Sample Chapter

About

Have evangelicals misunderstood Paul? Was the Reformation doctrine of justification a mistake? The New Perspective on Paul has serious implications for that pivotal doctrine of the gospel.

Guy Waters lays out the theological, historical, and cultural antecedents to the New Perspective and examines its leading proponents. He offers a trenchant critique of their work and warns us of problems that the New Perspective may pose within the church.

Endorsements

"Have evangelical Christians misunderstood Paul? Was the Reformation a mistake? These and other questions reflect the so-called ‘New Perspective on Paul’ that is gaining support among many evangelicals. This book is a fair and considerate antidote to the theological confusion spawned by that movement. Dr. Waters brings solid historical, biblical, and theological scholarship to this courageous defense of the historic Reformed understanding of Paul."

—R. Albert Mohler Jr.

"This evaluation and critique of the New Perspective excels for its combination of simplicity, fair dealing, historical awareness, and penetration. Waters combines exegetical, historical, biblical-theological, and systematic reflections, all in a relatively brief compass."

—D. A. Carson

"Explains the academic pedigree of the New Perspective approach to Paul and demonstrates a number of significant variances between this perspective and traditional Reformed theological thinking."

—Douglas J. Moo

"As a former doctoral student of E. P. Sanders and Richard Hays, Guy Waters stands in an excellent position to speak knowingly about the New Perspective on Paul. This book is a helpful overview of the trajectory of twentieth-century scholarship on Paul and a trenchant critique of the work of Sanders, James Dunn, and N. T. Wright."

—Sean Michael Lucas

"Just what I and other pastors have been looking for to help us understand and consider contemporary understandings of Paul and justification."

—Mark Dever

The Author

Guy Prentiss Waters

Guy Prentiss Waters (BA, University of Pennsylvania; MDiv, Westminster Theological Seminary; PhD, Duke University) is professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. At Duke, he studied under Richard B. Hays and E. P. Sanders, two leading expositors of the New Perspectives on Paul. Dr. Waters is the author of Justification and the New Perspective on Paul: A Review and Response. He is an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church in America. He is also a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Institute of Biblical Research.

More by Guy Prentiss Waters