Trevin Wax: Could you give us a brief definition of \u201cthe gospel\u201d\u009d?<\/p>\n
N.T. Wright: I could try taking a Pauline angle. When Paul talks about \u201cthe gospel,\u201d\u009d he means \u201cthe good news that the crucified and risen Jesus is the Messiah of Israel and therefore the Lord of the world.\u201d\u009d Now, that\u2019s about as brief as you can do it.<\/p>\n
The reason that\u2019s good news\u201d\u00a6 In the Roman Empire, when a new emperor came to the throne, there\u2019d obviously been a time of uncertainty. Somebody\u2019s just died. Is there going to be chaos? Is society going to collapse? Are we going to have pirates ruling the seas? Are we going to have no food to eat? And the good news is, we have an emperor and his name is such and such. So, we\u2019re going to have justice and peace and prosperity, and isn\u2019t that great?!<\/p>\n
Now, of course, most people in the Roman Empire knew that was rubbish because it was just another old jumped-up aristocrat who was going to do the same as the other ones had done. But that was the rhetoric.<\/p>\n
Paul slices straight in with the Isaianic message: Good news! God is becoming King and he is doing it through Jesus! And therefore, phew! God\u2019s justice, God\u2019s peace, God\u2019s world is going to be renewed.<\/p>\n