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On February 26, 2019 By In Podcast, Theology

Episode 52, Communal Reading in the Time of Jesus; Conversation with Dr. Brian Wright

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Pastor Brito sat down on this one-on-one interview with Dr. Brian Wright to talk about Wright’s fascinating book published in 2017 entitled Communal Reading in the Time of Jesus.


Much of the contemporary discussion of the Jesus tradition has focused on aspects of oral performance, story telling, and social memory, on the premise that the practice of communal reading of written texts was a phenomenon documented no earlier than the second century C.E. Brian J. Wright overturns that premise by examining evidence that demonstrates communal reading events in the first century. a

We also discussed whether the assertion that the early church was vastly illiterate is a historically accurate description or whether historians have misunderstood the clear data.

The interview concludes focusing on how we can apply the practice of communal reading to our modern church context. While the book is a bit technical, Pastor Brito and Dr. Wright focus on the important applications to Bible Studies, liturgical readings, poetry readings, etc. This interview may encourage a renewed interest in reading and discussing the text, whether of Holy Scriptures or other significant writings together in community.

Resources:

Dr. Brian Wright’s academic papers can be found here.

Wright’s articles on the Gospel Coalition.

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On June 19, 2018 By In Scribblings

Let’s go back to the early church!

Have you ever desired to be a part of the first century apostolic Church? Imagine the glories of knowing people who actually met Jesus and seeing signs and wonders? If you lived in the first century Church then you would know what a real church would look like, right? In our day, we hear churches and individuals saying, “We just want to be like the primitive Church. Let’s go back to the real deal.” But the apostles would be utterly perplexed at this statement. Why would you want to be an infant again? Now, it is not as if the 21st century Church has grown up into full maturity since those days. In fact, the first century Church in many ways is no different than the 21st century church. Is there division in our churches today? is there a lack of biblical wisdom? is there sexual immorality? are Christians suing one another? are there problems in marriages? do people abuse their liberties? is there idolatry in the Church today? The answer to all these questions is a resounding “Yes.” We still have a lot of growing up to do! We may not be infants anymore, but we are still in great need to grow up. But to treat the early church as a perfect model is to think falsely of the maturity of that first-century body. It is true that our cultures are very different–after all 2,000 years change a lot of things– but principally, our sins remain the same. Let us grow up, then, and desire the maturity of the church, not a return to its infancy.

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