This is a very thought-provoking series of theological essays engaging the contemporary challenges to the historic Reformed understanding of the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Any book of this sort, with multiple contributors, is bound to be somewhat uneven in quality - but this is one of the better books of this sort that I've seen.

Here is the table of contents, interspersed with my brief comments.

1. What did Saint Paul Really Say? N. T. Wright and the New Perspective(s) on Paul - Cornelis P. Venema

2. Observations on N. T. Wright's Biblical Theology with Special Consideration of the "Faithfulness of God" - T. David Gordon

These first two chapters engage the writings of N. T. Wright, who is probably the highest profile proponent of the New Perspective on Paul (and is also one of the most renowned contemporary Jesus scholars). Their critiques of Wright are very, very insightful and should be seriously considered. Everything really does seem to fall on Wright's embrace of a certain way of reading Second Temple Judaism (as non-legalistic) and his interpretation of the phrase "dikaiosune theou" as "the covenant faithfulness of God" instead of "the righteousness of God." This second question is adequately challanged in the second chapter of this book.

3. A Justification of Imputed Righteousness - Richard D. Phillips

4. The Foundational Term for Christian Salvation: Imputation - C. F. Allison

These two chapters address the recent controversies surrounding the doctrine of imputation. Having read Piper's defense of imputation in Counted Righteous in Christ, as well as Carson's essay in the volume on Justification edited by Husbands, I still found these chapters very helpful and persuasive (I've not yet read Brian Vicker's Jesus Blood AND Righteousness, a recent more in-depth treatment of imputation). These essays were very good.

5. Reflections on Auburn Theology - T. David Gordon

This was a little less interesting to me, probably b/c I'm not Presbyterian.

6. To Obey is Better than Sacrifice: A Defense of the Active Obedience of Christ - David Van Drunen

As I recall, this was also a good essay, defending the necessity and imputation of the active obedience of Christ to believers

7. Covenant, Inheritance, and Typology: Understanding the Principles at Work in God's Covenants - R. F. White & E. C. Beisner

Of all the essays in this book, this one stands out as the most helpful and the one that will repay several re-readings in the future. The authors set out to show why the theological construct of covenant theology (as traditionally understood in Reformed theology) is biblically-faithful and warranted from the texts (even though the language is sometimes extra-biblical). Most helpful was their contrasting the two principles of inheritance, by either personal merit or representative merit, and then tracing these two principles through the various historical covenants. This is the best thing on covenant theology that I've read so far (though my reading in this area has not been very wide).

8. Why the Covenant of Works is a Necessary Doctrine: Revisiting the Objections to a Venerable Reformed Doctrine - John Bolt

As with the chapter 7, this was a very, very helpful treatment of covenant theology, specifically the covenant of works. Bolt is an excellent and lucid writer and I finished the essay wanting to read more of his material.

9. The Reformation, Today's Evangelicals, and Mormons: What Next? - Gary L. W. Johnson

This essay was good, but seemed a little bit displaced in this volume.

Overall, this is a very good volume and worth reading for those engaged in the current debates over justification. However, if you are only going to read one book on the New Perspective on Paul, get Stephen Westerholm's Perspectives Old and New: The Lutheran Paul and His Critics. It is much more comprehensive and has been the most important book I've read on the issue. ( )

Doctrinal Theology