How God Became King Analysis

N.T. Wright’s book How God Became King discusses the key themes of the New Testament gospels and why he thinks they have been commonly misinterpreted by the church. Wright’s thesis is essentially that the creeds, which the early church developed as tangible statements of faith, oversimplify the content and the purpose of the gospels. The reality is that, by oversimplifying the gospels or by leaving out certain parts, it decreases the apparent value of the gospels. Wright’s point is that everything in the Old Testament is leading up to the ultimate climax of the New Testament, but without a proper understanding of its purpose, it has become increasingly easy to miss the point. It is possible that perhaps Wright sees this problem as more prevalent than it actually is. Maybe this issue was common in the early church, (as in the case of the creeds) but modern scholars and church leaders now understand the weight of the gospel message as a whole? Nevertheless, because the issue is one that involves the epicenter of practically the entire Bible, and thus the entire Christian message, there is no doubt that it is worth bringing to the table and clarifying. This then, is the point of the gospels that Wright is trying to get at: Jesus came to reestablish his kingdom.

Wright begins by clearly stating the problem that he has with certain interpretations or ways of observing the gospels. His problem is that the Christian creeds do not seem to do a decent job of integrating both the ends and the

However, Wright argues that this is not truly the end of the story. He says, “Matthew, for his part, ends his gospel with Jesus sending his followers out on a mission, secure in the knowledge that he was already enthroned as the world’s rightful Lord” (121). The rest of the story is all that happens after the Great