Writer and popular New Testament theologian N.T. Wright will be among hundreds of scholars visiting Perth in July for the largest gathering of New Testament specialists ever to be held in the southern hemisphere.

It will be the first time the Society for New Testament Studies has met in Australasia, and a number of local scholars have been selected to present papers alongside their international counterparts.  Among them are Ridley Melbourne’s Principal Brian Rosner (formerly of Moore College, Sydney) and Theology Lecturer Mike Bird (previously of Queensland Theological College).

Mike is currently working on a New Testament Introduction co-authored with N.T. Wright and he’s organised for N.T. Wright to spend a week in Melbourne before heading to Perth.

N.T. Wright will speak at three public conferences in Melbourne during the week of July 16-20, the first of which will be hosted by Ridley (location TBA), when he will speak on “Paul, Jesus, and the Mission of God’s People”, while the second conference also hosted by Ridley is based on his new book: “Paul and the faithfulness of God”. He’ll then finish his visit to Melbourne with some filming and a two-day conference for the Uniting Church of Australia (location TBA) on “Wisdom’s Feasts” before leaving for Perth.

N.T. Wright is a Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, and was the Bishop of Durham until 2010.  Not afraid to challenge the status quo, N.T. Wright has made ripples in evangelical circles in the last 20 years by questioning the reformed/traditional understanding of the relationship between salvation and the law in the Apostle Paul’s writings. This so-called “New Perspective” aims to take into account a more positive view of Jewish beliefs at the time of Christ. The traditional view is seen as oversimplifying their relationship to God, as based on keeping the law. The most outspoken critics of the New Perspective include John Piper and D.A. Carson. It is a topic which will no doubt be canvassed during Tom’s time in Melbourne.

Photo: N.T. Wright