Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Scott McKnight gets a little snotty

N.T. Wright needs to be a little more discerning about who endorses his books.

The following is Scott McKnight's endorsement of Wright's latest offering which is a response to John Piper's book on the doctrine of justification.
"Tom Wright has out-Reformed America's newest religious zealots--the neo-Reformed--by taking them back to Scripture and to its meaning in its historical context. Wright reveals that the neo-Reformed are more committed to tradition than to the sacred text. This irony is palpable on every page of this judicious, hard-hitting, respectful study."
- Scott McKnight

R. Scott Clark of Westminster Seminary California offers an appropriate response to McKnight's endorsement/insult:

That would be Tom Wright’s latest. Check out the eclectic endorsements. The emergent/-ing guys really like NTW/the NPP (HT: Justin Taylor). Mike Bird loves it. No surprise there. It’s a little bizarre to see endorsement from Rob Bell and Brian McLaren. When I think of Pauline studies, I don’t think of Brian and Rob, at least not right away. Have they been doing serious work in Paul under pseudonyms?

What might surprise some is the rhetoric of the nice, sweet, gentle, pietist, emerging Scot McKnight who calls some of NTW’s critics “neo-Reformed” (I’m not sure what that’s about; is he suggesting that, were Calvin alive he would side with NTW) and “zealots.” I guess coffee, couches, and candles doesn’t do much to lower the ol’ BP. Perhaps Scot needs to step away from the Starbucks and try a little (communion) wine.

I wonder if any of these folk bothered to read Mike Horton’s Covenant and Salvation: Union with Christ?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hmmm...very interesting! Neo-reformed, huh? Sounds like people are trying to make theology more like politics, with parties and conventions and the like. I happen to enjoy reading (and discussing/debating) NTW's work.