What Saint Paul Really Said
Author: Tom Wright
ISBN: 0-8028-4445-6
Publisher: Forward Movement
Review:
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In what appears to be a shot across the bow to traditional Pauline interpretation, Dr. Wright offers in this book some fresh theories concerning the apostle Paul which will be later detailed in his anticipated work on Paul. Paul, having written a significant portion of the New Testament and particularly with regards to the fleshing out of Christian doctrine, has both provoked both admiration and bewilderment on the part of scholars from the time of his ministry to the present day. Dr. Wright offers to us, albiet in abbreviated form, an alternative which he believes harmonizes the Pauline texts where other approaches have failed.
In the first and last chapters of the book, Wright addresses some modern scholarship on Paul, notably that of A.N. Wilson. Again, his points are brief, but he conveys the sense that at times modern scholarship has probed close to the right approach but in the end falls short. It will indeed be interesting, especially in light of the main points of the discussion, how Pauline scholars respond to this challenge.
The essence of Wright's approach might be summed up as follows, if one should dare to do so. Saul, a very Jewish Pharisee of the kind who zealously demanded the freedom of Israel, was converted by God in an unorthodox manner, and from then on as Paul sought to declare the very confrontational proclamation that Jesus was Lord which formed the core of Paul's gospel. He did this, not from a Hellenistic perspective, but from a very Jewish worldview. He saw how the one true God of Israel had actually won freedom for Israel and according to Israel's true vocation, for the entire world. He did not invent a trinary God system, rather he reinterpreted the face of God as Jesus Christ, and he did not invent a timeless Christ divorced from the reality of Christ's ministry, rather he maintained the course of being a faithful interpreter of Christ. Last, but not least, justification from a Jewish perspective and thus from Paul's does not function as a method of obtaining salvation, i.e. the imputation of righteousness, rather it is the badge that identifies a believer as belonging to Christ and as having received a righteous status from God based on the work of Christ.
I have already read some initial negative reaction to Dr. Wright's work, and as I suspect, this work is destined for controversy. In fact, most of the major points Wright advances are definitely contested. I do not personally have any opinions on this work at this time, other than to say they are thought-provoking. Dr. Wright is very clever in exposing some of these arguments in a preliminary form. It gives him a chance to weigh the responses and answer them accordingly in his full thesis. I am very, very cautious at entertaining visitors who offer seriously divergent views from traditional interpretations of Scripture. Nevertheless, I fear that we have elevated Reformation interpretations to the level of Scripture. Judgment must always begin at the house of God and we must diligently search the Scriptures to see if these things are so. Dr. Wright's thesis must be held up to the light of Scripture, but in the same way, we must hold up Reformation thinking, and indeed I would submit all of the doctrines of the so called "church fathers." Is this to say that nothing is sure? Unequivocally no. Scripture is sure. Paul is sure. Peter is sure. Luke is sure. Everyone else has their own opinion, and it behooves us to opine together so that together with the Spirit we may reach understanding.
ISBN: 0-8028-4445-6
Publisher: Forward Movement
Review:
--------------
In what appears to be a shot across the bow to traditional Pauline interpretation, Dr. Wright offers in this book some fresh theories concerning the apostle Paul which will be later detailed in his anticipated work on Paul. Paul, having written a significant portion of the New Testament and particularly with regards to the fleshing out of Christian doctrine, has both provoked both admiration and bewilderment on the part of scholars from the time of his ministry to the present day. Dr. Wright offers to us, albiet in abbreviated form, an alternative which he believes harmonizes the Pauline texts where other approaches have failed.
In the first and last chapters of the book, Wright addresses some modern scholarship on Paul, notably that of A.N. Wilson. Again, his points are brief, but he conveys the sense that at times modern scholarship has probed close to the right approach but in the end falls short. It will indeed be interesting, especially in light of the main points of the discussion, how Pauline scholars respond to this challenge.
The essence of Wright's approach might be summed up as follows, if one should dare to do so. Saul, a very Jewish Pharisee of the kind who zealously demanded the freedom of Israel, was converted by God in an unorthodox manner, and from then on as Paul sought to declare the very confrontational proclamation that Jesus was Lord which formed the core of Paul's gospel. He did this, not from a Hellenistic perspective, but from a very Jewish worldview. He saw how the one true God of Israel had actually won freedom for Israel and according to Israel's true vocation, for the entire world. He did not invent a trinary God system, rather he reinterpreted the face of God as Jesus Christ, and he did not invent a timeless Christ divorced from the reality of Christ's ministry, rather he maintained the course of being a faithful interpreter of Christ. Last, but not least, justification from a Jewish perspective and thus from Paul's does not function as a method of obtaining salvation, i.e. the imputation of righteousness, rather it is the badge that identifies a believer as belonging to Christ and as having received a righteous status from God based on the work of Christ.
I have already read some initial negative reaction to Dr. Wright's work, and as I suspect, this work is destined for controversy. In fact, most of the major points Wright advances are definitely contested. I do not personally have any opinions on this work at this time, other than to say they are thought-provoking. Dr. Wright is very clever in exposing some of these arguments in a preliminary form. It gives him a chance to weigh the responses and answer them accordingly in his full thesis. I am very, very cautious at entertaining visitors who offer seriously divergent views from traditional interpretations of Scripture. Nevertheless, I fear that we have elevated Reformation interpretations to the level of Scripture. Judgment must always begin at the house of God and we must diligently search the Scriptures to see if these things are so. Dr. Wright's thesis must be held up to the light of Scripture, but in the same way, we must hold up Reformation thinking, and indeed I would submit all of the doctrines of the so called "church fathers." Is this to say that nothing is sure? Unequivocally no. Scripture is sure. Paul is sure. Peter is sure. Luke is sure. Everyone else has their own opinion, and it behooves us to opine together so that together with the Spirit we may reach understanding.
posted by Tony | 9:31 PM
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