Mailbag

Vocations and visions for the Christian life

While one could admire Charlie Peacock’s fascination with N.T. Wright’s Jesus and the Victory of God, he needs to be informed more thoroughly about Wright’s views. Wright (along with E.P. Sanders, James Dunn, and others) is a leading advocate of the “new perspectives on Paul and Judaism.” He embraces “covenant nomism.” According to Wright, Paul faults Israel not for trying to keep the Law to get into a covenant relationship with God but for trying to keep Gentiles out of the covenant.

Wright interprets key texts in ways that oppose evangelical belief. He says the “gospel” in Romans 1:16-17 is not about how to be saved but an announcement of who is already in the covenant of Abraham. He says the “righteousness of God” refers to God’s faithfulness to the covenant—yet it is better understood as expressing the nature of God. Galatians 2:16, Wright claims, refers not to how to be saved but how Jews can have table fellowship with Gentiles.

He goes on: The “faith of Jesus,” for Wright, does not mean “faith in Jesus” but is the “faithfulness of Jesus” to the covenant; the “works of the Law” are not the attempts to earn merit before God but are Jewish identity markers. Wright also rejects the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to the believer (contrary to 1 Corinthians 1:30 and 2 Corinthians 5:21).

Wright approaches a syncretism of faith and works when he asserts: “Present justification declares on the basis of faith what future justification will affirm publicly … on the basis of the entire life” (What Saint Paul Really Said, p. 129, my italics). Yet justification is not based on faith but is by means of faith (Ephesians 2:8-9); Christ’s death is the basis of justification. This is a fine but necessary distinction. Finally, Wright argues that the kingdom promised by Jesus is entirely here, with nothing yet to come (contra Matthew 19:28). Finally, the Apostolic Fathers give no support to the premises of the new perspectives on Paul.

A fuller exposure to the works of N.T. Wright shows how great the distance is between his beliefs and evangelical theology. Wright is wrong.
     James B. De Young, Th.D. / Damascus, Ore.

Endangered Species?

I absolutely love your February cover. The babies’ unique, adorable body positions and cute facial expressions are priceless. One is yawning! And the last little guy is crawling, like he’s trying to catch up! I could not stop looking until I studied each one, reflecting on real babies who are so special and precious in God’s sight. Thank you and praise to your artist, David M. Brinley, for such delightful artwork.
     Marsha Gartrell / Billings, Mont.

Baby fever

I was delighted to see the February cover highlighting the “Baby fever” article. I immediately planned to share it with a young Christian friend who has four children and counting. But then I read the article. I am dismayed that WORLD chose to devote four pages of its Biblical worldview journalism to an atheist family. Why? Why not provide a Biblically based perspective on fulfilling the ­creation mandate to be fruitful and multiply?
     Barbara Friend / Pittsburgh, Pa.

Mailbag

Arsenio Ortega’s music pieces have been among my favorite parts of WORLD throughout more than three decades as a subscriber. So while I usually let opinions stand, I must cry foul over Bruce McKechnie’s letter of complaint. “Adoring” praise for Lady Gaga? Maybe just some appreciation. And in the review in question, Ortega explicitly acknowledges the decadence of the source material from which Gaga’s music arises. More than once I’ve shared with my journalism students how wonderful it is that one of today’s finest music critics writes from a believer’s perspective.
     Joe Martin / Montreat, N.C.

A Christ that confounds expectations

I love the new Masterworks articles in WORLD! While I appreciate art and architecture, I don’t know much about them. In “A Christ that confounds expectations,” I resonated with the statements that “the picture is full of precise and closely observed details.” It made me really look at the piece. A suggestion would be for the contributors to add a reference so we can learn more.
     John Ristvey / Thornton, Colo.

Down the rabbit hole

The biggest scandal in this story is the desperation of the veteran suffering PTSD, which led him to risk so much for healing. For years the Department of Veterans Affairs has used a very effective nondrug tool to relieve PTSD symptoms. It is called Advanced Resolution Therapy. The scandal is the tool is not widely used, promoted, or offered to many veterans who suffer. My late first husband was a Vietnam veteran, and I could write a book detailing the ineptitude, bungling, and malpractice common in the VA system.
     Barbara Orsag / New Providence, Pa.

The redemption of Jimmy Carter

I thought the article about Jimmy Carter was respectful and even-handed. But looking back on Carter after he left office, he spent a great deal of time lobbying for dictators and terrorists. In April 2008, he met with Hamas and claimed that the Islamic terrorists wanted to live in peace with Israel. The next month, as a peaceful gesture, Hamas fired a rocket at an Israeli shopping mall, wounding 90 people. He also lobbied in favor of Saddam Hussein and North Korea. He even went on a fundraising mission for the Islamic terrorists of the PLO. This is all odd behavior for someone who portrayed himself as a Christian.
     Norman Chiodras / Oak Brook, Ill.

The February issue had a good article about the aliyah law, so I was disappointed with the hagiography of Jimmy Carter’s post-presidency. The Carter article made no mention of his rabid anti-Semitism and his anti-Israel positions. I was one of the many who voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980 because Jimmy Carter had destroyed the economy and made a mess of American foreign policy. However, I was initially impressed by his post-presidency activities with Habitat for Humanity. It appeared that he was motivated by genuine Christian love. But his descent into the oldest hatred soured me on him.
     Nicholas Gebelt / Whittier, Calif.

Making aliyah

While this article correctly notes the rise in anti-Semitism, it neglects to comment on how a significant part of the increase has been due to Arabic Muslims migrating into the West and bringing their hostilities toward Israel with them. This is particularly prominent in Europe. The United Kingdom, the first country featured in this article, has accumulated such a sizable Muslim migrant population that it has become a highly important voting block, forcing many politicians to distance themselves from or even outright condemn Israel. A description of attacks on Jews in Europe, without considering that many are perpetrated by Muslim migrants, can falsely imply that the native European population has suddenly become anti-Semitic.
     Michael Reutman / Nazareth, Pa.

A decent place to belong

The article about George Washington of Centralia in Washington state was magnificently written by Theresa Abell Haynes! It makes me want to visit Centralia, learn more about that wonderful man, and stop in at Alliyah Perry’s farm store for a chat and purchases.
     Susan Dickens / Greenbrier, Ark.

I finished reading this article yesterday. I truly enjoyed it—informative, interesting, and even encouraging. This is why I continue to be a subscriber to WORLD.
     Robert Dunn / Fort Collins, Colo.

The 360

I really enjoy the deeper dives that are now provided in The 360 as well as the changes in general since you became a monthly publication. I am an avid listener of The World and Everything in It, and I frequent wng.org several times a week. So all in all, my consumption of WORLD content has probably gone up since the switch to monthly.
     Phil Faieta / Pickerington, Ohio

Corrections

The pictured flag is that of Chad, not Oman (“Global Briefs,” February).

Dr. Joren Whitley is a licensed chiropractor also certified in animal chiropractic (“God and Gerry,” March).

The Tel Burna archaeological site is located in Israel’s Shephelah region (“Dangerous work,” March).

Send your letters and comments to:

editor@wng.org

WORLD Mailbag
PO Box 20002
Asheville, NC 28802