Writing as of 2020, the term 'New Perspective on Paul' (NPP for short) is a misnomer for two reasons: 1) there isn't 'a' perspective but perspectives, and 2) it is no longer new. We now have to deal, as one author put it, with a Post-New Perspective on Paul Perspective (PNPPP).
The NPP has often been touted as "a Copernican revolution in the interpretation of Paul." As it is, it is really a complex of different views sharing only a number of important tenets, the most important of which is that the traditional understanding of "Second Temple Judaism as a religion of the law has been grossly misunderstood (especially by the Reformers like Luther and Calvin) and that we need, therefore, to review what has been made of Paul's teachings, especially on the subject of the law and justification, with implications especially for our interpretation of the books of Galatians and Romans. Korean Pauline theologian, Seyoon Kim says,
Since the Reformation, I think no school of thought, not even the Bultmanian school, has exerted a greater influence upon Pauline scholarship than the school of the New Perspective. With its radical reinterpretation of Paul’s gospel, especially his doctrine of justification, on the basis of Ed P. Sanders’s definition of Second Temple Judaism as "covenantal nomism, the New Perspective is in many respects overturning the Reformation interpretation of Paul’s gospel. The potential significance of the school for the whole Christian faith can hardly be exaggerated.”
Here we provide a very contracted summary of the essence of the perspective and the controversy it has sparked though, to be balanced, one has also to appreciate the historical background out of which it emerged.
The NPP in fact represents not one perspective but perspectives that share a basic assertion, i.e., that the Western Church, following the Reformers (and esp., Luther), has misunderstood the place and role of justification by faith in Paul because they failed to understand the place and role of justification in Judaism in NT times. They understood Jews to seek justification with God on the basis of "works of the law." It is argued that such a kind of Judaism did not exist. Judaism in NT times held to what is called covenantal nomism. For Jews, "getting in" the community of faith was, therefore, never an issue; they were the elect of God. The crucial question was "staying in." Out of this debate then, justification came to be redefined (or, at the least, reshaped) "as the act where God creates a new people with a new status in a new covenant as a foretaste of the new age" (see Library Talk under resources below). This, naturally, has great and, some would say, grave implications for how we (re-)understand the NT, and esp., of Paul's letters to the Romans and Galatians. Reaction to the NPP was, not unexpectedly, rigourous and sharp (represented in the US esp., by D. A. Carson and John Piper), and proponents of the NPP—most notably James D. G. Dunn (who coined the term NPP) and N. T. Wright—have sometimes been equated with non-believers. Over the years, however, the debate has become more matured, irenic, and balanced as the earlier proponents recognized that they may have overstated their claims and needed more nuanced corrections. Opponents also begin to realize that the traditional definition of justification by faith is much too much mono-dimension, and out of this has come a more healthy and balanced appreciation of both the vertical aspect of justification as being put right with God, and the horizontal aspect of being put right—living right—with others.
Further Reading (Books) :
Kent L. Yinger, The New Perspective on Paul: An Introduction. Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2011. This book is a good place to begin your explorations. Click here to read synopsis and praise for this book. N
James Dunn, The New Perspective on Paul. Rev. ed., Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008.
Scot McKnight and Joseph B. Modica, eds., The Apostle Paul and the Christian Life. Ethical and Missional Implications of the New Perspective. Grand Rapids, Baker, 2016.
John Piper, The Future of Justification. A Response to N. T. Wright. Wheaton: Crossway, 2007.
Guy Prentiss Waters, Justification and the New Perspectives on Paul. Presbyterian & Reformed, 2004.
Francis Watson, Paul, Judaism, and the Gentiles. Beyond the New Perspective. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007.
Stephen Westerholm, Perspectives Old and New on Paul. The "Lutheran" Paul and His Critics. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003.
Stephen Westerholm, Justification Reconsidered: Rethinking a Pauline Theme. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013.
N. T. Wright, Justification. God's Paln & Paul's Vision. Grand Rapids: IVP, 2016.
N. T. Wright, Paul: Fresh Perspectives. London: SPCK, 2005.
N. T. Wright, Justification: God's Plan Paul's Vision. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2009. (Click on the book image in the new page to read the first pages of the book; this gives a flavour not just of the book but also of where the debate has come.) N
Print Resources:
Rich Hagopian, "'To be Right with God': An Exploration of the New Perspective View on Paul," Ashland Theological Journal 37 (2005): 19-38. If you are new to the subject, this is a good article to get into the business.
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Bryan Chapell, An Explanation of the New Perspective on Paul," Ligonier Ministries. Jan 27, 2010.
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The rest of the articles are arranged in order of their date of publication.
James D. G. Dunn, The New Perspective on Paul, The Manson Memerial Lecture delivered in the University of Manchester on 4 November 1982, first published in the Bulletin of the John Rylands University Librabry of Manchester (1983): 95-122. This was the lecture that gave birth to the NPP.
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Bruce Longenecker, "Perspectives on Paul and the Law," Anvil 16.2 (1999): 125-130.
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Mark A. Seifrid, "The 'New Perspective on Paul' and its Problems," Themelios 25.2 (2000): 4-18.
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Simon Gathercole, "After the New Perspective: Works, Justification and Boasting in Early Judaism and Romans 1-5," Tyndale Bulletin 52.2 (2001): 303-306.
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N. T. Wright, "New Perspectives on Paul." Lecture delivered at the Tenth Edinburgh Dogmatics Conference, 2003. This article gives Wright's own point of view and of the journey by which he came to his position.
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Michael F. Bird, "When the Dust Finally Settles: Coming to a Post-New Perspective Perspective ," Chriswell Theological Review n.s., 2/2 (Spring 2005): 57-69.
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Michael F. Bird, "Justification as Forensic Declaration and Covenant Membership. A Via Media between Reformed and Revisionist Readings of Paul, " Tyndale Bulletin 57.1 (2006): 109-130.
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David Wenham, "Tom Wright, Justification: God's Plan and Paul's Vision. A review article," Evangelical Quarterly 82.3 (2010): 258-266.
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Michael F. Bird, "What is There Between Minneapolis and St. Andrews? A Third Way in the Piper-Wright Debate," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 54.2 (2011): 299-309.
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Andrew Hassler, "Ethnocentric Legalism and the Justification of the Individual: Rethinking Some New Perspective Assumptions," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 54.2 (June 2011): 311-327.
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Stephen E. Paynter, "The New Perspective on Paul: A Reformed Assessment." 2012.
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"Does the 'New Perspective' Diminish 'Personal' Sin? Scot McKnight Responds" Overthinking Christian. 2017.
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More lectures on the NPP is available at The Gospel Coalition. N
Media Resources:
Brian Rosner, "Justification in Recent Debates". 55.32. Lecture delivered at the TGCA Victoria, Australia, November 8, 2017. The Gospel Coalition, Australia.
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D. A. Carson, "The New Perspective on Paul" (The Gospel Coalition). Lecture delivered on 1 May, 2006.
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The New Perspective on Paul by D. A. Carson. Special Seminars in Biblical Studies: Reformed Theological Seminary, 2010.
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Dr Scot McKnight on the New Perspective on Paul 11 Nov, 2015.
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Michael Bird, Library Talk: New Perspective on Paul Debate. Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. 20 July, 2019.
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Caleb Smith, "Top Five Differences Between the New Perspective and the Old Perspective" 16 Jan 2021.
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Caleb Smith, "8 Differences Between the New Perspective and the Old Perspective" 24 Jan 2021.
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