I respect John Piper. I do. Seriously. That being said, I found his effort in “The Future of Justification: A Response to N.T. Wright” extremely lacking and disappointing. It appeared to me as though Piper were trying to enter the academic world and tackle head on one of the loftiest theological issues circling the globe right now, and not only that, but tried to tackle possibly the greatest theological mind alive (in my opinion), N.T. Wright. It was an attempt that failed.
Piper’s work was an exegetical and theological mess. For instance, he declared that God’s righteousness is his utmost concern for his own glory. Here is a tragic case of eisegesis on a meta-narrative level - one that fails to deal with the text and the train of thought present in Paul’s writings. I think N.T. Wright does a fine job summarizing an argument that I have been following along in pieces since “What Saint Paul Really Said” and should help clear the table for future discussions.
It is a very heavy read, however. And I mean heavy. It is not quite one of his academic books (see ‘Resurrection and the Son of God’) but it is well above a popular reading level. I also appreciated Wright’s work on the biblical emphasis on the believer’s unity with Christ’ death and resurrection (Romans 6; Col. 3) as opposed to a medieval imagining of the believers unity with some sort of active obedience or treasury of merits.
If you are following along the whole “Pauline Perspectives” debate- get this book. If you want to start following it, get this book. If you read Piper’s book- get this book. It is another great read from my favorite author, Sir N.T. Wright.
No comments:
Post a Comment