Wright: After You Believe

“What are we here for in the first place? The fundamental answer we shall explore in this book is that what we’re “here for” is to become genuine human beings, reflecting the God in whose image we’re made, and doing so in worship on the one hand and in mission, in its full and large sense, on the other; and that we do this not least by “following Jesus.” The way this works out is that it produces, through the work of the Holy Spirit, a transformation of character” (N.T. Wright, After You Believe, 26).

Wright: After You Believe

“How do we not only think clearly and wisely about what to do, in our personal lives, our church lives, and our entire public life, but also discover how to do it” (12)? … “Interestingly, Jesus seems to have given both sides of this question the same answer: “Follow me!” That is both what you should do and how you should do it” (14).

“You can divide theories about human behavior into two: either you obey rules imposed from the outside, or you discover the deepest longings of your own heart and try to go with them.” … “But what we notice in Mark 10 is something which seems to operate in a different dimension. For a start, it is a call, not to specific acts of behavior, but to a type of character. For another thing, it is a call to see oneself as having a role to play within a story-—and a story where, to join up with the first point, there is one supreme Character whose life is to be followed” (17).

“My contention in this book is that the New Testament invites its readers to learn how to be human in this particular way, which will both inform our moral judgments and form our characters so that we can live by their guidance. The name for this way of being human, this kind of transformation, is virtue” (N.T. Wright, After You Believe, 18).