James M. Scott - Exile: A Conversation with N. T. Wright

IN NOVEMBER OF 2010, N. T. Wright came to Trinity Western University as the speaker for the Universitys annual Distinguished Lecturer Series. In order to take full advantage of his visit to the university, I organized a symposium on exile in collaboration with the MA program in biblical studies and the Department of Religious Studies at TWU. The idea was to provide an opportunity for Wright to rearticulate his controversial thesis about a continuing exile (more on that later) and then to invite scholars from a variety of academic disciplines to interact with that thesis from their own unique vantage points. Many of the essays that are included in this volume originated as papers read at the symposium, although they were revisedoften quite substantiallyfor publication. The rest were commissioned in order to provide additional coverage of the subject from other perspectives.

I am grateful to N. T. Wright for agreeing to expand the original scope of his visit to TWU in order to include the symposium on exile. My sincere thanks go to the Reid Trust for funding both the symposium itself and the subsequent preparation of this volume for publication. I wish to thank Dan Reid at InterVarsity Press for shepherding the publication of this project from the beginning and for exercising supreme patience as we anxiously waited for all the contributors to submit their essays. Tony Cummins has been an invaluable sounding board and faithful partner in this endeavor at every stage, and Spencer Jones has been of enormous help in bringing this volume into final form. I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to them both.

This book is dedicated in profound gratitude to Sylvie Vandekerkhove, who not only hosted an exquisite dinner for the participants at the conclusion of the symposium but also for many years has been a staunch supporter of the Department of Religious Studies.