I have been a fan of N.T. Wright for quite a while now. I have read a number of his books but they have been the popular versions (and his New Testament for Everyone volumes) rather than the scholarly tomes that inspired them.
I have long wanted to read his Christian Origins and the Question of God series, however, and even picked up used versions of Volumes 1 & 3. But I had to be honest with myself. I was unlikely to read that many pages in small print paperback. I didn’t want to shell out the dollars it would cost to buy all the volumes in Kindle format.
Well, as luck would have it, the prices changed. You can now get a whole lot of Wright for a lot less money. As of right now you can all four volumes for $7.99 each:
The New Testament and the People of God (V1)
Jesus and the Victory of God (V2)
The Resurrection and the Son of God (V3)
Paul and the Faithfulness of God (V4)
Plus, as a bonus you can get Paul and His Recent Interpreters for $5.99! That is over 4k of Wright for less than $40. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me.
However, therein lies the rub. If you read all five books that is 4,145 pages. Just the 4 Christian Origin volumes is 3,739. That is a lot of reading. And this is not light reading by any stretch of the imagination.
So how does one commit to something like this? Well, I think you have to do just that, make a commitment. So what I’m going to do is read Paul and His Recent Interpreters this year. And commit to reading the Christian Origins and the Question of God series in its entirety in 2016.
Broken down over the course of 12 months that is only about 300 words a month; certainly doable. The trick will be reading it in larger enough chunks that I get something out of it and end up with an understanding of Wright’s massive work.
This will be no easy challenge but I think it will give me something to shoot for in 2016. Anyone else up for the challenge?
