| New Perspective On Paul |
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The New Perspective on Paul is the name given to a significant shift in how New Testament scholars interpret the writings of Paul Of Tarsus , particularly in regard to Judaism and the common Protestant understanding of Justification By Faith . The New Perspective rose to prominence as a result of the work of E. P. Sanders in his 1977 book ''Paul and Palestinian Judaism'', in which he argued that the Judaism of Paul's day had been wrongly caricatured by Protestant theology. Traditionally, it had been assumed that 1st-century Judaism was a religion of "works", whereby Jews believed they had to earn their Salvation by keeping the law, also known as Legalism ; and therefore when Paul spoke about "justification by faith" or the "justification of faith", he was referring to a new non-works-oriented way of salvation (being declared righteous by God) announced in Christ . Sanders reframed the context to make law-keeping and good works a ''sign of being in'' the Covenant (marking out the Jews as the people of God) rather than deeds performed ''in order to accomplish'' salvation. If Sanders' perspective were true, the traditional Protestant understanding of the doctrine of justification may have needed rethinking; for the interpretive framework of Augustine Of Hippo and Martin Luther , which had dominated Christian thinking for almost two millennia, was called into question. Sanders's work has since been taken up by Professor James Dunn and N.T. Wright , Bishop Of Durham , and the New Perspective has increased significantly in dominance in New Testament scholarship. It has been severely criticized, however, particularly by conservative scholars in the Reformed tradition. It has been the subject of fierce debate between evangelicals in recent years, mainly due to N.T. Wright's increasing popularity in Evangelical circles. Among the critics has been Baptist pastor John Piper . SOURCES
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