★★★★★ 3
Interesting, but no Lewis
Format: Paperback
Some books can be completely conveyed in about eight sentences or a couple paragraphs. This is one of them. Everything else beyond the core thesis is unnecessary or repetitive. This book probably would have made a good article.
Wright is a well known Pauline expert, but in this book he takes a step out of his comfort zone.
I usually find Paul rambling and confusing enough, so I look to experts like Wright to clarify Paul for me. But in this book, Wright seems to put on his Paul hat and just reiterates Pauline gobbledy-gook. Throughout, he presents long passages comprised solely of Pauline quotes.
This book is billed as an updated version of C.S. Lewis’s “Mere Christianity.” Both Wright and Lewis are seeped in their Anglican tradition. But where Lewis looks at the various Christian denominations and identifies what’s common and good among them all, Wright sees differences and insists they are all wrong. In alienating evangelicals on the one hand, and Catholics on the other, Wright suggests that to be Simply Christian you must abandon your faith traditions that are at odds with his. I can’t imagine Lewis taking this tack.
I give this three stars, for its clear style, for being thought provoking, and for its call to personal introspection.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2024
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