Christopher J. H. Wright (born 1947) is a missiologist, an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

clergyman and an

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

scholar. He is currently the International Ministries Director of

Langham Partnership International Langham Partnership (formerly known as Langham Partnership International) is a nonprofit Christian international fellowship working in pursuit of the vision of its founder John Stott: to foster the growth of the global church in maturity and Ch ...

. He was the principal of

All Nations Christian College All Nations Christian College is an English missions college, located on the Easneye estate near Ware, Hertfordshire, and validated by the Open University. Aims Unlike some Bible colleges, the focus of All Nations Christian College is prim ...

. He is an honorary member of

All Souls Church, Langham Place All Souls Church is a conservative evangelical Anglican church in central London, situated in Langham Place in Marylebone, at the north end of Regent Street. It was designed in Regency style by John Nash and consecrated in 1824. As it is d ...

in London, UK.

Life

Childhood and education

Wright was born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, in 1947. His parents were missionaries in Brazil, though Chris as the youngest son was born after they came back at the end of the Second World War. He grew up in Belfast and was nurtured as an Irish Presbyterian. He studied classics at St. Catharine's College, Cambridge in the 1960s, and then started his career as a high-school teacher in Grosvenor High School, Belfast. In the 1970s he studied for his PhD at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in Cambridge, England, in the field of Theology, specialising in Old Testament

economic ethics Economic ethics is the combination of economics and ethics that unites value judgements from both disciplines to predict, analyze, and model economic phenomena. It encompasses the theoretical ethical prerequisites and foundations of economic syste ...

; his book from this work was published as ''God's People in God's Land'' (Eerdmans and Paternoster).

Early professional experience

Wright was ordained in the Anglican Church of England in 1977 and served as an assistant pastor in the Parish Church of St. Peter & St. Paul, Tonbridge, Kent, England.

Foreign mission service

In 1983 Wright moved to India with his wife, Liz, and four children to teach at

Union Biblical Seminary Union Biblical Seminary (UBS) is a theological seminary founded by Wesleyan theology , Wesleyan and Methodist denominations in Pune, India. UBS started as a Marathi-medium Bible School opened by the Free Methodist Church and was finally establi ...

(UBS) in Pune for five years. At this time he and Liz were mission partners with

Crosslinks Crosslinks is an evangelical Anglican missionary society, drawing its support mainly from parishes in the Church of England and Church of Ireland. It was known as the Bible Churchmen's Missionary Society (BCMS) until 1992. The BCMS was created as ...

, an evangelical Anglican mission agency. While at UBS he taught a variety of Old Testament courses at B.D. and M.Th. levels.

All Nations Christian College

In 1988 Wright returned to the UK as academic dean at

, an international training centre for crosscultural mission. He was appointed principal there in September 1993 and held that post for eight years.

Current role

In September 2001 Wright was appointed to his present role as the International Ministries Director of the

(LPI). Wright and his wife belong to

, where he enjoys preaching from time to time as a member of the ministry team. This is also the church where LPI's founder,

John Stott John Robert Walmsley Stott (27 April 1921 – 27 July 2011) was an English Anglican cleric and theologian who was noted as a leader of the worldwide evangelical movement. He was one of the principal authors of the Lausanne Covenant in 1974. In ...

, was rector emeritus.

Personal life

Wright enjoys running, birding and watching rugby football. He has a passion to bring to life the relevance of the Old Testament to Christian mission and ethics. He has written several books mostly on that area. He loves preaching and teaching the Bible, which he does now mostly through the Langham Preaching seminars in different parts of the world. When not travelling around the world for this ministry, and giving international leadership to LPI, Chris gives about three months of each year to his continuing writing projects. Wright and his wife Liz live in London and have four adult children and 11 grandchildren(Daisy, Dylan, Simeon, Joseph, Lawrence, Josh, Ellie, Isabel, Ethan, Samuel, Benjamin). He is of no relation to N.T. WrightC.J.H. Wright,
Reading The Whole Bible For Mission: What Happens When We Do?
', 7:10-7:30

Writing

* User's Guide to the Bible (Lion Manuals), Chariot Victor, 1984 * God's People in God's Land: Family, Land and Property in the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; Exeter, UK: Paternoster, 1990 * Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament, Harpercollins, 1990 * Tested by Fire. Daniel 1-6: Solid Faith in today’s world, Scripture Union, 1993 * Walking in the Ways of the Lord: The Ethical Authority of the Old Testament, Intervarsity Press, 1995 * Deuteronomy (New International Biblical Commentary),Hendrickson, 1996 * The Uniqueness of Jesus. Thinking Clearly Series. Mill Hill, London and Grand Rapids: Monarch. Reprint 2001. Available in the United States through Kregel Publications, P.O. Box 2607, Grand Rapids, MI 49501), 1997 * The Message of Ezekiel (The Bible Speaks Today), Intervarsity Press, 2001 * Old Testament Ethics for the People of God. Leicester, England, and Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press. Revised, updated and expanded version of Living as the People of God and An Eye for an Eye, 2004 * The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible's Grand Narrative, IVP Academic, 2006 * Life Through God's Word: Psalm 119, Milton Keynes, Authentic and Keswick Ministries, 2006 * Knowing the Holy Spirit through the Old Testament, Oxford: Monarch Press; Downers Grove: IVP, 2006 * Knowing God the Father Through the Old Testament, IVP Academic, 2007 * Salvation Belongs to Our God: Celebrating the Bible's Central Story, Global Christian Library, Nottingham: IVP; Christian Doctrine in Global Perspective, Downers Grove: IVP, 2008 * The God I Don't Understand: Reflections on Tough Questions of Faith, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009 * Mission of God's People The (Biblical Theology for Life), Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010 * Sweeter than Honey, Langham Preaching Resources, 2015 * Becoming like Jesus, Langham Preaching Resources, 2016 * How to Preach and Teach the Old Testament for All Its Worth, Zondervan Academic, 2016 * Let the Gospels Preach the Gospel, Langham Preaching Resources, 2017

References

External links

Langham Partnership International

All Souls Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Christopher J. H. 1947 births 20th-century Anglican theologians 20th-century Church of England clergy 20th-century English theologians British biblical scholars English Anglican theologians Evangelical Anglican biblical scholars Evangelical Anglican clergy Living people Old Testament scholars Clergy from Belfast Bible commentators