Last night I had the opportunity to listen to Professor Tom Wright (a.k.a. N.T. Wright) give his Inaugural Lecture as Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity here at the University of St Andrews. Professor Wright has actually been at the university a year now and has previously given major public addresses here, but I guess this one is more official.
I share here my notes from the lecture. Please be aware that the following is based on rather skimpy hand-written notes, and so does not do justice to Wright’s elegant and precise handling of the English language, but I hope I have preserved the thrust of his arguments. The speech was entitled: ”Imagining the Kingdom: Mission and Theology in early Christianity.”
Wright begins by outlining how the four Gospels are remarkable documents that are still largely unknown to us. We are failing to understand the thrust of the Gospels. We need to apply our imagination and look beyond the boundaries of the various philosophies that guide our views.
On May 17, 2011 (the day after I left Provo for my recent visit), Professor John W. Welch, Robert K. Thomas Professor of Law and editor-in-chief of BYU Studies, gave the 2011 Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Faculty Lecture at a Brigham Young University forum after having been awarded the 2011 Maeser Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Award, the university’s highest faculty honor. Jack Welch is one of the most recognizable and admired LDS scholars of our day, a prime example of a believing disciple-scholar, and I really wanted to hear what he had to say on this memorable occasion. Fortunately, I have since had the opportunity to see and read his comments and would like to share with you some of his inspiring remarks.
