In contrasting conservative Christians with liberal ones, I have been heavily influenced by Roger Olson’s book, How to be Evangelical without Being Conservative and also his weightier book, Reformed and Always Reforming. In the first book in particular Olson argues for what he refers to as a Post-Conservative Christian, which is a reflective Christian who seeks to maintain an attitude of continual reform by continually returning to the scriptures and challenging our traditions from time to time. It is in this camp – the Post-Conservative camp – that I have found my belonging.
This has been no secret to my readers, but what is interesting in relation to the current blog is that I have at times spoken boldly and presumed to speak for other theologians – particularly those I enjoy reading (Olson, McKnight, Boyd, Wright, Pinnock and others) – to suggest that they too are post-conservative and that they – if having read Olson’s book above – would readily admit it. As it turns out, I am right of at least one – though crucial – theologian; N.T. Wright.
Next month Wright is coming out with a new book on the so-called New Perspective on Paul titled simply Justification (in large part it is a response to Piper’s book, Future of Justification: a Response to N.T. Wright). At InterVarsity Press I was able to read a preview of the preface and first chapters and discovered a couple of interesting facts.
1. Regarding my introduction above, Wright says: “These issues in turn need to be mapped onto broader questions within parts of the Western church, as is done (for instance) by Roger Olson in a recent book, where he distinguishes “conservatives” (people like Don Carson of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) from “post-conservatives” (people like me). It’s always intriguing to discover that you belong to a group you didn’t know existed” [p.26] – yes it is.
2. Regarding the so-called New Perspective on Paul; up to now it is commonly cited that James D.G. Dunn is the one who coined the phrase ‘New Perspective’ in his 1983 essay (recently covered); following suite – having no evidence to the contrary – I have also cited Dunn with having coined the phrase; alas we have the truth and Wright is the culprit! “There are times” says he “when I wish that the phrase had never been invented; indeed, perhaps for Freudian reasons, I had quite forgotten that I had invented it myself… until J.D.G. Dunn, who is normally credited with it, graciously pointed out that I had used it in my 1978 Tyndale Lecture, in which, as I well remember, he was sitting in the front row” [p.28].
So that settles it; Wright – like myself – is a post-conservative Christian; and secondly on another subject, he is the culprit for having invented the phrase ‘New Perspective on Paul’ (though Dunn – beyond question – is guilty of popularizing it and Wright himself may have borrowed it from Krister Stendahl).
Just some interesting facts I gleaned from Wrights forthcoming book, Justification.
This has been no secret to my readers, but what is interesting in relation to the current blog is that I have at times spoken boldly and presumed to speak for other theologians – particularly those I enjoy reading (Olson, McKnight, Boyd, Wright, Pinnock and others) – to suggest that they too are post-conservative and that they – if having read Olson’s book above – would readily admit it. As it turns out, I am right of at least one – though crucial – theologian; N.T. Wright.
Next month Wright is coming out with a new book on the so-called New Perspective on Paul titled simply Justification (in large part it is a response to Piper’s book, Future of Justification: a Response to N.T. Wright). At InterVarsity Press I was able to read a preview of the preface and first chapters and discovered a couple of interesting facts.
1. Regarding my introduction above, Wright says: “These issues in turn need to be mapped onto broader questions within parts of the Western church, as is done (for instance) by Roger Olson in a recent book, where he distinguishes “conservatives” (people like Don Carson of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) from “post-conservatives” (people like me). It’s always intriguing to discover that you belong to a group you didn’t know existed” [p.26] – yes it is.
2. Regarding the so-called New Perspective on Paul; up to now it is commonly cited that James D.G. Dunn is the one who coined the phrase ‘New Perspective’ in his 1983 essay (recently covered); following suite – having no evidence to the contrary – I have also cited Dunn with having coined the phrase; alas we have the truth and Wright is the culprit! “There are times” says he “when I wish that the phrase had never been invented; indeed, perhaps for Freudian reasons, I had quite forgotten that I had invented it myself… until J.D.G. Dunn, who is normally credited with it, graciously pointed out that I had used it in my 1978 Tyndale Lecture, in which, as I well remember, he was sitting in the front row” [p.28].
So that settles it; Wright – like myself – is a post-conservative Christian; and secondly on another subject, he is the culprit for having invented the phrase ‘New Perspective on Paul’ (though Dunn – beyond question – is guilty of popularizing it and Wright himself may have borrowed it from Krister Stendahl).
Just some interesting facts I gleaned from Wrights forthcoming book, Justification.
Derek.
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