James W. McConkie II recently stood in front of a man he never thought he’d be able to thank for changing his life — Anglican Theologian N.T. Wright.
The Utah lawyer spoke of Wright — one of the world’s leading Bible scholars — and his influence.
His discovery of Wright’s work began about 20 years ago, after a conversation about Jesus Christ with his wife and daughter, who had just returned from a semester at the BYU Jerusalem Center.
McConkie said his daughter raised questions that sent him in search of the authentic Jesus Christ under the traditions layered over the biblical report.
Shortly after that experience, McConkie went to San Francisco for a service in Grace Cathedral. He found a book in the cathedral’s basement called “Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time” by Marcus Borg.
“I realized that if I could contextualize the Son of God, take away all that came after, that I could really find out who he was and what he valued, and what I should value, and I didn’t want to have layers in between,” he said.
McConkie discovered N.T. Wright’s work early on during his quest to understand the historical Jesus. A passage from Wright’s trilogy on the New Testament God touched McConkie’s heart and changed his life.
“The point of having Jesus at the center of our religion is that one has Jesus — not a cipher, a strange silhouette Christ figure, nor yet an icon, but the one born in Palestine.” McConkie read the excerpt, underscoring that Wright also explained our view of Christ is the view of the God we worship.
“That has enlarged my devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ and I am deeply grateful for that.” McConkie said.
What Latter-day Saints want N.T. Wright to know
McConkie was one of roughly 35 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who had dinner with Wright at the Intercontinental Hotel in Houston, Texas, on June 5.
Many also attended Wright’s 4-day lecture series titled “Into the Heart of Isaiah — Isaiah 40-55″ at the South Main Baptist Church in Houston.
John Esser, founder and executive director of the Kaine Ktisis Foundation, organized and hosted the event with N.T. Wright. A similar event was held last year.
Esser said he was “refreshed” to learn that Wright had humbly admitted his unfamiliarity with Latter-day Saints at last year’s meeting. This year, Esser felt it was important for Latter-day Saints to convey to Wright how his work has resonated in their hearts and faith tradition.
BYU religion professor Tyler Griffin said he reveres Wright for a lifetime devoted to God.
Griffin admitted that although he had read several of Wright’s books and had seen many of his podcasts and master classes, there was “something different” about sitting in the same space and breathing the same air as Wright.
Griffin also announced that BYU will be hosting an N.T. Wright conference during the university’s winter semester.
“So much of what you teach resonates with us in our faith and our seeking to connect with God,” Griffin said.
Scott Woodward, religion professor at BYU-Idaho, sketched out why many Latter-day Saint scholars are drawn to Wright’s work.
“Some are actually surprised by our interest in your clearheaded scholarship. Especially those whose exposure to Latter-day Saints comes from caricatures,” Woodward said, expressing gratitude that he, along with other Latter-day Saints, had a chance to explain themselves.
Many core theological themes that Wright has rediscovered or revived from early Christianity are “precisely themes that Latter-day Saints believe were explicitly restored through and demonstrably emphasized by the prophet Joseph Smith.” Woodward said.
Woodward shared examples of such harmonious themes, noting that both Wright and Joseph Smith insisted that “the true Christian hope ultimately points to the day when in literal, physical, resurrected bodies, we will reign with Christ on this renewed, tangible earth.”
“I am a Bible lover.” Gaye Strathearn, associate dean of Religious Education at BYU, told Wright.
Strathearn said Wright’s work reminds us that there is effort in understanding Jesus, and part of that effort is to take time to study the Bible in its context so individuals can apply the scriptures to their lives.
“There’s hard work of the exegesis and that’s what, to me, is great about what you do.” Strathearn said.
What do the Psalms mean for N.T. Wright
BYU religion professor Andrew Reed asked Wright what might be missed by those who don’t liturgically have the Psalms as part of their worship.
“It’d be hard to think of regular worship without the Psalms,” Wright said. He recounted his earliest memories of attending church, where the Psalms were always present.
Some contemporary Anglican worship has “thrown out” liturgy, adopting a more charismatic approach, Wright said. While he has nothing against charismatic elements in worship, it grieves Wright that the Psalms are often omitted from such worship styles. Wright said when asking these worshippers about the choice to exclude Psalms, it is because they find it “quite difficult.”
“You bet they are,” he said. That’s why he believes it is “all the more important to teach people what they are about.”
Wright said the Psalms possess “rich poetry,” transforming Old Testament theology into music. It also provides individuals with a “complete map of all human emotions in the presence of God,” he added.
He used the example of recent political events to explain why expressing emotions, even anger, while reciting Psalms matter.
Wright stated that when faced with radical injustice, such as women and children being murdered, you need to come before God and say, “something needs to be done.”
“Sometimes, I think that is a proper prayer to pray when people are behaving in scandalous ways, as is going on in the world right now,” Wright said.