Wright Gets Waxed

Okay, the post title is a bit sensational, but I couldn’t resist. What it means is that Trevin Wax interviewed N.T. Wright for the Said at Southern blog. You can read it or listen to the podcast.

Thanks to Jonny for sending me the link.

Theological Jackassery

R.C. Sproul taught me to think.

Warren Gage taught me to see Christ in the whole Bible.

Controversy

Warren Gage, Knox Seminary, R.C. Sproul, N.T. Wright, John Piper, Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt, John MacArthur, Emerging Church, New Perspectives on Paul, Federal Vision.

I post this as an experiment to see how my stats counter registers it. My hypothesis is that it will go nutty. Controversy sells.

I read this today: “The blogosphere is the friend of information but the enemy of thought,” (Alan Jacobs in Books & Culture.) (cited here).

I’ll report the results in a couple of days (although my guess is that the findings will generate far fewer visits). C’est la vie.

[edit: click here]

[CLICK HERE FOR EXPERIMENT'S SCANDALOUS RESULTS ...go ahead...you know you want to]

Wright and Piper Reconciled!

John Piper has a book coming out next month entitled The Future of Justification: A Response to N.T. Wright. In it he addresses N.T. Wright’s take on justification. This is no small matter in the theological world at present. I have heard that he is gracious and sticks to the issue at hand. I’m looking forward to reading it. I don’t know if the two will ever come to terms in the real world, but in my world they are. I have arranged their books so that they are side by side on my bookshelf. Blessed are the peacemakers.

N.T. Wright on Atonement

I’ve been reading N.T. Wright’s book Evil and the Justice of God. In it he addresses the atonement, which in a real sense is the central issue of the book. That is, how will (did?) God deal with evil in the world? Wright takes the position of Christus Victor as the dominant theme, with others (penal substitution included) figuring significantly in the multi-layered meaning of the cross.

Here are a couple of paragraphs from chapter 3, in which he states his position on the atonement, I think, rather clearly.

The Meaning of the Cross

The atonement is shaping up to be a significant issue amongst evangelicals in the next round of Us against Us. Following is an extended quote from N.T. Wright. It is taken from The Meaning of Jesus which he co-authored with Marcus Borg.  

[The] central emphasis on the unique achievement of Jesus’ death as the sin-forgiving, once-for-all liberating act of Israel’s God remained at the center of early Christian thought, sustaining but not being replaced by the belief, which became so beloved of theologians and pastors in later years, that the sin of individual sinners had been dealt with on the cross. What is the relevance of Jesus’ death, seen in this way, to the church, the world, and the individual Christian today?

Alastair Justifies Wright

Alastair Roberts does a good job of clarifying N.T. Wrights views on justification. He says that Wright is answering questions that the traditional Reformed answers aren’t built to address. He says that Wright starts from a theological point, where others start from an anthropological one. Is this whole New Perspective flap just miscommunication? Click here to read his article.