In the last two decades N. T. Wright has produced a succession of
connected volumes that explore the nature and origins of Christianity.
Wright has consistently argued that Christianity, while indebted to
Second Temple Judaism, represents an explosive new development. With
major books on method and background, Jesus, and the resurrection
already in print, in Paul and the Faithfulness of God, Wright added a
comprehensive study of the Apostle to the Gentiles.
Wright's Paul, as well as his reading of Christianity, is not without
its detractors. In The Paul Debate, Wright answers his critics. The
five chapters represent a response to the five most questioned elements
of his understanding of Paul. The first chapter takes up the question of
Paul's theological coherence, particularly the way in which his Jewish
context, and the story about Israel he inherited, interacted with what
he came to believe about Jesus, a Christological story. Chapter two
follows on by tackling the debate over the background, origin, and
implications of Paul's Christology. The third chapter addresses the
questions of covenant and cosmos, narrative and apocalyptic. Chapter
four focuses on the debate over Paul's view of who constitutes the
people of God; this chapter also addresses the question of whether
justification belongs to Paul's soteriology or his ecclesiology, or
somehow to both. The final chapter then traces debates about method,
both Paul's and ours, as well as questions of discovery and
presentation, again, both Paul's and ours.
The Paul Debate is essential reading for those who both agree and
disagree with Wright, and for all who want to understand the compelling
voice of one of the most productive and widely read scholars in past
decades.
--Michael F. Bird, Lecturer in Theology at Ridley College, Melbourne,
Australia
