I’ve added a new page (see index tab above) this morning to the site.
Recently, really spanning over the last several months, I’ve been mulling over the so-called New Perspective on Paul due to some personal questions I’ve had and some ongoing discussion with a couple of friends. Back in the Spring I wrote a paper on the NPP for my Theology class here at SEBTS. The new page contains that paper if you’re interested in an introduction and my brief response to guys like E.P. Sanders, James Dunn and N.T. Wright. (Sorry for the format; I’m still working on how to get it to open up immediately as a Word document without going through a separate link. Any tips?)
In the short version though, here’s my basic responses, both where I can stand with and where I must depart from the NPP:
1. I can stand with the NPP in the call for scholars to ensure that they give a whole and complete assessment of first century Judaism. It is of utmost necessity that we interpret Paul (and the other NT writers) in the full context in which they wrote. This is a needed argument put forth by the NPP scholars.
However, I believe that the NPP goes too far in their conclusions drawn from this topic. The issue of attempting to earn legalistic works-based righteousness remains far too embedded in the New Testament texts—from the gospels throughout the epistles—to be pushed to the side completely, as the NPP attempts to do. Moreover, this problem is documented in extra-biblical sources that date from before Christ and through the years of the early church. Therefore, Christian scholars ought to listen well to the criticism raised by Sanders and others, and examine the first century culture; but this must be done with precision and care, not allowing the pendulum to swing away from traditional readings further than the data allows it.
2. I can stand with the NPP in calling for a renewed focus on the corporate aspect of salvation. Far too often (and I’m including the SBC in this assessment) the American church culture overly individualizes salvation. Like everything else in the West, we make it all about the one person. That is not the biblical model. As N.T. Wright notes, “The gospel creates, not a bunch of individuals, but a community” (What Saint Paul Really Said, 59). We cannot support the cavalier, John Wayne Christianity that runs rampant today. The NPP recognizes this and seeks to respond appropriately. (For more, see the helpful series on Community at the UnlikelyChristians blog.)
3. I can stand with the NPP in reminding the traditional interpreters of Paul not to remove the doctrines of salvation, justification and election from the biblical meta-narrative of Scripture. New Perspective writers strongly argue for the continuity of the people of God and the plan of God, noting that Christ was the plan from the beginning and that in Christ God brought about the fulfillment of the promises made the Abraham. I comment N.T. Wright and others for calling us to be clear on this point. And, as Bryan Chapell notes, in a cultural context that is highly responsive to narratives over propositions, this is all the more necessary.
4. I must break away from the NPP in the manner in which they unhelpfully redefine (in my view, wrongly) major doctrinal terms. The definitions offered by NPP scholars leave little room for dealing with sin and sinful man’s attaining a right status with God—major issues in Paul’s epistle —while making much of the discussion of how man maintains his status in the people of God. Simon Gathercole helpfully notes that following these trends laid out by the NPP “can lead to a downplaying of sin. This approach to justification can lose sight of Paul’s vital concern for how sinners can be made righteous.” The doctrine of justification by faith and the answer to the question “How can sinful man be in right relationship with God?” are not areas of which the church can afford to lose sight. These areas comprise the very heart of the message of proclaiming Christ’s Lordship, for the news that Christ is Lord, removed from the truth that he has made a way to forgive transgressions, leaves people still separated from God by sin.