N. T. Wright and Paul’s Theology
Wright, N. T. Paul: In Fresh Perspective. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005.
A few years ago, a friend of mine recommended a book by N. T. Wright called “The Climax of the Covenant.” The author was unknown to me and the book’s title wasn’t particularly appealing. But because of some of the discussions we were having, he said that this book would help me see where he was coming from. I read the book and was captivated by it. I have to say that quite a bit of the book was way over my head and a lot just seemed like too much information for me to be able to process at the time. But I was able to get the gist of the issues involved and the solutions that Wright was attempting to put forth. This is one of the reasons why I need to read the Climax again because, since then, I have become more familiar with the issues and little more in tune with the process of exegesis. This is why I first started to read N. T. Wright. He was the author who really got me interested in N. T. exegesis and Paul in particular.
After many lectures, articles and books, I finally came around to reading “Paul.” I had read “What Saint Paul Really Said” before and I was glad to know that Wright had written a book that seemed to go beyond it and would become a sort of thumbnail sketch of what is to become his fourth volume in “Christian Origins and the Question of God.” The book is divided into two parts Themes and Structures. The first part contains four chapters and the first one is Paul’s World, Paul’s Legacy which gives you an introduction to the book and the background needed to understand Paul’s world which is developed in more detail later in the book. Creation and Covenant explores two themes that, according to N. T. Wright, are extremely important if we are to understand Paul’s thinking. He deals with these themes by looking at the Old Testament and specific passages in Paul, namely, Colossians 1:15-20 (which he considers to be Pauline), 1 Corinthians 15 and Romans 1-11. His aim in discussing these passages was to highlight the Creation and Covenant themes and not to exegete them thoroughly. In Messiah and Apocalyptic, Wright talks about the concept of messiahship and Jesus as the Messiah in Paul and the “unveiling” of God’s plan. Gospel and Empire is the last chapter in this part and may prove to be more provocative. The material wasn’t new to me because I had heard one of his lectures talking about Paul’s counter-imperial theology which you can probably find at N.T. Wright Page.
The second part of the book basically develops in more detail what Wright sees as Paul’s redefinition of election, monotheism and eschatology with some concluding remarks in the last chapter. I would recommend that you listen to four lectures by Bill Wilder entitled The Doctrine of Justification in the Work of N.T. Wright. I thought Wilder’s lectures were well balanced and those who are not familiar with N. T. Wright will greatly benefit from them. The lectures will give you some background and these last chapters will develop Wright’s proposal in much more detail.
N. T. Wright has helped me appreciate Paul’s theology more than anybody else especially because he is constantly reminding me to consider how the Hebrew Scriptures were being read by Second Temple Jews and that Paul didn’t abandon his Jewish reading of Scripture but saw in Jesus, the Messiah, the climax it was pointing to all along.
Is Wright correct in his reconstruction of Paul’s theology? I think that’s what Wright is inviting us to consider. In my opinion, he is making a lot of sense. Although we may quibble with this or that detail, I think there is a lot to be gained by considering what he has to say. Many people may be bothered by his redefinition of justification, but I think that this book shows where he is coming from and that the redefinition is not taking anything away from it but attempts to put it in the right context. We only have to gain by thinking about covenant, creation, Second Temple Judaism, Christology, the work of the Spirit, the new people of God centered around the Messiah, new creation, etc. Wright attempts to put all of these things together and, if you don’t agree and think there is a better way to understand Paul, then join the conversation.
As for me, I can hardly wait for his next volume on Paul.
