Climax of the Covenant

by N. T. Wright

Publisher:

T&T Clark

, 1991

Overview

With an eye to recent proposals on Paul's view of the Law and his relation to his first-century context, N. T. Wright looks in detail at passages central to the current debate. Among them are some of the most controversial sections of Paul. From his meticulous exegesis Wright argues that Paul saw the death and resurrection of Jesus as the climactic moment in the covenant history of Israel and from this perspective came to a different understanding of the function of the Jewish Law. Wright thus creates a basis from which many of the most vexed problems of Pauline exegesis can in principle be solved and longstanding theological puzzles clarified.

Key Features

• Examines in detail passages central to the debate about Paul's Christology and his view of Jewish Law
• Provides meticulous exegesis of key Pauline passages
• Argues for several striking theological and historical conclusions

Contents

• Introduction: Christ, the Law, and ‘Pauline Theology’
• Part One: studies in Paul’s Christology
  • Adam, Israel and the Messiah
  • ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ as ‘Messiah’
  • Jesus Christ is Lord: Philippians 2.5-11
  • Poetry and Theology in Colossians 1.15-20
  • Monotheism, Christology and Ethics: 1 Corinthians 8
• Part Two: Paul and the Law
  • Curse and Covenant: Galatians 3.10-14
  • The Seed and the Mediator: Galatians 3.15-20
  • Reflected Glory: 2 Corinthians 3
  • The Vindication of the Law: Narrative Analysis and Romans 8.1-11
  • The Meaning of περὶ ἀαρτίας in Romans 8.3
  • Echoes of Cain in Romans 7
• Conclusion: The Climax of the Covenant
  • Christ, the Law and the People of God: the Problem of Romans 9-11
  • The Nature of Pauline Theology

Endorsements

N. T. Wright is a fresh and provocative voice in Pauline studies ... Wright gives thorough, deft, and imaginative readings of key texts in Paul ... A bold new global construal of Paul the Jewish Christian theologian takes shape before our eyes. Wright's account of Paul is a major force to be reckoned with: no one should write—or preach—on Paul without pondering his work.

—Richard B. Hays, Duke Divinity School

In this volume of Pauline theology, Wright makes a strong, overt claim for Paul's theology being covenantal, formulated around the topics of monotheism and election. . . . Wright's thesis is a helpful one, and he has published many significant essays that go much of the way toward proving his point.

—Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 1992

Product Details

• Title: The Climax of the Covenant: Christ and the Law in Pauline Theology
• Author: N. T. Wright
• Publisher: T&T Clark
• Print Publication Date: 1991
• Logos Release Date: 2018
• Pages: 332
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible. N.T. Epistles of Paul; Christianity Scriptures
• ISBN: 056729594
• Resource ID: LLS:CLIMAXCOVENANT
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-01-18T21:34:18Z

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About N. T. Wright

Nicholas Thomas “Tom” Wright (1948–) has been named by Christianity Today as one of our time’s top theologians. He is currently professor of New Testament and early Christianity at St. Andrews University. Wright holds a bachelor’s degree in theology, a master’s in Anglican ministry, and a DPhil, all from University of Oxford.

A fellow and chaplain at Cambridge from 1978 to 1981, he then served as assistant professor of New Testament language and literature at McGill University in Montreal. Before becoming a chaplain, tutor, lecturer, and fellow at Oxford in 1986, Wright served as dean of Lichfield Cathedral, canon theologian of Westminster Abbey, and bishop of Durham.

His academic work has usually been published under the name “N. T. Wright,” but works such as What St. Paul Really Said and Simply Christian, aimed at a more popular readership, were published under the less formal name of “Tom Wright.”