I went into this a little wary, just because the book (and the author) has received a lot of hype-- Anne Rice went so far as to call it better than the C.S. Lewis classic Mere Christianity. I might not go that far, but it is a very solid, inspiring book. I hesitate to call anything so new a "classic", but I truly believe that this will be a classic, someday. One thing that I liked is the way that Wright (who is an Anglican bishop) explained the continuity (or cohesion) of the Bible. He just expl [...]

N.T. Wright never seems to settle on a single audience or a single purpose for this book, which makes it appear disorganized and ultimately renders it ineffective. He begins Simply Christians as a seeming apologetic, speaking of our longings for justice, truth, and beauty the same way C.S. Lewis argued from the existence of a moral sense to the existence of God, but he doesn't ever bring these arguments to convincing culmination. Despite the book's subtitle "Why Christianity Makes Sense," Wright [...]

The main value of this book for me was probably the arresting one- to five-liners. Like these:It’s no part of Christian belief to say that the followers of Jesus have always got everything right. Jesus himself taught his followers a prayer which includes a clause asking God for forgiveness. He must have thought we would go on needing itman beings have been so seriously damaged by evil that what they need isn’t simply better self-knowledge, or better social conditions, but help, and indeed re [...]

Wright has some interesting things to say about the intersection of heaven and earth - that they don't exist in separate places and times but are overlapping in various ways. And his discussions of social justice and church-building reflect obvious passion. There are a lot of sections, though, which either weakly reflect C.S. Lewis (the "echoes of a voice" section) or bring up knotty debates only to dismiss them summarily (the discussions of apocryphal gospels). The book doesn't make up its mind [...]

In Simply Christian, N.T. Wright makes the case for Christianity and outlines, at a basic level, what believing in Jesus is all about. The book has been compared to Mere Christianity. There are definitely some comparisons between the two (including their titles), but I wouldn't take it too far. Mere Christianity reads as an apologetic for the foundations of Christian faith while Simply Christian reads as an entry level primer into Wright's thought. Overall, I got quite a bit less out of this one [...]

Simple, yet far from simplistic, this may be one of the most important books I've read. Tom Wright set forth the key issues of the Gospel in a way that's easily accessible to both studied Christians and people who just want to know what Christianity is actually all about. Many political and theological issues have become hot-button topics and seem to be litmus tests among different Christian communities for how good of a Christian someone is, and unfortunately many of those are actually fringe i [...]

This seems like kind of a basic book for a professional Christian (so to speak) to read, but I was curious. It's a kind of 21st-century "Mere Christianity" with less apologia and more ecclesia. What I like about Wright's approach is that he stresses the "renewal of creation" salvation theory more than the "atonement for sin" theory. And, speaking of sin, I am frankly quite envious of how many books this man has written. And, speaking of C. S. Lewis knock-offs, I see that a year ago Wright publis [...]

Started out intriguing- didn't end that way. Wright only makes a few good points here and there, but once you get past the halfway mark he deteriorates sharply. Also the book expects you have a semi-decent knowledge of the Bible or its characters beforehand.Pick up "Mere Christianity" by Lewis instead.

Christianity simply and eloquently explained. Very edifying and timely for me. I highly recommend this book especially to those who would like a succinct description of the Christian faith and for those who need some refreshing.

The title is a bit misleading. I don't think this book is about why Christianity makes sense (a claim that naturally implies that other religions don't make sense), as much as it is about what it means to be a Christian. However, I can see how the title would appeal to the skeptic, or to the wavering Christian or even to the outright doubter/atheist/agnostic. Yet N.T. Wright convincingly articulates (though more convincing to those already predisposed to ideas of Christian faith) what it means t [...]

This is a fine book that is not an apologetic work, but more and overview of Wright's presentation of Christianity. The book is not aimed at convincing the skeptic but more aimed at getting the Christian to think more deeply about the faith he / she espouses. Laid out in a methodical way (would we expect any less from Wright?) Wright, refers frequently to the three options for viewing God and his relation to the world - Option 1 the two worlds are completely separated (atheism or agnosticism), T [...]

There are a lot of similarities between Tom Wright and C.S. Lewis. Their writing style is quite similar, and they both have a delightful affection for parentheses (delightful, because I share that affection).Also, it is hardly a surprise that the title of Wright's book "Simply Christian" is strikingly similar to Lewis' "Mere Christianity". In fact, as I was reading the first chapter of Wright's book (which talks about the sense of ethics that all people seem to share) I was constantly reminded o [...]

At a different time in my life, I may have rated this book higher. I'm being generous in my rating by giving it three stars through acknowledgement that my reading of this comes at a bad time. For starters, I chose the audiobook read by Simon Prebble, who has a voice and accent not too different from Ralph Cosham. The latter narrated C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity, and it was difficult because of the voice and to some extent, the content, to tell one book from the other. Wright takes the same tho [...]

Eh. I have tons of respect for N. T. Wright, but this book was a bust, mostly because it tried too hard to be Mere Christianity. Also, it jumped abruptly from pre-evangelistic observations on aspects of human experience for which Christian theology is one possible explanation (apparently aimed at seekers) to concrete suggestions for Christian living and particularly how church services should be structured (apparently aimed at people who are already Christians). Overall, disjointed with flashes [...]

Thank God for NT Wright! He honestly engages the breadth of biblical scholarship and comes up with one of the most well written summaries of what it means to be a Christian. Many have compared this book to cs Lewis' mere Christianity, but his angle as a biblical scholar vs Lewis' medieval literature angle is a little bit different. I'd say Lewis' is more apologetics written to people who are going off their logic and experience while wrights is more trying to explain the historical Christian fai [...]

N.T. Wright begins by looking at four phenomena:1.) We all have an innate sense of justice and fairness (or at least we talk like we do).2.) Modernism, while a powerful shaping force in the Western world, didn't do what Freud and others thought it would - kill off religion. Instead, religion is alive and well in the world. And even more broadly, interest in spirituality seems to bubble up just about everywhere: even in countries most influenced by Enlightenment thinking.3.) We have a communal in [...]

NT Wright is heralded to be CS Lewis of our day, or that is how I have been informed from his fans. This is the first book of his that i have read, and there are several on my read list. There are parts of this book that I absolutely thought "excellent, what a great way to explain this truth," there are other parts that are OK. What I like about this book and perhaps where I am - Go find the truth, seek God in where He is in the issue, event, situation, etc. And I confess there is so much I do n [...]

I'm tempted to call this book a modern Mere Christianity It lays out the foundations of the Christian faith, as well as what separates it from other world views (specifically pantheism and deism), and it does so masterfully. Those familiar with Wright know how good he is at contextualizing the gospel to first-century Israel. Wright starts off with questions about justice, spirituality, relationship, and beauty, and weaves them into the the gospel story, which quickly becomes the very foundation [...]

This is my second N.T. Wright book and enjoyed it far more than the first. "Simply Christian" certainly lives up to its title and was quite simple yet fantastically intelligent and well written. I would suggest this book to anyone interested in Christianity or to Christians who appear to have lost an understanding of what it means to be a Christian.My only frustration with this book is that it encourages me with a picture of what it means to be "Simply Christian" yet at the same time I find myse [...]

I agree with several reviews I've read that compared this book to C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity", although I believe it is generally easier to read and absorb. I appreciated the concept of hearing an "echo of a voice" through the Holy Spirit.This is a great book for those unfamiliar with Christianity or those who wish to better understand the current and promised future relationship between heaven and earth.

For someone who grew up in the church, I was very impressed with the straightforwardness and authenticity of this book. Definitely worth a read. Some of the best descriptions of Christianity lie in his book.

I misshleved this initially. About done with it now, so I will agree with those reviews who wonder who the audience was supposed to be. If nonChristians, then I do not think he would have kept me reading.

كتاب اقل ما يوصف به انه قطعة فنية عميق جدا وبسيط جدا ومباشر استمتعت به تماماوتعلمت منه وهو اول لقاء ب الكاتب ولن يكون الاخير الكتاب ينقلك الى عمق المسيحية كإجابة لاعمق الاسئلة الموجودة كأصداء فى داخلنا بطريقة شيقة وللعجب قريبة جدا من الارثوذوكسية كتاب لا بد ان تقرأه وتقتنيه

A great 21st century successor to Lewis's "Mere Christianity."

Good, not great.

Great for evangelism and apologetics. It isn't quite on the level of C S Lewis, but it is close.

The best explanation of live-able hope and purpose in the world. Don't we all hear echoes of a voice and wish the voice was speaking to us? Well, it is.

This book lives up to all of the hype! It may very well be one of my favourite books. It has the ability to give you a paradigm shift about things you've never considered and about the things you thought were basic. Although fairly easy to read and short, Wright packs in A LOT of subjects about the Christian faith. He gives some amazing one-liners, metaphors and illustrations that will stick with you. I also loved his approach of weaving spirituality, relationships, beauty and justice throughout [...]

This is my first book I've read from N.T. Wright, and I definitely want to read more. I don't have a lot to say about this book. Wright is a brilliant man and a superb writer. This book is a very good book, but my biggest gripe is just that it doesn't seem to ask or answer questions that interested me at all. He had a lot of great things to say, but in reading it, I had to ask, "Why was this written, and to whom?" I don't know if I can answer either question, but it was still a very good book. I [...]

I have a hard time what to make of this book, whether I liked it or not, so to use the distinction, "it was ok." I really liked some parts of this book, especially the historical analyses, or how Wright explained various difficult to be understood ideas with wonderful analogies. But overall the book came across disjointed for the most part. It was as if Wright was trying too hard to oversimplify the massively complex structure that is Christianity. I laud him for the attempt, but in the end, Wr [...]