Nicholas T. Wright

N. Thomas Wright

Anglican Bishop of Durham, England

Nicholas Thomas Wright is Anglican Bishop of Durham, England. The "On Faith" panelist taught New Testament studies for 20 years at Cambridge, McGill and Oxford Universities before becoming Dean of Lichfeld in 1994. He was named Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey in 2000, and consecrated bishop in 2003. He has written hundreds of articles and more than 40 books, including Judas and the Gospel of Jesus (2006) and Evil and the Justice of God (2006). He has served as Visiting Professor at numerous institutions including Harvard Divinity School, Gregorian University in Rome and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Dr Wright holds four degrees, including a divinity doctorate from Oxford University, and honorary degrees from several universities and colleges. Close.

N. Thomas Wright

Anglican Bishop of Durham, England

Nicholas Thomas Wright is Anglican Bishop of Durham, England. The "On Faith" panelist taught New Testament studies for 20 years at Cambridge, McGill and Oxford Universities before becoming Dean of Lichfeld in 1994. He was named Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey in 2000, and consecrated bishop in 2003. more »

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Know Your Mind, Body and Spirit

I'm not an expert on this. But a lot depends on the motivation and inner spirituality of what's going on.

A parallel example might be using the Enneagram to discern personality differences, e.g. in a team at work. Some Enneagram facilitators emphasize the deep oriental spirituality behind this analysis; but actually many of us have found that it makes a lot of sense without any of that.

In the same way, I believe that many people use Yoga exercises and the like without actually buying in to a non-Christian (or non-Jewish) world view or spirituality. After all, a lot of modern medicine was conceived in a relentlessly secularist mindset, but I don't think I'm selling out to secularism by taking an Aspirin or having an injection.

Part of the point underneath this is what Paul is addressing in 1 Corinthians 8. If someone has been regularly worshiping idols and eating in temples, the very thought that they might be served meat which had been offered to idols would revolt them. But people without that problem in their background would be able to say, quite cheerfully, that the meat is only meat.

If in doubt, anyone with conscientious scruples could and should talk and pray the matter over with a wise spiritual director or guide who can help to discern where the pressure points lie for them personally.

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