Book review of Michael Wright’s ‘Jesus today – a Quaker perspective’ | Non-theist Friends Network
BOOK REVIEW OF MICHAEL WRIGHT’S ‘JESUS TODAY – A QUAKER PERSPECTIVE’
AUGUST 19, 2019 TREVOR LEAVE A COMMENT
Book review: Michael Wright’s ‘Jesus today – a Quaker perspective’
by David Parlett (extracted from our forthcoming NFN Newsletter)
Isn’t it remarkable how some of the best books on Jesus are written by former clerks of the Nontheist Friends Network? (David Boulton’s Who on Earth was Jesus?, published in 2008, became – and maybe still is – a standard text book in some RC seminaries following the enthusiastic recommendation of Henry Wansbrough, general editor of the New Jerusalem Bible.)
Now Michael Wright has published Jesus Today – a Quaker Perspective, to add to the collection. Michael was an Anglican priest for 40 years before leaving ordained ministry and becoming a Quaker, so he knows whereof he speaks.
Furthermore, his knowledge is up to date: while most of his quotations are from the bible and Quaker Faith and Practice, he also draws on valuable material from such writers as John Spong, Karen Armstrong and Marcus Borg.
‘What I am seeking to share with those who read this’, he explains, ‘is a fresh appreciation of Jesus, his life and teaching, which is not trapped in the mindset of the past’. He regrets that ‘Few [Quakers] refer to Jesus or the gospels in meeting for worship. Mention of him can even be unwelcome to some. I hope now to stimulate an interest in the significance of his teaching from which we can draw inspiration for our values and practice today… There is a significant contrast between Jesus’ original teaching and behaviour and the authoritative doctrines and orthodoxies later developed and then imposed by the institutional churches. Quakers have largely either challenged or sidelined these since the foundations of our movement in the 17th century.’
If Chapter 3, devoted to ‘some elements of the Quaker way’, will serve well for newcomers and enquirers who find some of our language and attitudes unusual and perhaps baffling, chapter 4, ‘A Quaker approach to the bible’ is essential reading for many of us who think we know it well enough already. ‘Quakers share the biblical narrative with other Christians, and we value the scriptures without taking everything at face value. We pay attention to the spirit who gave the scriptures, rather than abiding by the letter of them.’ (This is almost word-for-word Robert Barclay). ‘Our approach to the scriptures is distinctive and not widely understood, even among Quakers’. Rather than adopt creeds, he adds: ‘The early Quakers […] delved into the scriptures and drew from them inspiration to shape their lives in the circumstances of their own time. This we can do in our day. Our Quaker testimony to truth and to integrity, to equality and justice, to peace, to simplicity and sustainability, all spring from gospel principles which Jesus taught’.
Michael then looks at the four gospels, using an image that particularly appeals to me. As a former journalist, he likens the style of Mark to The Daily Mirror, Matthew to The Daily Telegraph, Luke to The Guardian, and John to The Sunday Times as it used to be.
Chapter 6, ‘Revising our understanding of the Jesus story’, precedes ‘Some Quaker Responses to Jesus’, in which we are reminded of George Fox’s central experience of discovering Jesus within himself and of the impact of the Quaker message in English life when first shared publicly. But the scene in Britain today is very different from the 1640s: ‘Then Christian religious practice and teaching was the shared experience of just about everybody, although there were lots of disagreements between different groups about what should be taught and practised. Today Christian congregations are clearly a minority, in which the distinctive Quaker voice is a minority within a minority’.
If Chapter 3, devoted to ‘some elements of the Quaker way’, will serve well for newcomers and enquirers who find some of our language and attitudes unusual and perhaps baffling, chapter 4, ‘A Quaker approach to the bible’ is essential reading for many of us who think we know it well enough already. ‘Quakers share the biblical narrative with other Christians, and we value the scriptures without taking everything at face value. We pay attention to the spirit who gave the scriptures, rather than abiding by the letter of them.’ (This is almost word-for-word Robert Barclay). ‘Our approach to the scriptures is distinctive and not widely understood, even among Quakers’. Rather than adopt creeds, he adds: ‘The early Quakers […] delved into the scriptures and drew from them inspiration to shape their lives in the circumstances of their own time. This we can do in our day. Our Quaker testimony to truth and to integrity, to equality and justice, to peace, to simplicity and sustainability, all spring from gospel principles which Jesus taught’.
Michael then looks at the four gospels, using an image that particularly appeals to me. As a former journalist, he likens the style of Mark to The Daily Mirror, Matthew to The Daily Telegraph, Luke to The Guardian, and John to The Sunday Times as it used to be.
Chapter 6, ‘Revising our understanding of the Jesus story’, precedes ‘Some Quaker Responses to Jesus’, in which we are reminded of George Fox’s central experience of discovering Jesus within himself and of the impact of the Quaker message in English life when first shared publicly. But the scene in Britain today is very different from the 1640s: ‘Then Christian religious practice and teaching was the shared experience of just about everybody, although there were lots of disagreements between different groups about what should be taught and practised. Today Christian congregations are clearly a minority, in which the distinctive Quaker voice is a minority within a minority’.
David Parlett
Michael Wright’s Jesus Today – a Quaker Perspective is published by Sixth Element Publishing, 2019 (ISBN 978191221857-8). Michael has very kindly allowed us to add it our website at: https://nontheist-quakers.org.uk/2019/07/23/jesus-today-book/ (182 pages pdf), but if you would like a nice printed copy try Friends House Bookshop.
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Jesus Today: A Quaker Perspective eBook: Michael Wright: Amazon.com.au: Kindle Store
Jesus is a name we all recognise, but few people these days really know much about him, his personality or his teaching. For many he is as he appears in stained glass windows, or in hymns with words like “now above the sky he’s king, where the angels ever sing”, or nailed to a cross – dead. None of these present the lively radical teacher, poet, and healer that he was in his prime.
A great deal of new knowledge about Jesus and the time in which he lived has become available in recent years. Few people in Quaker meetings or in churches are aware of much of it.
Michael Wright is a Quaker. Before that he was an Anglican priest. He has for many years engaged Quakers, Methodists, Anglicans and Roman Catholics in exploring some of this modern perspective of Jesus. Many who come to discover more about Jesus find that he challenges, motivates, encourages and inspires them in ways which the traditional Christ of faith often does not. This book invites readers to discover more about Jesus, and also something of a Quaker perspective on him.
Having found the Quaker way one which has given his spiritual practice a new lease of life, Michael commends it to others, whether Quakers or not. He has found that Quaker ways can also help enrich the lives of those who belong to other religious communities at the same time as sharing in aspects of Quaker life and worship.
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Product Description
Jesus is a name we all recognise, but few people these days really know much about him, his personality or his teaching. For many he is as he appears in stained glass windows, or in hymns with words like “now above the sky he’s king, where the angels ever sing”, or nailed to a cross – dead. None of these present the lively radical teacher, poet, and healer that he was in his prime.
A great deal of new knowledge about Jesus and the time in which he lived has become available in recent years. Few people in Quaker meetings or in churches are aware of much of it.
Michael Wright is a Quaker. Before that he was an Anglican priest. He has for many years engaged Quakers, Methodists, Anglicans and Roman Catholics in exploring some of this modern perspective of Jesus. Many who come to discover more about Jesus find that he challenges, motivates, encourages and inspires them in ways which the traditional Christ of faith often does not. This book invites readers to discover more about Jesus, and also something of a Quaker perspective on him.
Having found the Quaker way one which has given his spiritual practice a new lease of life, Michael commends it to others, whether Quakers or not. He has found that Quaker ways can also help enrich the lives of those who belong to other religious communities at the same time as sharing in aspects of Quaker life and worship.
Michael Wright’s Jesus Today – a Quaker Perspective is published by Sixth Element Publishing, 2019 (ISBN 978191221857-8). Michael has very kindly allowed us to add it our website at: https://nontheist-quakers.org.uk/2019/07/23/jesus-today-book/ (182 pages pdf), but if you would like a nice printed copy try Friends House Bookshop.
SHARE THIS:
Jesus Today: A Quaker Perspective eBook: Michael Wright: Amazon.com.au: Kindle Store
Jesus is a name we all recognise, but few people these days really know much about him, his personality or his teaching. For many he is as he appears in stained glass windows, or in hymns with words like “now above the sky he’s king, where the angels ever sing”, or nailed to a cross – dead. None of these present the lively radical teacher, poet, and healer that he was in his prime.
A great deal of new knowledge about Jesus and the time in which he lived has become available in recent years. Few people in Quaker meetings or in churches are aware of much of it.
Michael Wright is a Quaker. Before that he was an Anglican priest. He has for many years engaged Quakers, Methodists, Anglicans and Roman Catholics in exploring some of this modern perspective of Jesus. Many who come to discover more about Jesus find that he challenges, motivates, encourages and inspires them in ways which the traditional Christ of faith often does not. This book invites readers to discover more about Jesus, and also something of a Quaker perspective on him.
Having found the Quaker way one which has given his spiritual practice a new lease of life, Michael commends it to others, whether Quakers or not. He has found that Quaker ways can also help enrich the lives of those who belong to other religious communities at the same time as sharing in aspects of Quaker life and worship.
-------------
Product Description
Jesus is a name we all recognise, but few people these days really know much about him, his personality or his teaching. For many he is as he appears in stained glass windows, or in hymns with words like “now above the sky he’s king, where the angels ever sing”, or nailed to a cross – dead. None of these present the lively radical teacher, poet, and healer that he was in his prime.
A great deal of new knowledge about Jesus and the time in which he lived has become available in recent years. Few people in Quaker meetings or in churches are aware of much of it.
Michael Wright is a Quaker. Before that he was an Anglican priest. He has for many years engaged Quakers, Methodists, Anglicans and Roman Catholics in exploring some of this modern perspective of Jesus. Many who come to discover more about Jesus find that he challenges, motivates, encourages and inspires them in ways which the traditional Christ of faith often does not. This book invites readers to discover more about Jesus, and also something of a Quaker perspective on him.
Having found the Quaker way one which has given his spiritual practice a new lease of life, Michael commends it to others, whether Quakers or not. He has found that Quaker ways can also help enrich the lives of those who belong to other religious communities at the same time as sharing in aspects of Quaker life and worship.
