Summary of Can you clarify substitutional atonement, Tom?  Which OT should Christians use? Northern tribes question

Overview of Ask NT Wright Anything

In this episode, Tom Wright and Mike Bird tackle two major theological questions: the fate of the northern tribes of Israel after the Assyrian exile, and whether 2 Corinthians 5:21 supports penal substitutionary atonement. They also answer a follow-up question about which Old Testament canon Christians should treat as authoritative: the Hebrew Bible or the Septuagint.

The discussion repeatedly returns to a larger Wright theme: the Bible is not mainly about “how souls get to heaven,” but about God coming to dwell with his people and fulfilling his covenant promises in the Messiah.

The Northern Tribes and the Meaning of Exile

What happened to the northern tribes?

• Wright says the northern tribes were taken into exile by Assyria in 722 BC, not Babylon.
• In his view, they were dispersed and effectively lost to history; we do not have reliable evidence tracing individual tribes to specific later communities.
• By the time Judah returned from Babylon, the land had already been repopulated in part by Samaritans and other non-Israelite peoples.

What does this mean biblically?

• Wright emphasizes that the Old Testament does not clearly promise a simple “put the clock back” restoration of all Israelites to their original tribal identities.
• He links this to Romans 9, where Paul stresses that only a remnant is saved, and that this remnant exists by grace, not by automatic ethnic privilege.
• He argues that the New Testament does not teach a future scheme in which all scattered tribes are simply gathered back in a literal, ethnic sense.

Ezekiel and modern end-times readings

• Wright strongly cautions against using Ezekiel 37–38 to interpret modern Middle East events or contemporary wars.
• He says such readings are a long stretch from the text and especially problematic when tied to dispensationalist end-times frameworks.
• Instead, the later chapters of Ezekiel and temple/glory imagery are fulfilled in Christ:
  • Jesus is the one in whom God’s glory dwells.
  • The “temple” theme is carried forward into Jesus’ body and then into the church.

Main takeaway

• The fate of the northern tribes is largely unknown.
• The New Testament’s focus is not on reconstructing lost tribal maps, but on God’s covenant faithfulness fulfilled in the Messiah and the remnant by grace.

Penal Substitution and 2 Corinthians 5:21

Does Wright reject substitution?

• No. Wright explicitly says there is a biblical doctrine of penal substitution.
• His disagreement is with a sub-biblical or distorted narrative that often surrounds it.

His main critique

Wright argues that penal substitution has often been framed within the wrong story:

• “Humans are sinful, so God must punish someone else so we can go to heaven.”
• He says this is not the Bible’s central framework.

Instead, the Bible’s storyline is:

• God comes to dwell with humanity
• Human sin prevents that
• Sacrifice and atonement deal with impurity, death, and separation
• In the Messiah, God overcomes sin and the powers

What are sacrifices really doing?

Wright says the Old Testament sacrificial system is not mainly about:

• God punishing an animal instead of a person

Rather, it is about:

• cleansing
• removing impurity
• preparing for God’s presence among his people

He highlights:

• the blood as life
• the scapegoat as a sign of sin being driven away
• the temple/tabernacle as the place where God chooses to dwell with his people

How does this connect to the cross?

Wright says the cross is:

• the place where Jesus takes the place of sinners
• the means by which God defeats the principalities and powers
• part of the larger story of God’s kingship arriving through the Messiah

He connects this to examples like:

• Jesus taking Barabbas’ place
• the thief on the cross acknowledging that Jesus has done nothing wrong
• Paul’s language in Colossians and 1 Corinthians about the powers being disarmed

What about 2 Corinthians 5:21?

Wright argues the verse should not be read as a stand-alone proof text for atonement theory. In context, it belongs to Paul’s defense of his apostolic ministry:

• v.19: God was in Christ reconciling the world and entrusting the ministry of reconciliation
• v.21: Christ, who knew no sin, was made sin “for us”
• v.6:1 onward: Paul quotes Isaiah about being made a covenant to the people

So for Wright, the verse is about:

• Christ’s reconciling work
• the apostolic mission
• God extending his covenant faithfulness through Paul’s ministry

Main takeaway

• Wright accepts substitution and even penal substitution in a biblical sense.
• But he insists it must be read inside the bigger story of God’s homecoming and God’s reign through the Messiah, not a simplified “punishment transfer” model.

Which Old Testament Should Christians Use?

Hebrew Bible or Septuagint?

Wright’s answer is essentially:

• For doctrine, Christians should treat the Hebrew canon as authoritative.
• For understanding the world of the New Testament, the Septuagint and related Jewish literature are extremely valuable.

Why the Septuagint matters

• The New Testament often quotes the Greek Septuagint.
• Wright says it helps us understand how first-century Jews and Christians were reading Scripture.
• Books like Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach/Ecclesiasticus, and other Second Temple texts illuminate the mindset of the New Testament era.

What about the Apocrypha?

He says:

• He personally carries Bibles with the Apocrypha included.
• These books are useful for historical and theological context.
• But they should not be used as primary proof texts to establish doctrine.

He notes that the Anglican tradition broadly says:

• canonical books = authoritative for doctrine
• other ancient Jewish writings = useful “for example of life and instruction of manners,” but not for doctrinal foundation

Church, Scripture, and tradition

Wright pushes back against both:

• overconfident dogmatic use of later traditions
• ultra-rationalist theories of inerrancy that flatten the Bible’s historical context

His view:

• Scripture is the church’s supreme authority
• tradition is helpful but subordinate
• the goal is to read the Bible as the first-century believers did, centered on Jesus

Main takeaway

• Use the Hebrew canon as the doctrinal norm.
• Use the Septuagint and related Jewish literature as crucial background for understanding the New Testament.
• Don’t confuse useful background material with canonical authority.

Key Themes Across the Episode

1. Covenant fulfillment, not religious escape

Wright keeps returning to the idea that the Bible is about:

• God’s promises to Abraham
• the remnant
• exile and return
• God dwelling with his people in Christ

2. The Messiah as the center

Both the exile discussion and the atonement discussion are interpreted through:

• Jesus as the fulfillment of Israel’s story
• Jesus as temple, sacrifice, and covenant representative
• the church as the continuing site of God’s presence

3. Humility in interpretation

Wright repeatedly warns against:

• speculative end-times systems
• overreading unclear texts
• forcing later theological systems onto earlier biblical material

Notable Takeaways

• The northern tribes were likely lost in dispersion, not neatly restored in history.
• Ezekiel 37–38 should not be used as a blueprint for modern geopolitical events.
• Penal substitution is biblical, but only when placed in the right narrative.
• 2 Corinthians 5:21 is about reconciliation and Paul’s ministry, not just a detached atonement formula.
• Christians should treat the Hebrew canon as normative, while valuing the Septuagint/Apocrypha for context and formation.