Chapter Five, which is entitled ‘The Old is Better?’ which runs from about p. 113 to p. 130 is a chapter responding to critiques of the New Perspective, and in particular to his own take on the New Perspective. This brings the first major section of this book to a close. Tom has written a whole book about his response to uber-Reformed critiques of his view of justification, and here he will renew that response briefly. For example he says….... Read more

Chapter Four is entitled Life after Sanders, and here we begin to see the more radical side of the New Perspective on Paul, and why some traditional Reformed scholars have gotten their knickers all in a knot about it. Tom playfully sums up the situation as follows on p. 88: “Nothing will ever be the same again. The new perspective on Paul – not that there is any single thing which can now be called by that name, despite the... Read more

Where exactly did the phrase and notion of ‘the new perspective on Paul’ come into play? The answer is, after Sander’s landmark work, and it seems to have been first mentioned by Tom Wright himself. Interestingly, Dunn credits Tom Wright for coining the phrase ‘the new perspective on Paul’ in a lecture given at Tyndale House in July 1978 [at which I was present, I believe, and first met Tom]. But the ‘movement’ itself really began with Sander’s Paul and... Read more

In the 2nd chapter Tom Wright rehearses the in some ways unfortunate of the Reformation forcing all our reading of Paul into a discussion about justification and salvation. He then critiques even further reductionism like that of Bultmann who reduces theology to anthropology, and Christology to soteriology, so the whole Pauline discussion is about humankind and its salvation. What he is complaining about is not only reductionism but forcing Paul into modern molds in which he does not fit, for... Read more

Some time ago, a very fine NT scholar named Earle Ellis wrote a book entitled Paul and his Recent Interpreters. Now we have another one from the ever-flowing pen of Tom Wright (due out in America in Oct. 2015, already out in the U.K. and comprising some 384 pages). Of course the thing about a title like that is it’s always appropriate, because there is a never ending stream of Pauline interlocutors. In some years, Paul is more of a... Read more

I remember him differently than some might. He seemed at once formidable and yet gentle. A towering intellect, and yet a sweet spirit, with a good sense of humor as well. In some ways outgoing, but in some ways shy, especially on the telephone or in casual conversation. Had you only seen Charles Kingsley Barrett behind the pulpit or the lectern you would only have known one side of the man, the public face as it were. You would not... Read more

Edith Mary Pargeter (1913-95) was a Shropshire lass born and bred, and she lived there until the close of her life. She became famous under her nom de plume, Ellis Peters, and in particular for her Brother Cadfael mysteries set large in Shrewsbury. She knew that English region bordering on Wales very well indeed, and her vivid descriptions of the region are found again and again both in her medieval mysteries, and the ones set in post WWII in the... Read more

Old things can last a very long time. Take for example that door pictured above, one of the back doors into the cloister of Durham Cathedral. It’s got a Norman arch that dates back to the 11th century A.D. That’s pretty remarkable longevity. There are of course people that live a long time in this world. I had two great uncles who lived to 102. That’s remarkable by modern standards. So youth oriented is our culture that we have invented... Read more

Our’s is a culture fixated on youth, and ‘youth must be served’. We are the people that idolized the Pepsi generation, and became fixated on young people’s sports, young people’s music, young people’s remarkable feats, whether it’s the Little League World Series or the National Spelling Bee or a plethora of other things. We have advertisements all the time for children’s hospitals, like St. Jude’s, and telethons to raise money for ‘saving the children’. The idea of helping our youngest... Read more

Certainly one of the major trends since 1990 when it comes to ‘having church’ is the invasion of the casual. There are no dress codes, there are no rules about drinks or food or cellphone usage. It’s the come as you are picnic. Of course there are exceptions to this in some churches, but not many in North America whether one is talking Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox. Yes the ministers and the priests and the choir and the liturgists dress... Read more