Excellent | Paul: In Fresh Perspective

Paul | Paul: In Fresh Perspective | N. T. Wright

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	• Paul: In Fresh Perspective N. T. Wright Fortress Press, 2009 - 195 pages average customer review:based on 27 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A post-Reformation masterpiece

Before I comment directly on N. T. Wright's book Paul: In Fresh Perspective, let me give an abbreviated theological travelogue. I grew up in South America; my parents were conservative evangelical missionaries. From birth through high school I was thoroughly indoctrinated in a dispensational, premillenial, Pietistic view of the Bible and the Christian life. In Bible school I took my first course in systematic theology. Before long I was a committed adherent of Reformed (covenantal, Calvinistic, amillenial) theology. That commitment still holds firm over 40 years later.

A little over 10 years ago (about 30 years after philosophy grad school), I began reading philosophy again, especially Christian philosophers. I reread Etienne Gilson, Josef Pieper, and some of the scholastic philosophers; I also began reading G. K. Chesterton, James V. Schall, Peter Kreeft, Simone Weil, Jaroslav Pelikan, and other nonevangelical authors. I subscribed to the journal First Things. I also began reading the early church fathers. Throughout this time, I continued reading more traditional authors from the Reformed tradition, but my intellectual data bank was acquiring some significant diversity.

About 5 years ago, Kenneth E. Bailey (Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes, The Cross and the Prodigal, etc.) spoke at a conference hosted by our church. That experience led me to read a number of Christian books that illumined the Jewish background of Jesus and the New Testament writers (The Gospel according to Moses by Athol Dickson, Our Father Abraham by Marvin R. Wilson, New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus by David Bivin) and then to several books from a solely Jewish perspective (God in Search of Man and Man Is Not Alone by Abraham Joshua Heschel). Meanwhile, I read a number of books and journal articles about the effects of postmodern thought on Christian thinking and Christian ministry.

A question began nagging at my mind: If some recent Christian scholars have been influenced by postmodernism, what effect did modernism have on the Reformers? Some evangelical authors are concerned that Christianity may be hijacked by postmodernism, but is it possible that to some extent the Reformers were prisoners of modernism?

No one helped me answer those questions. In fact, no one was even asking them. Then I encountered N. T. Wright. I began reading The New Testament and the People of God a few months ago. He asks and discusses issues that none of my favorite Reformed authors even noticed. When I took a break from that longer book to read Wright's Paul: In Fresh Perspective, I devoured it in a few days.

Perhaps if I'd encountered N. T. Wright 15 years ago, I would have written him off as a threat to Protestant orthodoxy, if not an outright heretic. But I'm not the same person I was then. Though I still hold to most elements of Reformed doctrine, my eyes are open a bit wider now. Wright's treatment of Paul's theology is reasoned and reasonable. He takes no unwarranted liberties with the text. His historical approach is revealing and satisfying. His inferences from his textual studies are not outlandish. The book sheds light on passages that had been puzzling or problematic to me. I highly recommend this book!

Let me close with another personal detour. When I was attending a Christian (read fundamentalist Protestant) elementary school, the teacher presented a church history chart. The accompanying text indicated that "true" Christian teaching left the church right around the time of Augustine and didn't return till Martin Luther! All those "Catholic" years had nothing to contribute to Christian doctrine or practice. I hesitate to say this, but some of the more shrill evangelical responses to N. T. Wright remind me of that chart.

The Protestant Reformation did not "recover" the teachings of Jesus. The early Reformers were well acquainted with the history and teachings of the church. They did not jettison it all and start over; rather, they built on that foundation, keeping some elements and reconfiguring others, as they developed new ways of interacting with the Scriptures, tradition, and Christian doctrine. The Reformation was a necessary and beneficial development in the history of the church, and it enabled a highly appropriate response to and interaction with the thinkers of the day, who were distancing themselves more and more from Christian presuppositions. Its systematic and rationalistic approach, resulting in the construction of impressive theological edifices, was very effective in Christian development and spiritual growth. The Reformers were children of their time, and their work not only addressed the needs of their time but also proved effective for several centuries. But did the Reformation cover all the necessary bases? Did it provide the last word on Christian doctrine?

Our trust is in God and in his Son Jesus the Messiah, not in a particular system of doctrine devised by Augustine or Aquinas or Luther or Calvin or Wesley or anyone else. I think that in order to keep our focus on "the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints" (Jude 3, NIV), we need to see Reformed doctrine (or any other theological construct) as less authoritative than are the Old and New Testaments. How do we do this in today's culture? N. T. Wright may point us to some of the answers.

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Excellent

Dr.Wright has helped bring the bible to greater life with this very readable book. He helps us wade through the cultural jungle that surrounds us as well as brining Paul to life and giving us fresh new insights to God's Holy word.
Every modern Christian ought to become familiar with N. T. Wright's works, there's free audio on the web, iTunes, and his books.
I look forward to tackling some of his meatier works down the road.

Paul

Everyone that is concerned with anti-semitism and is stuck in dispensational theology will greatly benefit from this work. N.T. Wright has contributed a precious jewel to the Christian community. A Rare Gem and one that will speak long after we have gone on to be with the Lord.

Terrance Kashian

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Not quite sure I get it...

I don't think I really understand what this debate is all about. While I did enjoy the book and Wright's writing style, I failed to see the forest for the trees. However, I think part of the main idea is to interpret Paul in light of the Exodus from Egypt. In other words, the Mosaic covenant, the passover, and the flight all are crucial to knowing what Paul meant. Wright first builds up a lot of background and historical context before diving into some of Paul's writings, which is always good to put oneself in the historical context.

This was just one of these books where I was interested reading it the whole time, but after reading it, have a hard time telling someone what it was about. Perhaps one must be well-read in this kind of debate before reading this book.

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"For me," says N.T.Wright, "there has been no more stimulating exercise, for the mind, the heart, the imagination and the spirit, than trying to think Paul's thoughts after him and constantly to be stirred up to fresh glimpses of God's ways and purposes with the world and with us strange human creatures." Wright's accessible new volume, built on his Cambridge University Hulsean Lectures of 2004, takes a fresh look at Paul in light of recent understandings of his Jewish roots, his attitude toward the Roman Empire, and his unique reframing of Jewish symbols in relation to his experience of the risen Christ. Then Wright attempts a short systematic account of the main theological contours of Paul's thought and its pertinence for the church today.

Part One Themes 1. Paul's World, Paul's Legacy 2. Creation and Covenant 3.Messiah and Apocalyptic 4. Gospel and Empire

Part Two Structures 5. Rethinking God 6. Reworking God's People 7. Reimagining God's Future 8. Paul, Jesus, and the Task of the Church

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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