Welcome to this replay of AskNT Write Anything, where we go back into the archives to bring you the best of the thought and theology of Tom Wright, answering questions submitted by you, the listener.

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We're back for another edition of the show with myself, Justin and Tom sitting down,

to take your questions today on the crucifixion and atonement.

And that's obviously very relevant to the period we're in of Lent as we approach Easter.

Lent, in some ways, has been rather revived as a Christian tradition, I've noticed in recent years.

I think whereas once it was seen as the domain simply of Anglo-Catholics and that sort of thing,

people outside of those traditions increasingly observing it in some way, doing something to market the 40-day period up to Easter.

I suppose you've always yourself acknowledged and done something to reflect the Lent period.

Sure.

I mean, a lot depends on what's going on in one's life.

And sometimes I've had to be traveling for 10 days in the middle of it and going to different places and being taken out to meals.

And it's very hard to keep a strict discipline in the way that you might if you

were at home all the time. But yes, I grew up in a very ordinary middle of the road Anglican

church where it's just assumed. Ash Wednesday introduces you to Lent and now we have these

40 days coming up to Holy Week in Easter and Holy Week and particularly good Friday in Easter.

What's always saddened me about that is that we often do lent quite well in the sense of being intentional about either taking something up or doing without something or saving the money we would have spent on alcohol or chocolate or whatever it is, giving it to some good cause.

But then we don't do Easter in the same way.

And I have a problem about that. Easter, too, is a great 40-day time, but that ought to be a

celebration. And so I think it's characteristic of Western Christianity to be very conscious

of the penitential season. And then we have a big party on Easter Day and then we forget about it all.

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