I used the word excursus in the title so that people would know that I was going to be scholarly in this one. Or maybe try to be scholarly. Or, better yet, try to act scholarly. You know, I think I am off to a bad start. In the comments on this series of posts …
At Least Not in Paul
As his section on Romans begins, Wright continues to reason beside the point. He begins, not surprisingly, with Romans 1:16-17 and with a discussion of what is meant by the “righteousness of God.” He says that, in effect, if we just read this verse without all the blinkers created by seventeenth century debates, we could …
He Doesn’t Just Take the Dirty One Away
The middle portion of chapter 6 in Wright’s book is on Corinthians or, to be more precise, on two particular passages in both extant letters to the Corinthians. Not a great deal rides on the first passage, but it is worth a few comments. “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God …
Chief of Sinners, Really
In the next chapter, Wright addresses Philippians, Corinthians, and Ephesians. As before, I am going to tackle this piecemeal, starting with Philippians. But before getting into the text, I need to address a couple of things that have come up in the comments which, if we don’t deal with, will continue to be gum on …
Like Scarsdale
The final section of Wright’s chapter on Galatians is pretty good (pp. 114-118), and the observations I have already made would remain. There are just two things that deserve a brief comment. “The Christian looks back and celebrates the verdict already issued over faith: ‘righteous’, ‘my child’. The Christian looks forward and waits, in faith …
Other Related Vaudeville Acts
In his book, John Piper states that he writes as a pastor. And in his, Wright retorts that he does as well. And, as coincidence would have it, so do I, making it a hat trick. But given the subject under discussion, it is not surprising that as many practical differences have arisen over the …
And Lots Have
The more I read Wright interacting with Piper, the less I want to say “new perspective” and “old perspective,” and the more I want to say macro perspective and micro perspective. This is an unnecessary quarrel between the astronomer and the microbiologist. But, though it may be an unnecessary quarrel, it remains a necessary debate. …
Torah Torah Torah
Now that we are into the exegetical portion of Wright’s book, I am not going to try to get through the chapters at one go. I am just going to work in each chapter until I have enough to write about, which will not be the whole thing, and we will see when we get …
Walk According to this Rule
So we are halfway through Wright’s book, and are on the threshhold of his exegetical section. Given the way these posts have gone, and the give and take of the conversation following them, I thought it would be good to give a quick summary of my take thus far. “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision …
Thought Forms to the Rescue!
I enjoyed the next chapter by Wright immensely, and want to offer just a few fundamental quibbles. By this I mean that I want to present an alternative story to the one he is assuming about the history of the development of the doctrine of justification, and see if we can’t make our way to …