I just can’t seem to get away from N.T. Wright this week.
If you’ve bounced around the Christian blogosphere you’ve probably at least heard about the justification debate between some prominent reformed theologians and N.T. Wright. This debate went fairly public when John Piper publicly responded to Wright’s book, What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity?
Rest assured the debate is not over, and is probably just heating up. That being said, I should preface that this is a single issue debate and that Wright is not only respected in these circles for his work on a number of other issues, he is also considered an authority. There’s no denying Wright is an important, well-thought of, and orthodox brother in Christ with much to add to the fabric of Christian thought.
I’ve yet to dive completely into the debate. I’m currently reading What Saint Paul Really Said, and find it interesting so far. If you want to get caught up on the state of this debate, this month’s Tabletalk Magazine, published by R.C. Sproul’s ministry organization, is dedicating its entire issue to the topic. You can read some of the issue here:
That’s all for now. If any of you are more versed on this controversy, I’d love to get your perspective in the comments section.
Did you hear that the topic for this year’s ETS meeting is justification, that Piper and Wright will be presenting, and that Piper and Wright will participate in a panel discussion?
http://www.etsjets.org/annual_meeting_overview
Thought I’d mention it in case you hadn’t!
Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Jared. That should be very interesting to follow. I don’t believe they’ve actually ever interacted in such a format.
The real game changer with regards to justification is not what N.T. Wright has written but rather is Douglas Campbell’s “The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul”. If N.T. Wright steps on toes, then Campbell flat out stomps on them. The debate between N.T. Wright and his critics seems somewhat provincial, as if they are throwing spitwads at one another. Campbell, on the other hand, is suggesting nothing less than an entire reframing of the way that Pauline theology is undertaken. Leave yourself plenty of time, though. Campbell’s book is over 1200 pages long!