So Radically Jewish that He’s an Evangelical Christian: N.T. Wright’s Judeophobic and Privileged Paul

Abstract

N.T. Wright remains an influential biblical interpreter among evangelical and conservative-mainline Christians. Critiques of his readings of Paul by scholars from the wider academy are not common in these spaces. This article illustrates the historical inaccuracies, Judeophobia, and erasures of exploitation that animate Wright’s discussions of Paul and philosophy, ancient Judaism, and the question of whether Paul was counter-cultural in Paul and the Faithfulness of God. Ultimately the apostle becomes a ventriloquist for the narratives, fixations, and voices that are comfortable to Wright’s readers, especially since they elide the people who do not benefit from the Christianity of Wright’s Paul.