N.T. Wright and Michael Bird discuss Paul and the Faithfulness of God HD 

Tom has always fidgeted with his wedding ring while being interviewed. It's a comforting detail I've noticed for many years.

Thanks for your contribution to NT scholarship, M. Bird.

So good, thank you!

Not sure how he would align his New Perspective on Paul, "covenantal nomism," as dialoguing with the mainstream theological scholarship? E.P. Sanders did help scholars to anchor their work in Second Temple Judaism and highlights some anachronistic tendencies by Luther and Calvin but NT and Jimmy Dunn have brought in a view of covenant that doesn't appear in OT word study domains at all. Neither is it main stream. Challenging yes, correcting E.P. Sanders short-sighted ness, yes, but rhetorically defended rather than rationally defended. Opps.

The cool cats discuss.

The main question is "Where are Tom Wright's cuff links?" The other questions seem much more satisfactorily resolved. It's not a really a theological argument at all although there are implications. It's a set of exegetical questions which arise from the historical recreation of Judaism around the time of Christ which challenge the questions that the reformers (and we as a result) ask of the texts.

Wright does a creative job of drawing the reader into the historical context. A ministry of reconciliation, true, but how. And why do we need it? Bird gets at it with his "justification by faith." Wright jumps from Adam straight to Abram. He misses the dispersion of the 70 nations and there judgement to be ruled by "other gods." This seems to be Paul's reconciliation, I.e. Recovery of the 70 nations. Wright misses this theme altogether.