There is an interview with NT Wright available as either an mp3 or a transcript. The interview is by Trevin Wax and was conducted 0n 11/15/2007 while Wright was speaking at Asbury Seminary. I just finished reading the transcript. It’s worth reading, though you won’t find nice neat systematic theology statements here. He talks around some pointed questions, and makes NPP (see below) sound quite attractively Pauline.
Many of you know enough of Wright to form your own judgment, but if not, he is the Bishop of Durham (the #3 slot in the Anglican hierarchy, a position previously held by JB Lightfoot). He is a highly respected NT scholar (and rightly so) who has effectively challenged the claims of the (radical minority) “scholars” whom comprise the Jesus Seminar. (I mentioned one of his most entertaining critiques in an earlier post.) This has been perhaps his greatest contribution.
On the other hand, he is one of the most prominent proponents of the “new perspective on Paul” (NPP), a far-reaching reinterpretation of the Pauline doctrine of justification. If that’s new territory to you, by all means listen to DA Carson’s lectures on NPP. You can find them linked about half way down this page on Andy Naselli’s blog. Or perhaps you could read John Piper’s new book, The Future of Justification (my copy just arrived and I haven’t read it yet). In the interview Wright is quite critical of Carson’s analysis of NPP, and cautiously more optimistic of Piper’s new book (but he hadn’t read the final copy yet either at the time of the interview). Wright is actually most complimentary of Doug Moo as one of his best opponents. The bibliography on NPP is, of course, enormous.
Wright is known as an evangelical, but rejects inerrancy. Despite that and his NPP theology, you have to like a guy who can say things like this:
When I was at seminary in my early twenties, one of my teachers said to me, “You’re going to have to decide. Either you’re going to be an academic or you’re going to be a pastor. You can’t be both.” I remember thinking, Rats! I want to be both! Why are you telling me I can’t do these two things?…
For me, actually, being a bishop in a bishopric where there’s an academic tradition (going back to people like Lightfoot and Westcott and so on) gives me this fascinating, challenging, but open invitation to say, “We want you to be a scholar. We want you to go on doing this. But do it as a bishop!” And looking back to the earlier centuries of the church, most of the great teachers were also bishops and vice versa. It’s only fairly recently that the church has had this great divide.
That is the right attitude! We need more scholar-pastors.
Tags: ministry, New Testament