N.T. Wright: Personal Encounter

After listening to two lecture, Adam, Joe, and I were able to meet Bishop N.T. Wright. He hung around Estes Chapel following his exegesis of Acts for book signing and photos. Though we were about 8th in line we waited for quite some time as seminary students ahead of us were either attempting to receive private teachings from Wright or proposing their theological ideas and thoughts as if to prove themselves as intellectually stimulating for Wright. Anyone who has read his works must find the humor in imagining the above situation.

I shook the hand of Bishop Wright and thanked him for his writings and teachings. His disposition changed from that of toleration toward the aforementioned students to one of gratefulness and realized humanity. He signed my journal where I record my personal reflections and prayers. Two books of Wright's, The Last Word and Paul in Fresh Perspective, I gave to Adam and Joe respectively and he signed those books for them. Wright told us that "The Last Word" is a silly title upon which the publisher insisted. He said that if he were to write a book entitled "The Last Word" that it would be on the person and work of Jesus.

I handed my camera to a guy behind us to take our picture with The Bishop of Durham. He was visibly shaking from excitement, anxiety, and nervousness, hence, the above photo. I knew that the photo would not turn out but it was worth a blurry photo to hear Tom Wright say to our picture taker, "My, it's a wee bit wobbly isn't it?"