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The Climax of the Covenant: Christ and the Law in Pauline Theology
With an eye to recent proposals on Paul's view of the Law and his relation to his first-century context, N. T. Wright looks in detail at passages central to the current debate. Among them are some of the most controversial sections of Paul. From his meticulous exegesis Wright argues that Paul saw the death and resurrection of Jesus as the climactic moment in the covenant history of Israel and from this perspective came to a different understanding of the function of the Jewish Law. Wright thus creates a basis from which many of the most vexed problems of Pauline exegesis can in principle be solved and longstanding theological puzzles clarified.
336 pages, Paperback
First published December 31, 1991
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About the author
N.T. Wright
460 books2,865 followersN. T. Wright is the former Bishop of Durham in the Church of England (2003-2010) and one of the world's leading Bible scholars. He is now serving as the chair of New Testament and Early Christianity at the School of Divinity at the University of St. Andrews. He has been featured on ABC News, Dateline NBC, The Colbert Report, and Fresh Air, and he has taught New Testament studies at Cambridge, McGill, and Oxford universities. Wright is the award-winning author of Surprised by Hope, Simply Christian, The Last Word, The Challenge of Jesus, The Meaning of Jesus (coauthored with Marcus Borg), as well as the much heralded series Christian Origins and the Question of God.
He also publishes under Tom Wright.
He also publishes under Tom Wright.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 19, 2011
This is the forgotten jewel of Wright's academic work. I typically rate books on justification on whether or not they engage with Climax. All to often people critique "What St. Paul Really Said," and offer little to no engagement with Climax. I found St. Paul to be rather weak in argumentation, and really it is more of a bad attempt to explain his view of Paul. Climax goes through rigorous exegesis to explain Paul's theology in light of recent work on Second Temple Judaism. Many people disregard Wright's covenantilism and his insistence that the death and resurrection of Jesus is the climactic moment of God's covenant; instead they jump straight to critiquing his view on works (which they don't seem to understand) and imputation. Those who read this book will have a much better grasp on Wright's theology of Paul. I also found that reading the first 3 volumes of QoG helped to understand more of where Wright is coming from in this book; they are great supplementary reads to his Pauline theology.
January 12, 2021
NTW-- brilliant as usual. An eye opening survey of the background that lends to Paul's narratival theology. I have come back to this countless times for reference and rereading. This one stays on the desk.
March 11, 2022
The result of a compilation of various papers previously published or presented, this early volume of N.T. Wright is a crucial contribution to the study of Pauline theology, aligning with the New Perspective on Paul (which argues that Paul's polemic against the Torah in places like Romans and Galatians is not a polemic at all, but merely used to contrast the law with the grace of Jesus). I appreciated the variety of New Testament texts he exegeted and analyzed, coming from Galatians, 1 Corinthians, Colossians, Philemon, and finally Romans. I further appreciated that he frames Part One of the work (Part Two is on Paul and the Law) in the context of Christology in relation to Israel under the legacy of Adam. He sheds light on a more faithful reading and interpretation of Paul's epistles, leading to a better theological application for today's church.
While I appreciated his fearlessness regarding his arguments, his writing style is an acquired taste. While the reader can easily ascertain Wright's train of thought, that thought is also quite dense, demanding utmost attention from the reader. Outright references to Greek and Hebrew appear in several places, often without direct translation or implicit exposition (albeit alongside other references in which he does translate or explain). Finally, the confidence with which Wright presents his arguments can be heroic to his fans, yet pretentious either to his critics or those otherwise uninitiated. Thus, this work is best suited for the intermediate-to-advanced student, lay or academic, of the New Testament, much less more familiar with Wright's newer works; many of Wright's newer popular books, such as Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense or Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, among others, are better entry points for Wright's bibliography. In any event, to gain a fuller picture of the New Perspective on Paul, this tome is best read alongside other seminal New Perspective works on Paul, such as those by E.P. Sanders and James D.G. Dunn.
This is a place-holder, for I intend to write a more thorough review at a later stage.
While I appreciated his fearlessness regarding his arguments, his writing style is an acquired taste. While the reader can easily ascertain Wright's train of thought, that thought is also quite dense, demanding utmost attention from the reader. Outright references to Greek and Hebrew appear in several places, often without direct translation or implicit exposition (albeit alongside other references in which he does translate or explain). Finally, the confidence with which Wright presents his arguments can be heroic to his fans, yet pretentious either to his critics or those otherwise uninitiated. Thus, this work is best suited for the intermediate-to-advanced student, lay or academic, of the New Testament, much less more familiar with Wright's newer works; many of Wright's newer popular books, such as Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense or Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, among others, are better entry points for Wright's bibliography. In any event, to gain a fuller picture of the New Perspective on Paul, this tome is best read alongside other seminal New Perspective works on Paul, such as those by E.P. Sanders and James D.G. Dunn.
This is a place-holder, for I intend to write a more thorough review at a later stage.
September 6, 2025
Finished my Advent reading of N.T. Wright’s “Climax of the Covenant: Christ and the law in Pauline theology”. The following quote summarises well the overall message—the promise of life—in my Advent book, “Rediscovering the Magic of Christmas”: “The covenant was made in the first place in order that, through Israel, the creator might give to his world the life which it had lost through Adam and the Fall. Israel was to be the means of that life, the means of Adam’s restoration and the Messiah was to bring this national destiny to its triumphant conclusion.” [Wright earlier clarifies that by “life” he means “the life of the new age, resurrection life.”] This quote is a perfect complement to today’s (18 Dec) reflection on Luke 2:8–14: “the glory of God, at which Christians look with unveiled face when they behold their fellow-Christians in whom God is inaugurating the new covenant by the Spirit, is seen precisely in the paradoxical pattern of Christ, that is, the pattern of suffering and vindication.” The following observation would appear to critique the fashion of many modern worship songs: “Paul’s references to humans loving God, as opposed to vice versa, are few and far between, and in this case [1 Cor 8:1-3] at least, and arguably in some of the others, the reason for the reference is that he wishes to allude to, or echo, the Jewish confession of monotheistic faith.” Lastly, this cluster of quotes have obvious relevance for those seeking to understand the ongoing role of Israel in the Christian era: 1. “as the Jews celebrate the giving of Torah, so the church celebrates the giving of the Spirit, not to abolish but to fulfil the earlier gift and its final intention.” 2. “As long as Israel clings to the fact of ancestral privilege, she cannot but miss out on God’s intended universal salvation.” 3. “The God who made promises to Israel is also the creator of the whole world; but if that is so his promises cannot be confined to Israel alone, and to imagine that they are is to deny his very character.”
February 15, 2023
A real cracker of a book and having read it three times at last I am now far more sure that I understand it as a whole.
May 24, 2023
This is a must-read if one wants to understand how Christ, Torah, and Christology meet in Paul's theology.
August 10, 2007
Excerpted due to length from the original at [http://scottedwardschultz.blogspot.co...
Any sound reading of Wright will find that he is time and again arguing as an apologist. Wright begins The Climax… with just this spirit, defending the rational consistency of Paul’s thought. It has not uncommonly been alleged that the arguments Paul puts forth are of the ad hoc variety, hastily strewn together in order to legitimize his teaching du jour. Wright takes this view to task, noting that these accusations are made all too hastily and usually stem from a refusal to patiently listen to what Paul actually has to say. Wright spends the rest of the book sorting through some of these arguments, attempting to locate them within the ‘narrative substructure’ (drawing from Richard Hays, obviously) of Paul’s thought. Of course, there is still a certain frankness about Wright, a desire to call a spade ‘a spade’. He concedes, “I am not, of course, suggesting that there are no problems in Paul’s arguments: only (here) that the problems do not lie just where they are commonly thought to.” And this is what distinguishes the book: Wright goes towards these ‘problem texts’, not with the intent of merely resituating the puzzle pieces into some forced cogency, but by suggesting that we look at the picture on the box to see how the individual pieces might relate on a larger scale.
Wright begins the first half of his argument by observing that, within the book of Genesis, Abraham is cast as the solution to Adam’s sin. (This is manifest in the various restatements of Adam’s cultural commission in Abrahamic passages.) Thus, Wright:
"Israel, the family of Abraham, is God’s true humanity. Her land is God’s land. Her enemies are God’s enemies, and they will be subject to her in the same way that the beasts were subject to Adam. It is within this context that we should understand those passages in the Old Testament which make similar claims about Israel’s king."
Wright traces this same line of thinking in Paul (namely in 1 Corinthians 15 and Romans 5), concluding that the Pauline Jesus inherits – or rather, incarnates – the Adamic distinctives of Israel, thus redefining traditional Israelite ideas about election, among other things. As well, the distinct ‘creational monotheism’ of the Jews is re-worked in the chiastic poem of Colossians 1:15-20 to explain that Christ (or ‘Messiah’) Jesus plays the unique role of being creator and sustainer of the universe (a role only ascribable to YHWH), and simultaneously (in being a new Adam) the eschatological telos of the universe.
While the first half of The Climax… seems intuitive enough, the second half (though really, it is no less intuitive) puts forth Wright’s more distinctive views... cont'd at [http://scottedwardschultz.blogspot.co...]
Any sound reading of Wright will find that he is time and again arguing as an apologist. Wright begins The Climax… with just this spirit, defending the rational consistency of Paul’s thought. It has not uncommonly been alleged that the arguments Paul puts forth are of the ad hoc variety, hastily strewn together in order to legitimize his teaching du jour. Wright takes this view to task, noting that these accusations are made all too hastily and usually stem from a refusal to patiently listen to what Paul actually has to say. Wright spends the rest of the book sorting through some of these arguments, attempting to locate them within the ‘narrative substructure’ (drawing from Richard Hays, obviously) of Paul’s thought. Of course, there is still a certain frankness about Wright, a desire to call a spade ‘a spade’. He concedes, “I am not, of course, suggesting that there are no problems in Paul’s arguments: only (here) that the problems do not lie just where they are commonly thought to.” And this is what distinguishes the book: Wright goes towards these ‘problem texts’, not with the intent of merely resituating the puzzle pieces into some forced cogency, but by suggesting that we look at the picture on the box to see how the individual pieces might relate on a larger scale.
Wright begins the first half of his argument by observing that, within the book of Genesis, Abraham is cast as the solution to Adam’s sin. (This is manifest in the various restatements of Adam’s cultural commission in Abrahamic passages.) Thus, Wright:
"Israel, the family of Abraham, is God’s true humanity. Her land is God’s land. Her enemies are God’s enemies, and they will be subject to her in the same way that the beasts were subject to Adam. It is within this context that we should understand those passages in the Old Testament which make similar claims about Israel’s king."
Wright traces this same line of thinking in Paul (namely in 1 Corinthians 15 and Romans 5), concluding that the Pauline Jesus inherits – or rather, incarnates – the Adamic distinctives of Israel, thus redefining traditional Israelite ideas about election, among other things. As well, the distinct ‘creational monotheism’ of the Jews is re-worked in the chiastic poem of Colossians 1:15-20 to explain that Christ (or ‘Messiah’) Jesus plays the unique role of being creator and sustainer of the universe (a role only ascribable to YHWH), and simultaneously (in being a new Adam) the eschatological telos of the universe.
While the first half of The Climax… seems intuitive enough, the second half (though really, it is no less intuitive) puts forth Wright’s more distinctive views... cont'd at [http://scottedwardschultz.blogspot.co...]
March 3, 2017
A helpful group of essays. Most helpful is his essay on Phil 2:5-11.
February 5, 2009
N.T. is a very exciting scholar to read. Much of this book is highly technical, but well worth the slow pace it deserves. Very challenging on many fronts. I thought this was especially so with his take on Galatians-- very thought proviking. However I don't fully agree with his take on Romans 7, although I think there is room for a both/and approach of:
"I" as Israel under Torah and as Paul's own existential encounter as a regenerate Christian with Torah.
Echoes of Cain's brother-on-brother strife and Paul's own struggle/warfare with the body of flesh.
Overall, a very good book.
"I" as Israel under Torah and as Paul's own existential encounter as a regenerate Christian with Torah.
Echoes of Cain's brother-on-brother strife and Paul's own struggle/warfare with the body of flesh.
Overall, a very good book.
February 2, 2011
Incredible! Dense and scholarly (often requiring the reader to translate their own Greek in short bits) yet a book that I found unable to put down once I reached page 80 or so. Whether I fully agree with Wright or not only time and further study will prove, but I believe he casts a beautiful and coherent interpretation for Paul's understanding of Jesus and Torah in light of his Jewish Covenantal Theology.
September 3, 2016
"meticulous exegesis" is right. If you're going to accept the premise that an ancient collection of documents is a message from God, you should work very hard to understand what it's saying. Wright does that, and comes up with a much more sophisticated understanding than evangelicals and fundamentalists.
July 24, 2009
His section on Gal 3 is the best stuff I've ever read on the "problem" of the law and the gospel. His answer on the way through the challenge of reconciling the two is______________ Haha, you'll just have to read it!
June 14, 2012
Super helpful exegetical essays. Wright is passionate about the scriptures, defends Paul without being defensive, and, although I have more disagreements with him as time goes on, his careful exegesis should be held up as a model. I always leave Wright more excited to preach the scriptures.
June 15, 2009
Probably the first Wright I picked up. It stands in magnificent need of a reread.
December 10, 2011
Very thorough. Very technical. Some knowledge of Gk. is essential.
October 13, 2013
This is one of the most creative readings of the NT in a long time. There are several issues with Wright's exegesis but it is a launch pad to read certain passages in new ways.
December 10, 2015
Very condensed (unlike so many others by him).
January 22, 2013
Magisterial. Advanced content.
June 21, 2013
Can I have a sixth star? One of the few titles that I've read twice. Superb.
July 30, 2014
Hidden gym among books. Fantastic
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews