N.T. Wright Project

This post is the second of three dealing with what a Wrightian ecclesiology looks like. In the first post I offered a critique of the Niebuhrian typology found in Christ and Culture which has largely shaped how North American churches negotiate their place in and relationship with culture. I then began constructing an ecclesiology using Wright’s work in hopes that it would render a more theologically faithful approach.

His ecclesiology begins with an understanding of the church as the “fifth act community,” meaning if scripture is a five-act drama, then the church is living in the fifth and final act. This speaks to not only the role scripture plays in the life of the church, but also the role the church plays in God’s salvific purposes. God’s desire to put the world back to rights has always involved God forming a community. First Israel (act three), then the Church (act five). In the present post I will outline the second major theme in Wright’s vision for and of the church.

2. The Cross and Resurrection as Paradigmatic

The cross and resurrection of Jesus stand – in Wright’s ecclesiology – as the two pillars of the church’s engagement with the world. Or, using a different image, if the church’s movement into the world is an ellipse, then the cross and empty tomb form its foci; they define the very shape and substance of the church’s mission. Put simply, Wright says that Christians are to be both cross-bearers and kingdom-announcers.