Today is the last day of the 58th annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, and I will be presenting my paper on the “Fresh Perspective” on Paul. For a limited time, I am going to make that paper available here. If you would like to download and read the entire presentation, you can do so at the following link: “The ‘Fresh Perspective’ on Paul: A Theology of Anti-Americanism” – by Denny Burk

In two of my previous posts I have been discussing what N. T. Wright has dubbed a “Fresh Perspective” on the apostle Paul. What we have seen is that the Fresh Perspective (FP) reads Paul’s gospel as a confrontation with the Roman Empire. This confrontation implies a confrontation with all empires, including the so-called American empire of the current day. Today I want to consider whether this reading of Paul’s letters finds any resonance in evangelicalism and whether it will provide Evangelicals with a more faithful way to interpret the Bible.

In yesterday’s post I introduced the so-called “Fresh Perspective” (FP) on Paul and some of the antagonistic things that these scholars are saying about America. Today, I want to explain why it is that these biblical scholars say what they say in opposition to the United States. The FP holds as axiomatic at least two assumptions, with a third assumption being increasingly advocated in the literature. First, it is assumed that emperor worship was pervasive in Paul’s missionary context. FP interpreters note that the emperor cult of Paul’s day was the ideological glue that held the Roman empire together.

Is the Apostle Paul anti-American? This is the question that I will be addressing in a paper that I am presenting this week at the 58th annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) in Washington, D. C., the theme of which is “Christians in the Public Square.” Theologues who are familiar with the latest fads in biblical interpretation are familiar with what is known as the “New Perspective” on Paul. There has been so much ink spilled over this way of reading Paul’s letters, that I hardly need to rehearse that discussion here.

Two thousand years ago, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, reproached Jesus’ silence with the following words, “You do not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify you?” Jesus’ response to Pilate’s challenge was clear and direct, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:10-11).

I am fast becoming a big fan of S. M. Hutchens of Touchstone Magazine. Mr. Hutchens’ writes with an uncommon wit and insight that you just don’t see very often. In a recent post on Touchstone’s “Mere Comments” blog, Mr. Hutchens argues that liberals hate George W. Bush because they view him as a proxy for God. The essay is titled “God’s Whipping Boy,” and it says,

Michael Gerson, former speech writer and policy adviser to President Bush, has written an important essay for Newsweek titled “A New Social Gospel.” The topic of the article is summed up nicely in the subtitle, “Many evangelicals are chafing at the narrowness of the religious right. A new faith-based agenda.”

Thanks to Justin Taylor for bringing our attention to Dr. Wayne Grudem’s “Memo on prayer and the Nov. 7 election.” In this memo, Grudem gives an extended explanation of how he prays and why he is thankful for President George W. Bush. Grudem writes, Overall I am so very very thankful for an outstanding, I think excellent President. He has done right. And he is changing world history in a right direction,