In the N.T. Wright thread below, someone question my call on not calling Wright’s academic works "dense." (And he does, as the reader points out, have quite a few works for the popular audience. His "…..for Everyone" (fill in name of Gospel) books are excellent beginning Scripture study). Let me explain. It’s not  that I’m that smart, because long-time readers know I’m not. No, it’s just that when I think of dense academic works, my mind drifts back over twenty years, when I, as an eager Young Catholic read Schillebeeckx. Avidly. Read both Jesus and Christ. I experienced them as dense as I was reading them, and realized, when I finished both, that I had absolutely no recollection of anything he had said except for his explaining-away of the Resurrection. Now, there’s dense for you. There’s really no comparison. Wright is thorough and detailed, but his writing is very clear, he constantly summarizes and reminds you where you’ve been and where you’re headed. As I said, give it a good long while if you’re going to commit to the longer works, but they are by no means inaccessible to non-academics.