Paul and His Letter to the Romans: Part One (Romans 1-5) (Udemy.com)

The material was dense and required a great deal of reflection. Professor Wright did an excellent job in presenting the varied strands of Paul's theology in Romans. I was struck by the depth of Paul's thinking and his relationship with Jesus. This has formed the basis for reading Paul's writings in a different light and force me to reconsider my thinking regarding justification and the New Covenant.

The content and delivery by Dr. Wright are both excellent. I would love a bit more in depth discussion about the Greek, and engagement with opposing viewpoints and interpretations by theologians of varying views in order to better grasp how the letter to the Romans has shaped modern (and specifically Western) Christianity. There are specific points that challenged me, but I found the forums to be well moderated by Prof. Seemuth, for which I am thankful.

N.T. Wright is a voice in the 21st century that must be heard if you are in anyway serious about theology. The quality of the teaching is great. I would have given the course 5 stars if there had been a more clear distinction between working with Parafrasing and Deatailed exegesis, but otherwise very enlightening and a good fair presentation of interpreting Romans through the lens of "the new perspective on Paul" while still trying to integrate this perspective with key elements from "the old perspective".

This has been an incredible course. It has opened up many new vistas for me. I am looking forward to meeting Bishop Tom in Alexandria, VA later this April. I will have further questions about "righteousness," imputation and "final" judgment and works. I will intend to take the next segment of Romans later in the spring or summer. I will be recommending these courses to clergy colleagues.

I am still unclear about sin and (capital S) Sin and the purpose of the law. For example, verse 5:13 "Sin was in the world, you see, even in the absence of the law, though sin is not calculated when there is no law". There are indications that Paul is just giving teasers to some subjects which must wait for a full explanation in subsequent chapters. This is somewhat frustrating, but maybe unavoidablle.

As a lay person in theology, I felt this course allowed me to be stretched without getting left behind in content that was too deep. Wright does an excellent job expounding and teaching scripture in a new light that delivered revelation after revelation. I've never read or seen Romans presented in this way, either in personal study or in sermons. His pace and cadence were perfect, and I love the format of the course for someone who wants in-depth study on their timeline. I feel like I'm getting a seminary education at a fraction of the price. I can't wait to dive into the other courses N.T. Wright offers on Udemy.

The course is very detailed and explained verse by verse. I specially enjoyed the difference between justification & salvation and how the two come together in resurrection. Why & how God loves us & why we love him back. The relation between the OT & NT is well put together and related as a whole story about God saving the ungodly through His covenant with Abraham and enacted in Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This is an amazing exegesis of Romans 1 through 5 and should be studied by every Bible believing christian. Professor Wright goes through verse by verse of Romans and shows how the apostle Paul, deeply rooted in Jewish theology and lifestyle, portrayed the gospel as a holistic message that started in Genesis 1 and is progressively taking shape from Adam through Abraham and Israel to Christ and from Christ to us. God established his covenant with Abraham and his descendant, Jesus the Messiah, with us in mind the entire time. How powerful is that love? Dr. Wright makes this point exegetically clear and takes away that normal and shallow view that most of us learn and understand about Paul's theology by looking at from its grassroots. I am really blessed to have been a part of this journey and I am really excited about what is coming ahead.

Chinese Whispers Chinese Whispers is the working title of the narrative I have begun at 75th Ranger Learning Community. It is a reflection on the events in my life which have influenced the theory and structures of The Points of Light Program and the 9 hour orientation training, JumpStart Training/Army Family Team Building. This is the last time I will post this emerging narrative anywhere but on the US Army Ranger board in the LinkedIn groups. For reasons of Quality Assurance, it is my hope that the Ranger community in association with Army Community Services will become the source for training support for the Points of Light Program in the creation of the 33,000 Community Development Learning Communities, especially JumpStart Training/Army Family Team Building. In part, I see this program as the leading edge of the implementation of the outcome of the on-going Army Future dialogue, For those who have read The Origins and Development of the Points of Light Program, I took The Points of Light Program to Gen. William Hartzog, CG, Tradoc in 1995 to make him a hero and to change the relationship between the Army community of communities and the civilian economy. I have used the title Chinese Whispers as an allusion to Bishop NT Wright and something he said in a video on the subject of the historicity of the Gospels and the transmission of the text through manuscript copyists. In terms of the theology of Jesus as a 1st Century Jew, Bishop Wright is my touchstone: I stipulate without qualification to his scholarship. If you disagree with my version of Jesus, I do not represent Bishop Wright’s position, but my own world view. I have opened a forum at Brainstormscommunity.org entitled CHINESE WHISPERS. This will be found in the HANGOUT folder of the Caucus. Anyone qualified to read the 75th Ranger Learning Community posts in the US Army Ranger group can copy and paste this narrative in that forum and to contribute to whatever you find useful to the 75th Ranger Learning Community in the HANGOUT folder of the Caucus. This is an experiment in demonstrating how the Gospel According to Mark was assembled by Cornelius, the centurion in Acts 10. When you register at Brainstormscommunity.org, use Frank Burns as a sponsor.

Got Peace? Only God can initiate a unilateral covenant, remain faithful to it (because it is impossible for him to disown himself) and give you a peace that passes human understanding. Whatever your background, wherever you come from learn from N.T. Wright the abundant blessings that are yours through faith in our awesome God as you covenant with him.