Paul: Fresh Perspectives

by N. T. Wright

Publisher:

SPCK

, 2005

Overview

N. T. Wright, Bishop of Durham, scholar and writer of distinction, turns his attention and considerable enthusiasm to the writings of Paul of Tarsus, whom he considers to be the intellectual equivalent of Plato, Aristotle or Seneca. He captures and reveals illuminating details from Paul’s unique Judaic, Hellenistic, and Roman heritage, allowing a rounded picture to emerge of an integrated philosophy—a unique, Christian theology.

Paul: Fresh Perspectives combines the virtues of detailed scholarship with an accessible style and a passion for exploring the message of Paul. The book is based on the prestigious Hulsean Lectures given by the author in Cambridge in spring 2005.

Key Features

• Insights from a leading New Testament scholar
• Accessibly written, with scholarly content
• Provides a fresh examination of Paul's thought and theology

Contents

• Part I: Themes
  • Paul’s World, Paul’s Legacy
  • Creation and Covenant
  • Messiah and Apocalyptic
  • Messiah and Apocalyptic
• Part II: Structures
  • Rethinking God
  • Reworking God’s People
  • Reimagining God’s Future
  • Jesus, Paul and the Task of the Church

Top Highlights

“The first world, the one by which he ascended the mountain, was of course Judaism. Second-Temple Judaism” (Page 3)

“For Paul, to be ‘in the Messiah’, to belong to the Messiah’s body, meant embracing an identity rooted in Judaism, lived out in the Hellenistic world, and placing a counter-claim against Caesar’s aspiration to world domination, while being both more and less than a simple combination of elements from within those three.” (Page 6)

“The second world was that of the Greek, or Hellenistic, culture which by Paul’s day had permeated most of the recesses of the Eastern Mediterranean world and a good deal beyond.” (Page 4)

“Paul invokes the great stories of God, Israel and the world because his view of salvation itself, and with it justification and all the rest, is not an ahistorical scheme about how individuals come into a right relationship with God, but rather tells how the God of Abraham has fulfilled his promises at last through the apocalyptic death and resurrection of his own beloved Son.” (Page 10)

“The main point about narratives in the second-Temple Jewish world, and in that of Paul, is not simply that people liked telling stories as illustrations of, or scriptural proofs for, this or that experience or doctrine, but rather that second-Temple Jews believed themselves to be actors within a real-life narrative.” (Page 11)

Product Details

• Title: Paul: Fresh Perspectives
• Author: N. T. Wright
• Publisher: SPCK
• Print Publication Date: 2005
• Logos Release Date: 2011
• Pages: 192
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Paul, the Apostle, Saint; Christianity › New Perspective on Paul
• ISBNs: 9780281057399, 0281057397
• Resource ID: LLS:PAULPERSPEC
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-07T22:16:53Z

About N. T. Wright

Nicholas Thomas “Tom” Wright (1948–) is a New Testament scholar, Pauline theologian, and Anglican bishop and currently Research Professor Emeritus of New Testament and Early Christianity at St. Mary's College in the University of St Andrews and Senior Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. Christianity Today named him one of today's top theologians. 

Wright was born in Morpeth, Northumberland, and recounts an awareness of God's presence from a young age—and that relationship with God ever since is reflected in his life and work. He's a prolific author; one of his most popular books, Surprised by Hope, frames the resurrection of the dead as the appropriate hope for all believers rather than an overemphasis on just "going to heaven when you die." He's among the leading theologians in the New Perspective on Paul debate. Wright has several honorary doctoral degrees, and in 2014, the British Academy awarded him the Burkitt Medal "in recognition of special service to biblical studies." In 2015, he was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Wright served as chaplain at Cambridge from 1978 to 1981, then 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 the bishop of Durham from 2003–10. In addition to the entire New Testament for Everyone Series, some of N. T. Wright's books include The New Testament in Its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature, and Theology of the First Christians, Who Was Jesus, The New Testament and the People of God, God and the Pandemic, Evil and the Justice of God, Surprised by Hope, and Simply Christian. He coauthored Jesus the Final Days with Craig A. Evans.