Articles

Browse select Tabletalk articles and columns exploring themes and topics across a spectrum of relevant issues.

  • “Works of the Law” in Paul by J.V. Fesko

    The definition of Paul’s phrase “works of the law” is one of the more significant disagreements between N.T. Wright and the Reformation understanding of justification by faith alone. On what basis can Wright claim that Paul does not have worksrighteousness …Read More

  • Justification and Ecumenism by Michael Horton

    One of the great connections that N.T. Wright emphasizes in his work is the one between soteriology (how we are saved) and ecclesiology (the church: who are the true people of God?). He properly (and repeatedly) reminds us that Paul …Read More

  • Has the Church Misunderstood Justification? by Guy Waters

    For all their differences concerning the doctrine of justification, Protestants and the Roman Catholic Church have agreed on this: justification fundamentally concerns the salvation of the sinner. To draw this observation is not, of course, to minimize the importance of …Read More

  • A New Luther? by Derek Thomas

    The accusation that systematic theology (doctrinal formulations of the Reformation period in particular) overly governs (distorts) exegesis is not new, and Bishop N.T. Wright trots it out with renewed zeal in his latest book, Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision …Read More

  • Wright Is Wrong on Imputation by Thomas Schreiner

    Is the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to the believer an artificial construct, an idea from systematic theology that does not truly come from the Bible? N.T. Wright argues that the traditional view of imputation veers away from the Pauline meaning.Read More

  • “Faith” and “Faithfulness” by D.A. Carson

    The Greek word pistis can mean, in English translation, both “faith” and “faithfulness”; no one disputes that fact (for the latter, see Rom. 3:3). N.T. Wright, however, takes two steps that cannot be fairly evaluated without understanding how they are …Read More

  • The “Nonsense” of Justifying the Ungodly by David Mathis

    There are at least three problems with N.T. Wright’s claim that imputing God’s righteousness to a defendant is a category mistake and “makes no sense.” First, Wright’s definition of the righteousness of God is too shallow. He fails to go …Read More

  • Christ, Our Righteousness by Roger Nicole

    N.T. Wright in his advocacy of a “new perspective” on Paul and his teaching makes a special plea that “justification” should relate to the question “who belongs to God’s covenant with the world?” rather than “how can you be saved?” …Read More

  • Salvation and the Life After Life by Paul Helm

    How do we estimate what a person is primarily interested in? Perhaps by seeing how often they return to the subject, or what they mention on important occasions. And perhaps, also, by the manner in which people write about things: …Read More

  • Two Birds, One Stone by R.C. Sproul Jr.

    When error comes into the church we face a set of obligations. First, we must confront the error. The world has embraced a live-and-let-live relativism that will accept any foolishness, but will not accept the wisdom of calling foolishness by …Read More

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