Simply Jesus by N.T. Wright

N.T. Wright has begun a new series that is much easier to read. He's known for his deeply theological books and also his New Testament commentary "for everyone". Simply Jesus is written somewhere between these two styles.

It is very assessable for anyone to pick it up and enjoy.

He calls this "a new vision of who Jesus was, what he did and why he matters" but it's really based on the writings of Jesus in his previous books.

Divided into three parts. In part one, Wright uses the imagery of The Perfect Storm with its three storms coming to a head to explain the culture in which Jesus confronted the Romans, the Jewish religious leadership and God's plan.

In part two, Wright explains what Jesus believed to be the Kingdom of God and how that was brought about by his actions, words and death on the cross.

Part three serves to talk about how Jesus can be Lord while it seems that evil continues to run rampant. This last section felt like Wright returned to his thick/deep writing and I was initially confused before catching on to his rhythm.

This book is terrific as the first of a new series on Jesus in the First Century and how the Jewish community viewed heaven, God and His kingdom. However I think I've read most of these ideas before...from Wright's earlier work. But I'd rather read Wright repeating himself before picking up most other books on Jesus.

This book was provided for review, at no cost, by HarperOne Publishing