When Wright is Wrong

Book excerpt: In today's world the Christian is constantly being challenged with new teachings. Some of these are particularly dangerous because they are put forward by those with evangelical credentials. Tom Nicholas Wright is one of the leading proponents of the New Perspective on Paul. Wright sees himself as the new Luther, a discoverer of the true biblical understanding of key doctrines like that of justification by faith. According to him, the Reformation misunderstood the nature of justification by faith alone and the role of the law in the Old Testament. Wright maintains that this has continued to be the case for those of the Reformed Faith. He tells us that we are guilty of anachronism, whereby we interpret first-century Judaism in the light of medieval Roman Catholicism. In this work the writer not only defends the Reformed understanding of this vital doctrine but also seeks to show how Wright has misunderstood the nature of the new covenant and the place of ethnic Israel.