We rejoice in the power of the Holy Spirit of God, who was poured out upon us so that we could be the true Israel of God in a pagan and dark world. As the true Israel of God, we are summoned and equipped to confront and overcome the paganism of the unbelieving world. In …
Timeless Truths?
In his essay on how the Bible can be authoritative, N.T. Wright takes issue with the concept of “timeless truths.” He allows that there is a sense in which the Bible is a repository of timeless truths, but he is generally at war with the concept. “All three methods I have outlined involve a certain …
The Central Thing
Speaking of the doctrine of Scripture, N.T. Wright says, “But such a doctrine usually has to be inferred. It may well be possible to infer it, but it is not (for instance) what Isaiah or Paul are talking about. Nor is it, for the most part, what Jesus is talking about in the gospels. He …
Authoritative Story
In a lecture delivered in 1989, N.T. Wright offered a number of provocative thoughts on what it means to say that the Bible is authoritative. While I want to offer some criticisms of some of his points and/or applications, I should say at the outset that some of his points were superb, and were exactly …
The Text?
“Reading the New Testament seriously, at the present moment in Western culture, sounds so problematic that some may feel like giving it up. The vineyard is overcrowded and apparently unfruitful. But this response, too, would be inappropriate. Whatever one’s viewpoint, this text matters . . . Whether, therefore, one has a Christian or non-Christian point …
Knowing the Father
Here is N.T. Wright on the impact of the gospel. “On this basis, Paul argues in Romans 5-8 that all who believe this gospel are the true, sin-forgiven, people of God, who are thus assured of their future salvation, which will consist in their resurrection as one aspect of the renewal of all of God’s …
Different Kinds of Snakes
The fundamental problem with boasting is only connected to the direct object in one sense. The one who boasts must boast in the Lord. A man who boasts in the Lord is guiltless because the object is right (2 Cor. 10:17). But if someone boasts in anything on this side of the Creator/creature divide, the …
Faith As A Badge
N.T. Wright has some trouble seeing that old scoundrel Pelagius in places where I think we should be able to see him quite plainly. For example, Wright says, “Once we release Paul’s justification-language from the burden of having to describe ‘how someone becomes a Christian’, however, this is simply no longer a problem. There is …
A Category Mistake
While chasing a category mistake, N.T. Wright falls into one of his own. In the course of his discussion on law courts and covenants, he says this: “The result of all this should be obvious, but is enormously important for understanding Paul. If we use the language of the law court, it makes no sense …
A Public Gospel
I have offered some criticisms of N.T. Wright’s understanding of the conversion of Saul, and other issues related to the gospel. Given those criticisms, some of my friends on the TR side of things may want to ask me why I think his contributions on questions surrounding the gospel have any value. The following quote …