The Challenge of Acts: Rediscovering What the Church Was and Is

by N.T. Wright

A new and inviting introduction to the Acts of the Apostles from New Testament scholar and theologian N. T. Wright.

Acts is a substantial book. It sits right in the middle of the New Testament, looking back to the four Gospels and ahead to the mission of the early church. It provides a framework for our understanding of the letters; but it does more than that. Acts offers a sophisticated and nuanced view of what it means to think of the gospel of Jesus, Israel's Messiah, going out into the world over which Israel's Messiah claims the status of Lord.

This Christian movement and thinking, detailed in Acts, entailed confronting the wider culture of the Greek and Roman world, as well as the culture of the Jewish world, which provides us today with an important message as we ourselves face new questions about gospel and contemporary culture.

From the renowned author of Into the Heart of Romans, N. T. Wright brings to the book of Acts his expert's eye on theological nuance and cultural context, distilling it down into an introductory commentary, perfect for anyone looking to take their own reading a little deeper and discover the profound (and often forgotten) potential of the church and the Way of Jesus Christ.

Genres: Biblical Studies, Theology, Nonfiction, Christian, Church, Christianity, Religion

175 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 22, 2024

About the author

N. T. Wright is the former Bishop of Durham in the Church of England (2003-2010) and one of the world's leading Bible scholars. He is now serving as the chair of New Testament and Early Christianity at the School of Divinity at the University of St. Andrews. He has been featured on ABC News, Dateline NBC, The Colbert Report, and Fresh Air, and he has taught New Testament studies at Cambridge, McGill, and Oxford universities. Wright is the award-winning author of Surprised by Hope, Simply Christian, The Last Word, The Challenge of Jesus, The Meaning of Jesus (coauthored with Marcus Borg), as well as the much heralded series Christian Origins and the Question of God.

He also publishes under Tom Wright.

Reviews

[Adrie Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dang. This book is real good. I love Acts but I’ve gotten lost or confused or even discouraged when the last half of the book just seems like ‘a tale about our good friend Paul’. Like, why? Let’s hear about the building up of the church, no? Welp this book helped give me perspective. Thanks N.T. (also to Nate for a great Christmas gift!)
Here are some highlights:

“In fact, the New Testament isn't about our going to be with God; it's about God coming to be with us.”

After the story in Acts 9 about Tabitha being raised from the dead … “If you're in ministry and you want God to do new things, get on prayerfully doing the present things and be ready for surprises.”

“The Judeans who had believed in Jesus and had found a new joy and hope in his presence and love couldn't resist telling their non-Judean friends and neighbours, and some of them came to believe in Jesus too.”

“Paul believes that the God who made the world is in the business, through Jesus, of putting his world right.”

“And when we read Paul's two letters to Corinth, we see what then happened. The Corinthian Christians quickly became arro gant, puffed up, divided by personality cults, tolerating immorality, allowing nominal membership, taking a casual view of the sacra-ments, not caring about the poor, chaotic in worship. Soft on resur-rection. Do you know any churches like that? Paul addresses those issues in his first letter. 'Do you think you've already become rich?' he says. I wish you really were already reigning, so that we could reign alongside you!" They think they ve got it made. Why should they pay attention to him?
His follow-up visit is then a disaster. Since they were in the clear, with nobody persecuting them, they looked down their noses at silly old Paul, always in trouble, always being beaten or shipwrecked or thrown into jail. He writes his second letter out of agony, persona! and pastoral.
That second letter seems to have worked. But there's food for thought there for is today. How, on the one hand, do you stop non-Christian authorities from persecuting Christians? But how, on the other hand, do you prevent a church which isn't being persecuted from becoming lazy and arrogant?”

“Western Christianity of all varieties has normally assumed that the point of the story is for people to go to heaven when they die.
But that is the view, not of Jesus or Paul, but of Plato and his fol-lowers. For Paul, as in this speech, the point of the biblical story is for God to come and dwell with us…. But in the Bible to judge means to put everything right, to sort it all out…. In whatever field we find ourselves working, our assumption must be, with Paul, the goodness of creation, the providence and personal presence of the Creator God, and the eventual goal of all things being put right.”

“So, though at the end of the book we want to know what happened to Paul, Luke doesn't mind disappointing us. He tells us what happened to the gospel. That's what matters. Remember that, any readers who are called to a life of ministry: what matters is not what happens to ou, but what happens to the gospel, and through the gospel.”

“And in the present time we, like Paul, are charged and tasked with announcing God as king and Jesus as lord… we should not mess around.”

[Isaac Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished!

I very much enjoyed this little book. Wright is easy to read, but he's simultaneously a heavy theological hitter. I especially enjoy his pastoral leaning. His Biblical and theological explanations are both exacting and practical. The message of Acts matters today for all of us who call Jesus Lord and Messiah.

By the end of Acts, Luke has told the story of the gospel's journey to Rome, and so figuratively the "ends of the earth" in the 1st century. May God grant us the courage and grace to continue to proclaim the gospel to the ends of the earth in the 21st century!

[Jake Preston · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book of Acts, which is more aptly titled Acts of the Risen Jesus rather than Acts of the Apostles, traces the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome, "the ends of the earth." This is classic N.T. Wright, gospel-centered accessible for everyone.

Wright argues that we have often misunderstood the actual message of Acts. Whereas many, particularly in the Pentecostal tradition, have focused on the idea of a "second blessing" when the Holy Spirit falls on specific groups of people or flattening Paul's address in Athens to apologetics or to the gospel as an escape from this world to heaven, Luke is far more concerned with how the church continues to testify to the lordship of Jesus and his resurrection to both the Judeans (Acts 1-12) and the pagans (Acts 13-28).

The gospel, the good news that Jesus is God in human form and has been enthroned as Lord as a result of his death, resurrection, and ascension, is for all people regardless of ethnicity, social class, gender, or past. Through faith in Jesus, Jew and Gentile are on equal standing before God. Whereas the early part of Acts focuses on Peter, there is a shift toward Paul in Acts 9 as Paul is called to be missionary to the Gentiles.

Acts is a riveting book and Luke is a skilled writer. Wright uncovers the true meaning of Acts and the challenge for the church today to be a place of reconciliation and a testimony to the power of Jesus which expresses itself through the Spirit's indwelling. May we take that message forward as the book of Acts continues in our day.

[Taylor Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wright, being a master scholar of the New Testament, helps modern readers understand the relevance of Acts for today. Being situated between the gospel accounts and epistles, Acts functions to connect Christ's resurrection with the people of the Church Age, mainly through recounting the ministry of the apostles.

I read this for a book club, and it was great for discussing! To those who may read this book, my main encouragement would be to read it alongside the book of Acts itself. Wright assumes that readers are at least familiar with the story. "The Challenge of Acts" is not a summary of Acts, but rather a concise analysis, and I frequently had to turn to Scripture to further understand.

In closing, Wright states that "... when God raised Jesus from the dead, he not only declared that Jesus was indeed his son, the Messiah and lord. He declared that all Jesus' people share that sonship, already now and in the age to come when we too will be raised to share his new creation. And in the present time we, like Paul, are charged and tasked with announcing God as king and Jesus as lord."

[Fabian Umbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ein guter Überblick zur Apostelgeschichte für ein allgemein verständliches Publikum. Wright legt großen Wert auf die Bezüge zum Alten Testament. Auch überträgt er manchmal seine Auslegung auf heute. Leider ist dies mir zu sporadisch gewesen, methodisch wäre ein eigner Schritt hilfreicher gewesen. Auf eine Auseinandersetzung mit der Fachliteratur verzichtet er hier gänzlich. Dagegen verweist er viel auf seine eigenen Werke, um Vertiefungen anzubieten. Ein paar Aha-Momente waren für mich dabei 👍

[Elise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book informative and interesting. There were times I felt I might not be smart enough to read NT Wright but kept pressing on.

The challenge for brilliant minds is sharing their knowledge in a way that the common person can understand.

[Rylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Acts, you see, is not after all the story of Paul. It's the story of what Jesus has continued to do and to teach: the story, in other words, of the gospel. So, though at the end of the book we want to know what happened to Paul, Luke doesn't mind disappointing us. He tells us what happened to the gospel. That's what matters. Remember that, any readers who are called to a life of ministry: what matters is not what happens to you, but what happens to the gospel, and through the gospel" (p. 140).

[Ronald J. Pauleus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great thoughts on Acts. Great summary and insightful connections!

“The Gospel message of God’s victory over the dark powers on the cross must now be implemented by the same means. By the followers of Jesus bearing the cross and facing the monsters. The suffering of Jesus’ followers is the means by which the victory in the cross is to be implemented in the world.”

[Jerry Hillyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid background information. Keeps the book in its proper context. Dispels the silly ideas created out of whole cloth that have nothing to do with the author's point. The book is easy to read. Not as deep as I'd like, but still worth the effort.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a crash course into the book of Acts which examines theological, historical, and cultural points of interest throughout Acts. Understanding Acts as the inauguration of the New Temple movement gives a layer of meaning for understanding the whole book. I really appreciate the explanations of what Judeans and Gentiles might have been thinking as they heard certain words or recognized various symbols. One of the big takeaways is that the book of Acts is so much more than a goodie bag full of our favorite proof texts. There's a truly beautiful narrative here with an airtight structure that, frankly, I had not fully appreciated before.

[Emily Hynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I only wish I read this as a companion to my own reading/study of Acts rather than listening to the audiobook while doing housework! Wright's section-by-section teaching is easy to follow and doesn't miss the power for the academics.

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This condensed commentary on Acts is short but dense. As seems to be the case for many of NTW’s books, I learned a lot and used scads of yellow highlighter ink.

[Nathan Bozeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly excellent summary of the book of Acts. I will be recommending this book to many people. A master class from Wright.

[Scott Firestone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, as always. I'll read every thing Wright writes.

[Andy Littleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A succinct but very insightful treatment of Acts!

[Lisa Lewis Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXCELLENT and easy to read commentary on the book of Acts!

[Anna Hardin · Rating 5 out of 5]

NT Wright does not disappoint. An excellent reevaluation of Luke’s story of the early beginnings of the church. Wright’s explanation of the true story behind Paul’s defense on Mars Hill is worth the book price. Chapter seven is amazing. But I learned much from the entire book.

[Adam Shields · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: An overview of the book of Acts, paying particular attention to the temple and how the early church integrated gentiles into it while maintaining integration with its Jewish background.

I may not have picked up The Challenge of Acts if I had not watched the last 15 minutes of an episode of the Holy Post where Skye Jehani was interviewing NT Wright about The Challenge of Acts. Skye asked about what NT Wright would say in response to churches who pragmatically say that you should narrow-cast to a narrow cultural group and not seek to be more inclusive because churches grow more quickly that way. (This has been the argument from the church growth movement who advocated for the Homogenous Unit Principle, which I have written about before here.)

NT Wright suggests in that video that part of the message of Acts is that the church is not really the church if it isn't grappling with the integration of the entire body of Christ. To narrow cast to a homogeneous cultural group is to distort the idea of the church so much that it ceases to be the church.

Other commentaries on Acts like Amos Yong's have suggested that much of the action of the book of Acts is the expansion of the church to a larger and larger group of people and each expansion had a sense of conflict that had to be dealt with. And Willie James Jenning's commentary on Acts spent a lot of time grappling with the role of empire, violence and prison.

NT Wright has several main points he is communicating with his book on Acts. First, he raises attention to temple motifs in Acts. That attention to temple motifs is part of what Wright's larger project with the New Perspectives on Paul movement is doing in trying to pay attention to Paul's Jewishness and not make Paul into an antisemite as some commenters on Paul have done historically. Wright instead suggests that Paul is trying to integrate Jew and gentile into the body of Christ, not as s replacement of the Jewish religious practice (supersessionism) but as an integrated reality.

Something I have not heard before that I do think is an interesting point is that Wright is suggesting that part of why Paul is seen in Acts as going first to Jewish synagogues is that he is trying to appropriate the Roman exception to communal idol worship that Jewish people had to Christians. Generally all people who were under the subjection of Rome had to come together to offer sacrifices together to appease the gods. Jews had been given an exception to that requirement. Wright suggests that Paul was trying to use that exemption, but he wanted to use it in a way that violated Jewish self-understanding.

Paul says that the gentile Christians did not need to be circumcised. If Paul had asked gentile Christians to be circumcised then it would have been easy to say to Roman officials that these gentile Christians were Jewish coverts and therefore not subject to Roman idol worship requirements. But Paul wanted to claim the exception while not making the gentile Christians live under full Jewish religious requirements. That both endangered Jewish exemptions from Roman law, and didn't given enough attachment for the gentile Christians to make them recognizably Jewish. This framing makes a lot of sense of the way Luke structures Acts' storytelling.

The Challenge of Acts was based on a series of lectures in 2022. The last book I read by NT Wright was Into the Heart of Romans, which was a whole book focused on a single chapter of Romans. The Challenge of Acts is the opposite approach, it is a broad overview of a whole book of the Bible, drawing connections to both Old Testament references, New Testament self understanding and the second temple culture of the era. Generally, Wright is taking about four chapters of Acts at a time. He gives quick overview of how Luke is structuring the story in the section and then highlights several points more thoroughly before moving on to the next section.

There are a couple of exceptions to this general approach. The introduction of the book of Acts takes a little more time as you might expect. And then Wright spends a whole chapter on Paul's sermon in Athens at the Areopagus. Wright suggests that this sermon has largely been misunderstood because it has been presented as if the Areopagus was a debating society and not a trial. Where Wright is often very helpful is drawing cultural connections that the average reader would not see, but the original readers would have assumed were clear. In this case, Luke seems to be referencing Socrates. Both Paul and Socrates were on trial for sacrilege or impiety. This is a connection that I have never heard before, but makes a lot of sense to the text. Paul was not simply using the altar to the unknown God as a way to build a bridge between them, but as a defense to show that Paul was not an atheist or impious person.

Much of the focus on The Challenge of Acts is on Paul as you might expect from a scholar who has specialized in Pauline studies. Wright suggests that the book of Acts may have been written as part of Paul's defense in Rome, which may be part of the reason that there are so many court scenes in it. Even before Paul, Peter and the other disciples were brought before officials to get them to stop preaching. And while John and Stephen were put to death, those deaths are shown as unjust punishments. The other courts scenes were largely showing that the officials did not find the early church guilty of sedition or impiety, even if the people continue to misunderstand them and kept bringing them before the local officials and courts.

Like pretty much all of Wright's books, this is one that I listened to on first pass. (And unusually, Wright narrates the audiobook himself.) I tend to pick up the print version later and take a slower second pass. I have read well over a dozen of Wright's books, many of them two or three times. Wright's strength and weakness is that he keeps coming back to similar themes over and over again. Part of the strength here is that in discussing Acts, he moves outside of his main areas of work on the Pauline letters and shows how the implications of his work in Paul matters to other aspects of New Testament study. The weakness is that some of these themes have been well covered in other books. But I think that is less of a problem here than in some other books because while there are overlapping themes here with Wright's other books, the setting of the book of Acts and the method of a quicker overview of an entire book, brings a lot of new insight into why Wright's traditional themes of study matter in new ways.

This was originally posted on my blog at https://bookwi.se/the-challenge-of-acts/

[Patty Betts · Rating 5 out of 5]

N.T Wright is a fabulous writer!! Great addition to study the book of Acts! I’ve never loved, appreciated and had more grace for the church as I do now!! I see them as my family that God has blessed me with as I’ve lost Mother, Father and so many others!!

“”The resurrection of Jesus is not only the central datum of our faith. It is the source of the energy we need which we must claim for our task. We too face the challenges of the dark forces that seek to prevent us getting where our calling is pointing and doing what we believe we should. Like Paul in the boat, we must hang on and be prayerful and patient, and we need to hear again and again the gospel verdict already in the present, anticipating the time when our own resurrection will be God‘s way of saying, ‘There: I told you all along you were my beloved children.’ And we pray for grace and strength to live and proclaim it with all boldness and with no one stopping us.” - N.T. Wright

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

For some people, this is a read; for me, it was a study. Acts, in a Sunday School format, is often 'this is how the early days of the church went...Paul...kind of crazy...turns it around...prison...a bunch of times...riots. I think a ship...? Somehow...? He goes to Rome." And you do it over a period of weeks and it's all disjointed and superficial and then you get this book and what a relief. I feel the truth of Wright's full-circle description of the good news of Christ: how all of the battles are won, the wrongs will be righted, we are sought after and provided for as a fulfillment of the promises to Abraham as part of the new creation wherein the God of Creation and all love will come and be with us, always. This in itself is enough to run out into the streets and cheer a bit, then run straight to your local house of worship and demand to know why this isn't what's routinely taught. Really enjoyed the layering in of historical content that helps to smooth the road, and my book of Acts is now illegible to anyone but me. Super accessible and although it's a slim volume, will require some time.

[Ryan Carver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smooth read with deep context

It really is impressive how empty right can connect various books of the Bible throughout the story of Acts. He doesn't marvelous job at showing us how the various writings of Paul line up with the storyline that Luke portrays in the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a greater grasp of scripture as well as our role currently as the church. Fantastic job NT. I am grateful for your writing and will purchase and recommend this book too many.

[Darcy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Challenge of Acts is a solid introduction to Luke’s second volume. Dividing the book into four-chapter segments, Wright provides a birds-eye view of the book, with consideration of repeated themes, Luke’s purpose in writing, and points of connectivity to today. His extended chapter on Paul’s defense before the Areopagos is the pinnacle of the writing and, Wright claims, of Luke’s presentation itself. For someone looking to preach through Acts, this small work provides a helpful primer with suggestions for further reflection and study. 3.5

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. I was a bit less focused than usual reading this, due to life and grief, but it was such a good read.

My takeaway: Acts is (at least in part) the story of how the church dealt with human authority as they live under the rule of King Jesus. And that was to serve and disciple their communities while calling for accountability from corrupt leaders.

[Matt Boezinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really helpful in making sense of all the Judean-Christian-Pagan dynamics at play in Luke’s story of the continuation of the Gospel. All of it was insightful, but the chapter on Paul’s speech at the Areopagus in Acts 17 was SO good that it makes the whole book worthy of a 5-star rating in my mind.

[Jared Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent weaving of the biblical importance and cultural significance of what is recorded in the Book of Acts.

[Adam Bloch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great fast-paced overview of the book of Acts! Covers the highlights well, gets deeper than you’d expect for the length, and includes strong application.

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of his best. Will definitely read again.

[Warren Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

If You Want to Learn

The author is very knowledgeable and also a great teacher. He shows that the apostle Paul was a first-century POWERHOUSE.

[Jarren Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

The chapter on Mars Hill was excellent!

[Kris Prince · Rating 5 out of 5]

NT Wright does in this book what he does best - explain what Paul (and Luke by virtue) really said and meant. Such a great resource that I will return to many times in the future.