Review: After You Believe, by N. T. Wright

After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters
By N.T. Wright
Harper One, 2010
Hardcover, 307 pages, $32.99

Reviewed by Julie Lane Gay

There seems to be an unending cacophony of exhortations bandied about amongst Christians, within and without the Anglican Church -- messages affirming the sole importance of living among the poor, others affirming the need for greater focus on international rights and still other voices pleading for changes in evangelism. One of the quieter voices emerging is the summons to return to the importance of Christian character.  As this message expounds, set yourself toward growing mature in Christian character and from this foundation you will be able to truly and fully love the Church and love the world.

One quiet but clear voice comes from British Anglican Bishop N.T. (Tom) Wright, a scholar, pastor and prolific author. Wright’s newest book, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters, is a look at the Biblical, theological, historical and philosophical underpinnings of Christian character and character’s result – virtue. Wright surmises that after a person comes to faith and gets their new bearings, they are likely to ask, “How then shall I live? What is my life as a Christian meant to be like?  Why is it so seemingly difficult, even with the Spirit and guide of Christ, to be a virtuous person?”

In a somewhat erudite manner, Wright takes his reader back to the scaffolding of Christian character.  Starting with Aristotle, the Church Fathers and the Old Testament and then Christ, he tracks who we are made to be and why virtue is so difficult to “achieve.” Wright navigates between the banks of the Christian life of freedom and seemingly endless rules.  He writes, “How do we make moral decisions? Do we have to choose between a system of Rules (which we then need to hammer out and agree on) and a system of Finding Out Who I Really Am (and being very true to it)?” To find answers, Wright looks at how “character” is transformed, and, not surprisingly, explains that this only arises from choices and practice. He expands, “the person has to choose, again and again, to develop the moral muscles and skills which will shape and form the fully flourishing character.”  Like the best of piano teachers and coaches, Wright is big on practice.

Wright moves from this framework of virtue to our calling to be “priests and rulers,” and then to Christ’s challenges and invitation to his followers. In the last third of the book, Wright heads toward the practical, our actual transformation through the renewing of the mind. He plumbs the components of “virtue in action,” delineating what this means to us and to the world. In his closing chapter, he offers the “virtuous circle,” consisting of Scripture, stories, examples, community, and practices. While not nearly as in depth as many of the previous concepts, this circle is a practical and usable paradigm.

While Wright is capable, knowledgeable and ardent enough to fill 1000 pages on Christian character, he does an exceptional job of condensing his thinking (and his passion) in 300 pages. There is a huge amount of background information and good thinking in one place. His accomplishment of distilling and synthesizing is highly commendable. While it is easy to say that Christians, individually and as church communities, in 2010 need to return to developing an intentional character – it is far more challenging and impressive to convey this message as substantially and yet as straightforwardly as in After You Believe. Wright does not allow himself to assume any concept without giving an explanation.

After You Believe is actually the last of a three-part trilogy.  The first, Simply Christian (2006) was an introduction to Christian faith – what some readers have called the 21^st century’s equivalent to C.S. Lewis’ classic, Mere Christianity.  The second volume, Surprised by Hope, (2008) is a look at Heaven and Resurrection. While these first two were what I would describe as “user friendly” and informal in tone (and excellent books), this third volume is heavier going.  The tone is equally warm, but often you have to hold more complex notions in hand and follow a more intricate argument. Some will feel there is too much of philosopher Alasdair McIntyre and ethicist Stanley Hauerwas quoted, but in some respects this is part of Wright’s excellent distillation.

It is interesting to note that American pastor Eugene Peterson’s latest (and excellent) book Practice Resurrection focuses, following Ephesians, on much the same message: what it means to become mature in Christ – to develop a Christian character.  Peterson’s book is more informal, and its underpinnings are more exclusively drawn from Paul’s letter, but reading it together with Wright’s After You Believe would be an excellent multi-course meal. While I am a fan of many of the multiple exhortations amongst Christians, it is my own hope that these two quieter but deeper messages will become the loudest of all.

As Wright pleads so wisely, “our world, God’s world, needs people at the helm in whom courage, good judgment, a cool head and a proper care of people – and if possible faith, hope and love as well – have become second nature.”