Barb writes about the most recent accusation towards Bishop Wright. This one comes from John Fesko and Richard Gaffin. Fesko has taught at RTS/Orlando some months ago and is a fairly kind professor, or so I am told. Nevertheless, he is no friend of N.T. Wright, as his numerous con-Wright articles prove. On the other hand, I have had a chance to interact with Gaffin on a personal level and through lectures and writings. He is a gracious scholar and as far as I know has not yet accused anyone of heresy and some are so quick to do. I believe there are other concerns these men have beyond the justification issue, such as ordination of women and certain hesitancy from Wright to affirm the historical narrative of Genesis. a I, too, share these concerns, but it seems obvious that they are focusing too much of their time on one particular issue (namely, NPP) and now even accusing Wright of denying Trinitarian formulations. In my estimation, it would be wiser if they would focus on issues that Presbyterians in general disagree on, as opposed to nuances of justification and Trinitarianism, b which the Bishop has affirmed over and over that he does not deny (see e-mail link). According to Barb, “Gaffin upped the ante by telling readers that he has doubts about Wright’s Christology, especially his perception that Wright believes Jesus had no self-awareness of his deity, that his messianic consciousness was no higher than that of an eschatological prophet.” Does this have any validity?
A curious student e-mailed the Bishop and here is his reply.
