Thursday, January 01, 2009

Wright's Response to His Critics on Justification

N.T. Wright has written a re-articulation of his view of justification and a response to his critics (notably Piper's The Future of Justification). Entitled Justification: God's Plan and Paul's Vision (192 pages) it will be published in the UK by SPCK (February 2009) and in the US by IVP (July 2009).

Michael Bird reprints an endorsement from Howard Marshall's endorsement:
This book is a magisterial response to the recent spate of criticism directed at Tom Wright for his theology of justification. He introduces readers to the debate and outlines his position without engaging in polemic against his opponents. This sprightly and gracious, yet robust, work is Tom Wright's carefully argued and scripturally based response to those who think that he has deeply misunderstood Paul's doctrine of justification. . . . This is definitely one of the most exciting and significant books that I have read this year. . . . Strongly commended!
Michael Bird writes:
I've been privileged enough to have a copy of the proofs. This book is a response to many of Wright's North American critics and to John Piper's The Future of Justification in particular. It is not a point for point reply to Piper but a general articulation of what Wright really thinks about justification with some hand-to-hand combat with Piper (as well as others such as Carson and Seifrid) along the way. Wright gives a very forthright defence of his position, but is certainly not acrimonious or uncharitable towards Piper. I'm not going to offer a review or even quote it at length here since the proofs might still be tinkered with before publication and I don't want to spoil the surprise for everyone.
Read Bird's post for the book's outline and why Bird thinks the book has value.