Friday, February 09, 2007

The Saving Righteousness of God

Today I received in the post copies of my book, The Saving Righteousness of God: Studies on Paul, Justification and the New Perspective (Carlisle, UK: Paternoster, 2007). I hope this book comes across as being soundly biblical, compelling in its arguments, gracious and fair in its criticisms of others, and a useful tool for the church in an age of controversy over Paul's theology of righteousness.

For those interested, you can order copies from Paternoster now. I imagine that it will be available from Amazon and Koorong shortly. Here are the endorsements:

"In a debate where the worst of Protestant in-fighting has been revived and the 'spirit of slavery' has been more influential than 'the Spirit of adoption', Michael Bird's treatment is more than welcome. His is a calm, judicious and eirenic voice amid the welter of paranoid accusation and counter-accusation, which ought to be heard widely, and - more important - ought to be heeded. Perhaps then the world will be able to say again, 'See how these Christians love one another' - without sneering!'
- James D. G. Dunn, Emeritus Lightfoot Professor of Divinity, University of Durham.

"For fair treatment and thoroughness of coverage, including that of literature which usually flies under most scholars' radar, this book is probably unmatched."
- Robert H. Gundry, Scholar-in-residence and Professor Emeritus, Westmont College.

"The so-called 'new perspective' continues to exercise a profound effect on studies of both Judaism and Paul. Students may well be confused by the complexities of the debate, but Michael Bird helpfully shows how fruitful insights can be derived from scholars on both sides of it. This fresh and sane approach to a difficult area will clarify the essential issues for students and preachers alike as they wrestle with expounding the thought of Paul for the contemporary church."
- I. Howard Marshall, Honorary Research Professor of New Testament, Aberdeen University.

"The study of what Paul means by 'justification' has hopped its railed, and now scholars from opposing perspectives - traditional Reformed theology and the New perspective - have exited the train and are standing on opposite sides of the track tossing stones at one another. Michael Bird has called for a peace plan, and his proposal of an incorporated righteousness not only offers peace but can actually get the train back on its tracks so we can get on with moving the gospel into our world. This study deserves a 'nobel peace prize in Theology'".
- Scot McKnight Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies, North Park University, Chicago.

My deepest thanks to my family, friends, colleagues, students, several editors of journals and at Paternoster (Anthony Cross and Robin Parry), for the generous words of the above-named scholars, and esp. my daughters to whom the book is dedicated.

As Beethoven often wrote at the end of his compositions, SDG!

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

congrats Michael on the book. Your really churned that publication out. By the way, I noticed you had something posted at SBL website. I will read it later.

Bryan L said...

Wow those are some great endorsements!

Michael Pahl said...

Again, congrats! This is a terrific achievement. And what exactly was your bribe to get these endorsements? :-)

First Theology said...

Michael - I met you and heard you read your paper on this at ETS. After that "teaser" the book sounds really interesting - thanks for the heads up... Solid endorsements too!

andygoodliff said...

sounds good - can you post a list of the contents page? the paternoster page gives you nothing about the content of a book, its one of my annoynances of their site.

Matthew D. Montonini said...

Mike,
Congrats, man! It was a real pleasure being involved with a such a good piece of work! Thanks for breathing some sanity into an ongoing and contentious debate!

Chris Tilling said...

I'll be blogging about this soon myself. I'm really pleased for you - and for those who read this superb work. Congratulations, and thanks for the hard work you put into your great scholarship.

Sharad Yadav said...

Good on ya, Mike!!

Jim said...

Can anything good come from Australia? I think you and Ben Myers have put that question to rest forever with a resounding YES. Well done!

Michael Westmoreland-White, Ph.D. said...

Good plugs from a great group of folks. Sigh. Another book to add to my wish list.

Oh, btw, unlike Jim West I didn't think there was any question about whether good things can come from Australia. You had nothing to put to rest.

Now, whether good things can come from Zwinglian-Bultmannians . . . just kidding, Jim.

Jim said...

;-)

Brant Pitre said...

Congratulations, Mike!

You are quite a workhorse. Between this and your military writing schedule, I'm starting to get intimidated.

I look forward to reading the book and to the clarity you will no doubt bring to the debate.

Unknown said...

I am eager to get a copy of the new book. Thanks for your work!

Kevin James Bywater said...

Michael, I just received a copy of your book and anxiously await the time to read it through. I did note one small problem with your bibliography: you note "Kevin Bywater" (that's me) as webmaster of the NTWright Page. Actually, that would be Kevin Bush.

Now I'm in real trouble, to be sure. Thanks for tossing on the flammables. My American reformed siblings surely will pursue me with open flame now. ;^)

Michael F. Bird said...

Kevin,
Doh!! My apologies to you and the other Kevin.