NTWrightPage

Header Image

Righteousness

(Originally published in New Dictionary of Theology. David F. Wright, Sinclair B. Ferguson, J.I. Packer (eds), 590-592. IVP. Reproduced by permission of the author.)

Righteousness. The basic meaning of ‘righteousness’ and its cognates in the Bible derives from the Hebrew sedeq, which was usually translated in the LXX as dikaiosynē. It thus denotes not so much the abstract idea of justice or virtue, as right standing and consequent right behaviour, within a community. English translates this semantic field with two different roots: ‘right’, ‘righteous’, and ‘righteousness’ and ‘just’, ‘justice’, ‘justify’ and ‘justification’. In Heb. and Gk., however, these ideas all belong together linguistically and theologically.

The Lord’s Prayer as a Paradigm of Christian Prayer

(Originally published in Into God’s Presence: Prayer in the New Testament, ed. R.L. Longenecker. 2001, Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 132-54.  Reproduced by permission of the author.) N. T. WRIGHT “AS OUR SAVIOR CHRIST hath commanded and taught us, we are bold to say: ‘Our Father. . . .’”  So runs the old liturgical formula, stressing the […]

Women’s Service in the Church: The Biblical Basis 

a conference paper for the Symposium, ‘Men, Women and the Church’ St John’s College, Durham, September 4 2004 by the Bishop of Durham, Dr N. T. Wright I am very grateful to the organisers for inviting me to address this important conference, and only sorry that because of other duties I have been unable to […]

New Perspectives on Paul

Delivered at the Tenth Edinburgh Dogmatics Conference Introduction I am grateful for the invitation to this conference, and for the sensitive way in which the organisers responded to my comments on the initial outline of the programme. I am aware that fresh interpretations of Paul, including my own, have caused controversy in evangelical circles, and […]

Farewell to the Rapture

(N.T. Wright, Bible Review, August 2001.  Reproduced by permission of the author) Little did Paul know how his colorful metaphors for Jesus’ second coming would be misunderstood two millennia later. The American obsession with the second coming of Jesus — especially with distorted interpretations of it — continues unabated.  Seen from my side of the […]

Jesus and the Identity of God

Originally published in Ex Auditu 1998, 14, 42–56.  Reproduced by permission of the author. To address the subject of the theological significance of the earthly Jesus I take as my topic the central question of Jesus and God.  The question must be approached from both sides.  First, in what sense, if any, can we meaningfully use the word “god” to […]

The Letter to the Galatians: Exegesis and Theology

(Originally published in Between Two Horizons: Spanning New Testament Studies and Systematic Theology Joel B. Green and Max Turner, eds., 2000, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 205–36. Reproduced by permission of the author.) N. T. WRIGHT The dense and dramatic argument of Galatians excites and baffles by turns.  Sometimes perceived as a flamboyant younger sister of the […]

Jesus’ Resurrection and Christian Origins

Originally published in Gregorianum, 2002, 83/4, 615–635.  Reproduced by permission of the author. Introduction The question of Jesus’ resurrection continues to haunt the thinking and writing of many scholars.  I shall not debate in detail with them here; there are other places for that.  I want instead to sketch, in broad strokes, a historical argument about what happened three days […]

Rethinking the Tradition

[20] Rethinking the Tradition Originally published in For All the Saints? Remembering the Christian Departed. 2003 London: SPCK; Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse. Original pagination is retained in bold italicized numbers. Reproduced by permission of the author. Resurrection still future I begin at the end. The bodily resurrection is still in the future for everyone except Jesus. […]

The Historical Jesus and Christian Theology

Originally published in Sewanee Theological Review 39, 1996. Reproduced by permission of author. he quest for the historical Jesus began as a protest against traditional Christian dogma, but when the supposedly ‘‘neutral” historians peered into the well, all they saw was a featureless Jesus. Even when scholars decided that other biblical figures—John the Baptist, the evangelists, […]

Paul and Caesar: A New Reading of Romans

(Originally published in A Royal Priesthood: The Use of the Bible Ethically and Politically, ed. C. Bartholemew, 2002, Carlisle: Paternoster, 173–193. Reproduced by permission of the author.) Introduction We have moved away quite rapidly in recent years from the old split, which was assumed by and built into the fabric of Western biblical studies, between ‘religion’ […]

Communion and Koinonia: Pauline Reflections on Tolerance and Boundaries

A paper given at the Future of Anglicanism Conference, Oxford, 2002. Introduction: Paul’s Context From the very beginning, the church was faced with the problem of different cultures coming together. Even in the earliest days, when all Christians were Jews, there were Greek-speaking Jews and Hebrew (or Aramaic-) speaking Jews, and problems arose between them. Even during the […]

Imagining the Kingdom: Mission and Theology in Early Christianity

University of St Andrews St Mary’s College (Faculty of Divinity) Inaugural Lecture by the Right Reverend Professor N. T. Wright Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity 5.15 pm, October 26 2011 The four gospels stand magisterially at the head of the canon and the centre of early Christianity. They are remarkable documents. If […]

How Can the Bible Be Authoritative?

Originally published in Vox Evangelica 1991, 21, 7–32. Reproduced by permission of the author.

The question before us, then, is: how can the Bible be authoritative? This way of putting it carries deliberately, two different though related meanings, and I shall look at them in turn. First, how can there be such a thing as an authoritative book? What sort of a claim are we making about a book when we say that it is ‘authoritative’? Second, by what means can the Bible actually exercise its authority? How is it to be used so that its authority becomes effective?

Justificacion

Originalmente publicado en New Dictionary of Theology. David F. Wright, Sinclair B. Ferguson, J.I. Packer (eds), 359-361. IVP. Traducido y publicado en Español en Nuevo Diccionario de Teologia David F. Wright, Sinclair B. Ferguson, J.I. Packer (eds), 537-540. CBP, Traducido por Hiram Duffer. Publicado aca con el permiso del autor. La justificación denota, principalmente, aquella […]

A Reformed Perspective on the New Perspective

A Review Essay of Guy Prentiss Waters, Justification and the New Perspective: A Review and Response (Phillipsburg, N.J.: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2004). Nicholas Perrin A story is told of an American tourist, who just having returned from his first trip to Europe, gathers his friends together to tell them of his travels. “Upon my word,” […]

Easter Oratorio

The Story of the Resurrection from the Gospel according to St John, chapters 20 and 21. Translation and libretto by Tom Wright for a setting by Paul Spicer. Easter Oratorio (PDF 66 KB)

An Evening Conversation on Jesus and Paul

On October 25, 2004, James D.G. Dunn and N.T. Wright had a two-part dialogue on Jesus and Paul in Durham, England. This a transcript of the dialogue, edited by Mark M. Mattison. Transcript: An Evening Conversation on Jesus and Paul (PDF 144 KB) Audio recordings: Jesus: Durham New Testament Seminar Paul: Durham New Testament Seminar

N.T. Wright: A Westminster Seminary Perspective

(A slightly revised version of a post to the “Wrightsaid” List, January 5, 2004) Douglas J. Green, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Old Testament, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, PA Recently, frustration has been expressed at the failure of certain professors at Westminster Theological Seminary (PA) to express publicly their sympathy for the New Perspective in general […]

A Scripture-formed Communion? Possibilities and Prospects after Lambeth, ACC, and General Convention

Nicholas Thomas Wright The question of the authority, use and relevance of Scripture in today’s Anglican Communion needs to be addressed more thoroughly. All authority is God’s authority, and the question of Scripture’s authority needs to be reframed in that light: God is not merely providing information and instruction, but taking forward his Kingdom-project, and […]

The Law in Romans 2

N.T. Wright Romans 2 is the joker in the pack. Standard treatments of Paul and the Law have often failed to give it the prominence that one might expect it to have, judging by its position within his most-discussed letter. But generations of eager exegetes, anxious to get to the juicy discussions that surround 3.19-20, […]

New Perspectives on Paul

Rutherford House, Edinburgh 10th Edinburgh Dogmatics Conference: 25–28 August 2003 N. T. Wright, Bishop of Durham I am grateful for the invitation to this conference, and for the sensitive way in which the organisers responded to my comments on the intial outline of the programme. I am aware that fresh interpretations of Paul, including my […]

Jerusalem in the New Testament

(Originally published in Jerusalem Past and Present in the Purposes of God. P. W. L. Walker, ed., pp. 53–77. (2nd edn. 1994.) Carlisle: Paternoster. Grand Rapids: Baker. Reproduced by permission of the author.) Tom Wright This chapter is inevitably written with mixed feelings. Having lived in Jerusalem recently for a period of three months one […]

Gospel and Theology in Galatians

(Originally published in Gospel in Paul: Studies on Corinthians, Galatians and Romans for Richard N. Longenecker, eds. L. Ann Jervis and Peter Richardson, 1994, pp. 222–239. Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Supplement Series 108. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press. Reproduced by permission of the author.) N.T. Wright The word ‘gospel’ has had a […]

NIB Romans Commentary Review

N. T. Wright, “The Letter to the Romans: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections.” Pages 393-770 in vol. 10 of The New Interpreter’s Bible: A Commentary in Twelve Volumes. Edited by Leander E. Keck. Nashville: Abingdon, 2002. Pp. xviii + 1011. $70.00, cloth. (Originally published in Westminster Theological Journal, 2003, Vol. 65, No. 2, 365-69) N. T. […]

Advent Oratorio

Tom Wright Advent is more complicated than Easter. When Paul Spicer approached me about writing a follow-up to our ‘Easter Oratorio’, suggesting we take Advent as the theme, it seemed to me both completely appropriate and freshly challenging. Easter is about one single, massive moment: the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We have […]

4QMMT and Paul: Justification, ‘Works,’ and Eschatology

N. T. Wright Bishop of Durham [Auckland Castle, Co. Durham, DL14 7NR] Originally published in History and Exegesis: New Testament Essays in Honor of Dr E. Earle Ellis for His 80th Birthday, ed. Aang-Won (Aaron) Son (New York and London: T & T Clark 2006), 104-132. Reproduced by permission of the author. The topic of […]

Romans and the Theology of Paul

(Originally published in Pauline Theology, Volume III, ed. David M. Hay & E. Elizabeth Johnson, 1995, 30–67. Minneapolis: Fortress. Reproduced by permission of the author.) N.T. Wright Lichfield Cathedral A JEWISH THEOLOGY for the Gentile world, and a welcome for Gentiles designed to take the Jewish world jealous. That, I suggest, is what Paul offered […]

God and Caesar, Then and Now

Festschrift for Dr Wesley Carr, 2003 by Dr N. T. Wright, Canon Theologian, Westminster Abbey (from June 30 2003: Bishop of Durham) ‘Render unto Caesar,’ declared Jesus, ‘the things that are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.’ That famously cryptic comment serves not only as a title for this article but as […]

Some Reflections on Hermeneutics and Method

Nicholas Perrin I am grateful for the remarks made and questions posed in Guy Waters’s piece, “Rejoinder to Nicholas Perrin, ‘A Reformed Perspective on the New Perspective.’” The issues raised in Waters’s book and in the ensuing interchange engendered by my review are important ones. Some of these issues are, I think, especially important given […]

On Becoming the Righteousness of God

2 Corinthians 5:21 (Originally published in Pauline Theology, Volume II, ed. D. M. Hay: Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis, 1993, 200–208. Reproduced by permission of the author.) N.T. Wright 2 CORINTHIANS 5:21 poses several problems for the interpreter; I shall here focus on one in particular. What does Paul mean when he says “that we might become […]

Paul, Arabia, and Elijah (Galatians 1:17)

(Originally published in Journal of Biblical Literature vol. 115, 683–692. Reproduced by permission of the author) We don’t know, say most of the commentators, why Paul went to Arabia or what he did there. We aren’t even sure which bit of “Arabia” he visited. In what is, for Paul, an unusually long autobiographical section (Gal […]