resurrected, and heaven will come down to earth. He defends the bodily resurrection of Jesus and explains how this event is the prototype for the final resurrection. The book emphasizes the importance of this hope in informing current social action, evangelism, and spirituality, and it challenges a Platonized view of Christianity that undercuts the church's present mission. Wright argues that the church's mission is to build for the kingdom, living out the implications of Jesus’s resurrection in the present world.

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Miracles

C.S. Lewis

In 'Miracles', C.S. Lewis argues that miracles are not statistically anomalous events but rather 'an interference with Nature by supernatural power'. He challenges rationalists and naturalists by presenting a case for the possibility of miracles, defining them as events that do not break the laws of nature but rather operate outside of them. Lewis does not attempt to prove the historical accuracy of Christian miracles but instead lays a philosophical foundation for understanding and accepting the possibility of miracles. The book is a significant work in Christian apologetics, using lucid exposition and illuminating metaphors to make its case.

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Four quartets

T. S. Eliot

Four Quartets is a cycle of four poems by T.S. Eliot, each titled with a place name: 'Burnt Norton,' 'East Coker,' 'The Dry Salvages,' and 'Little Gidding. ' The poems are meditations on time, redemption, and eternity, blending Eliot's Anglo-Catholicism with mystical, philosophical, and poetic elements from various traditions. Each quartet has five sections and explores themes such as the conflict between individual mortality and the endless span of human existence, the nature of spirituality, and the relationship between the present and the past. The work is considered Eliot's masterpiece and his clearest exposition of his Christian beliefs.

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The Screwtape Letters

C.S. Lewis

The Screwtape Letters is a Christian apologetic novel written in a satirical, epistolary style. It consists of 31 letters from Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to 'Our Father Below' (the Devil), to his nephew Wormwood, a novice demon tasked with securing the damnation of an ordinary young man. The letters provide advice on various methods of undermining God's influence and promoting abandonment of God, while offering insights into human nature and the Bible. The book is a profound and striking narrative on spiritual warfare and the power of the devil, highlighting the subtle forms of sin such as vanity, pride, and distraction that can lead humans away from God.

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God's Homecoming

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Surprised by Joy

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The quest of the historical Jesus

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The Lion, The witch and the Wardrobe

C.S. Lewis

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a portal fantasy novel that follows the story of four English siblings - Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy - who are evacuated to the countryside during World War II. While exploring the large, old house of Professor Kirke, Lucy discovers a wardrobe that serves as a portal to the land of Narnia. In Narnia, they encounter various magical creatures and the evil White Witch, who has cast a spell to keep Narnia in perpetual winter. The siblings soon learn that they are part of an ancient prophecy to save Narnia, aided by the lion Aslan. The story is an allegory of Christianity, with Aslan's sacrifice and resurrection mirroring the story of Jesus Christ. The novel also incorporates elements from Germanic, classical Greek and Roman, and Celtic mythology.

In this episode of the podcast, N.T. Wright discusses the forces that formed him into the scholar, priest, and writer he is today: his early influences, his calling, and what he gave up to pursue his writing.

He also shares his views on spiritual warfare and the problem of Christians demonizing their enemies.

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