N. T. WRIGHT. Galatians. Commentaries for Christian Formation. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2021. Pp. 417. $39.99 hb. ISBN 978-0-8028-2560-5. Reviewed by Steve W. LEMKE, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans, LA 70126.

The author of 80 books, N. T. Wright is among the best-known scholars internationally in New Testament and early Christianity studies. Wright is the former Bishop of Durham, research professor at St. Mary’s College at the University of St. Andrews, and currently senior research professor at Wycliffe Hall at Oxford University. In the field of New Testament, Wright is perhaps best known as an advocate of the “new perspective” in Pauline students, a view that commendably highlights the significance in interpretation of the historical situation into which Paul’s epistles are addressed. One who has read Wright’s previous publications, particularly Paul and His Recent Interpreters, Paul: Fresh Perspectives, The Resurrection of the Son of God, Surprised by Hope: Resurrection and the Mission of the Church, and History and Eschatology: Jesus and the Promise of Natural Theology, will be familiar with his arguments in this commentary. Wright references these prior publications over 100 times in this volume, so there is much repetition.

The Commentaries for Christian Formation, of which this commentary is a part, seek to address what the New Testament meant to its original audience, and application to the current situation. Wright puts greater focus on the first readers than application to current readers, but particularly at the end of each chapter he does make poignant and thoughtful application for the contemporary church.

Applying the “new” or “fresh” perspective on Pauline interpretation to Galatians, several themes are repeated throughout the book, including (a) Galatians is not primarily about faith vs. works, as most commentaries opine, but is about who would be welcome in the Christian community; (b) the Reformation tradition has anachronistically read the sixteenth century issues of justification by faith retroactively back into Galatians; (c) the main theme of Galatians is the unity of the one church of Christ, and (d) biblical eschatology is not about going “up” to heaven, but about God coming “down” to tabernacle with the faithful in the New Jerusalem. Wright’s views are articulated cogently, informed by his excellent expertise and focus on utilizing the Galatian situation and the beliefs of Second Temple Judaism as keys to interpreting the epistle. These arguments are buttressed richly by interacting with both contemporary and historical interpreters of Galatians.

Time does not permit an analysis, or even a detailed exposition, of each of these key beliefs. Two summary points must suffice for this review. First, this commentary on Galatians is richly enhanced by Wright’s immense knowledge of the history and writings of first century Christianity and Judaism. Wright repeatedly draws parallels not only to Old Testament texts to which Paul is alluding in Galatians (particularly Deuteronomy 27 and 30, and Isaiah 49 and 54), but striking similarities with the Song of Solomon from the Pseudepigrapha, a well-known text in Second Temple Judaism.

Second, while the Galatian situation should indeed be taken into consideration in interpretation, Wright may overstate the case for the “new perspective.” For example, Wright repeatedly derides the view that the New Testament affirms that the end of the Christian life is “going to heaven.” Wright describes this as a Platonic view of heaven incorporated by the early church. However, Plato’s “heaven” is a completely disembodied existence; the soul is freed from the body to ascend to the world of immortal Forms. The New Testament, however, makes the bodily resurrection of Christ and His believers the ultimate test of the truth of Christianity. The Apostle Paul himself makes the argument that if there is no resurrection, believers’ faith and proclamation is in vain, and they are most to be pitied of all people (1 Cor. 15:12-18). Therefore, it is clear that no orthodox Christian could deny the bodily resurrection like Plato did. These are two irreconcilable views of heaven. For another example, while Wright’s point is well-taken that the unity of the church was an important focus of the Galatian epistle, he understates the significance of justification by faith. Granting that who should be included in full Christian fellowship is a major theme of Galatians, the key question become, “how is that membership determined?” Clearly, Galatians teaches that the fundamental qualification for full Christian fellowship is that believers are justified by their faith in the Messiah. It would seem, then, that the “old” perspective and the “new” perspective may be seen as two sides of the same coin.

Like all Wright’s publications, Galatians is well worth reading and pondering. His careful exposition of key Greek words in Galatians is worth the price of the book. One cannot address a wholesome interpretation of Galatians without reference to this work.