New Testament doctrine In his popular 2008 book
Surprised by Hope, Wright outlines the scriptural emphasis on
resurrection as the proper hope of all Christians. Wright is critical of the North American church's overemphasis on "going to
heaven when you die" and the underemphasis on the resurrection from the dead, though he does not deny the teaching that a person's
soul lives on after death. He advocates a reunion of
soteriology and
ecclesiology, commenting that such a connection is often neglected in
Protestantism. In addition, he is critical of various popular theological ideas, such as the
dispensationalist doctrine of the
rapture.
New Perspective on Paul Wright is one of the leading figures in the
New Perspective on Paul interpretation, or rather group of interpretations, of the Pauline letters. Wright contends that Paul cannot be ignored by any serious Christian and that, through his central place within the New Testament canon, Paul has come to be abused, misunderstood, imposed upon, and approached with incorrect or inappropriate questions about the Christian faith. According to Wright, "Paul in the twentieth century, then, has been used and abused much as in the first. Can we, as the century draws towards its close, listen a bit more closely to him? Can we somehow repent of the ways we have mishandled him and respect his own way of doing things a bit more?" This question reflects the key consideration for the New Perspective on Paul and a fundamental aim of Wright's scholarship: to allow the apostle Paul to speak for himself without imposing modern considerations and questions upon him and in so doing, seeking to ascertain what St. Paul was really trying to say to the people he was writing to. From this, Wright contends that by examining the Pauline corpus through this unique perspective, difficult passages within the text become illuminated in new ways, his letters gain coherence both in their particularities as well as with one another, and it provides an overall picture of what Paul was about, without doing violence to the little details within the letters. The beginning of the "new perspective" is the work of
E. P. Sanders and his book
Paul and Palestinian Judaism. In this 1977 work, Sanders argued that the prevailing view of first-century Judaism in the New Testament was inaccurate. He described it instead as "covenantal nomism", which emphasised God's election of a people and adherence to the Torah as a way of "staying in" the religion (rather than a way of "getting in"). Wright found that Sanders supported the picture he himself had been forming, but nevertheless for the next decade much of what Wright wrote was in disagreement with Sanders on various points. Wright agrees with other "new perspective" scholars that the assumption that the Jews were guilty of a kind of "works-righteousness" is untrue, and that the story of God and the covenant people Israel comes to a climax with Jesus.
The Times columnist
David Aaronovitch challenged Wright specifically to substantiate his claim that any secular group does indeed advocate the killing of elderly people, leading to an exchange in which Wright held to his main point.
Historical Jesus Regarding the
historical Jesus, Wright follows the "
thoroughgoing eschatology" tradition of
Albert Schweitzer against the "thoroughgoing
scepticism" of
William Wrede and the
Jesus Seminar, whom he regards as Wrede's modern-day counterparts. Wright also argues for a 'very Jewish' Jesus who was nonetheless opposed to some high-profile aspects of first-century Judaism. Similarly, Wright speaks of Jesus as 'doubly', 'multiply', 'thoroughly', and 'deeply' subversive, while at the same time distancing Jesus from other known seditious and revolutionary movements within first-century Palestine. In some ways his views are similar to those of such scholars as
E. P. Sanders and the lesser-known
Ben F. Meyer (whom Wright calls "the unsung hero" of
New Testament studies). However he disagrees with the view of Sanders that the
Pharisees would not have exhibited the violent opposition to Jesus depicted in the Gospels. He has also defended the belief in a literal Second Coming and the
resurrection of the dead as central to Christianity. With the publication of Wright's 2012 book,
How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels, Wright has been critical of some ideas concerning the historical Jesus in both US evangelical preaching and the work of
C. S. Lewis, who Wright admits was a major influence in his own life. In an interview, Wright summarises this critique: "One of the targets of this book is Christians who say: Yes, the Bible is true. It's inerrant and so on. But, then, they pay no attention to what the Bible actually says. For too many Christians it seems sufficient to say Christ was born of a Virgin, died on a cross and was resurrected—but never did anything else in between. I'm saying: That’s not the way to understand the Gospels."
Homosexuality in the Anglican Communion Wright was the senior member from the Church of England of the
Lambeth Commission set up to deal with controversies following the ordination of
Gene Robinson as a bishop of the
Episcopal Church in the United States. In 2009, the Episcopal Church authorised the clergy to celebrate commitment liturgies for people in same-sex relationships. Writing on
The Times, Wright described the action as a "clear break with the rest of the Anglican Communion". In December 2005 he announced to the press, on the day that the first
civil partnership ceremonies took place in England, that he would be likely to take disciplinary action against any clergy registering as civil partners or any clergy blessing such partnerships. He has argued that "Justice never means 'treating everybody the same way', but 'treating people appropriately'". Rafael Rodriguez described Wright alongside
James DG Dunn as "two behemoths of NT and historical Jesus scholarship." Wright has received praise from Catholics, such as bishop
Robert Barron, who has cited Wright's historical scholarship on multiple occasions. Critics of his work are also found across a broad range of theological camps. Some
Reformed theologians such as
John Piper have questioned Wright's theology, particularly over whether or not he denies the
Protestant doctrine of
justification by faith alone. Although Piper considers Wright's presentation confusing, he does not dismiss Wright's view as false. In response, Wright has stated he wishes Piper would "exegete Paul differently" and that his book "isn’t always a critique of what I’m actually saying." Wright also expressed how he has warmed to Piper and considers him a "good, beloved brother in Christ, doing a good job, building people up in the faith, teaching them how to live." In 2009, Wright has since addressed the issue in his book ''Justification: God’s Plan and Paul's Vision''. He has sought to clarify his position further in an interview with
InterVarsity Press. Many conservative evangelicals have also questioned whether Wright denies
penal substitution, but Wright has stated that he denies only its caricature but affirms this doctrine, especially within the overall framework of the
Christus Victor model of atonement. Despite criticism of some of his work by Reformed theologians, other Reformed leaders have embraced his contribution in other areas, such as
Tim Keller who praised Wright's work on the resurrection. Writing an extensive review of
The Resurrection of the Son of God on
The Heythrop Journal, Catholic
fundamental theologian Joseph J. Smith has criticised Wright's views about the
resurrection of Jesus, stating that neither the Gospel narratives of the Resurrection appearances nor Pauline texts cited by Wright support his view that the resurrected body was "robustly physical". == Public lectures ==