Wright on Americans (again)
May 24, 2011
Justin Taylor helpfully links to, and comments on, a blog about N T Wright, hell, and Rob Bell. Predictably, Dr Wright has apparently blamed the Americans for being somewhat fixated on hell, a cultural argument he deployed earlier relative to the historical Adam.
Two observations seem apposite: just because Americans think something is important does not mean that it is, or should be, of little importance to anyone else. One need only think of the sales figures for Dr. Wright's books on this side of the Atlantic, for example.
And, second, my memories of my years in the UK are that both hell and historical Adam were of great importance in the circles in which I mixed. Admittedly, these were not those of boarding school Anglicans. But that raises the question of whether Americans are the exception on issues of hell and Adam, or whether it is rather the alumni of the British public school system. Stott was a Bash camper; Packer was a state grammar boy. Perhaps class warfare, rather than nationhood or ethnicity is the issue? Or maybe it is for the reason Trevin Wax suggests.......
Two observations seem apposite: just because Americans think something is important does not mean that it is, or should be, of little importance to anyone else. One need only think of the sales figures for Dr. Wright's books on this side of the Atlantic, for example.
And, second, my memories of my years in the UK are that both hell and historical Adam were of great importance in the circles in which I mixed. Admittedly, these were not those of boarding school Anglicans. But that raises the question of whether Americans are the exception on issues of hell and Adam, or whether it is rather the alumni of the British public school system. Stott was a Bash camper; Packer was a state grammar boy. Perhaps class warfare, rather than nationhood or ethnicity is the issue? Or maybe it is for the reason Trevin Wax suggests.......
