Wright's Paul Really 2: The Gospel

Chapter 3: The Meaning of "Gospel" in Paul

1. Gospel means good news, significant good news.
We sometimes use the expression, "to share the gospel" with someone. Often we mean to share how to become a Christian, like steps to be saved. Wright is quite emphatic that this is not what Paul means. We might also mention that Paul does not refer to Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John when he refers to the gospel. None of them even existed (certainly not in their current form) while he was alive.

Wright's claim, and I agree with him here, is that the gospel for Paul is the good news about what God has done through Jesus the Christ.

2. Background of the Term euangelion
a. In the broader Mediterranean world
Wright correctly observes that the word was often used in reference to quite extraordinary news, like the defeat of Roman enemies or the birth of a successor to the throne

b. In the Greek OT
But probably more significant is the background in Isaiah, particularly verses like 40:9 and 52:7. This latter verse seems very significant.

"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the one who brings good news (euangelizomai) of the report of peace, who brings good news (euangelizomai) of good things, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns.'"

We have good reason to believe that Paul (and the early Christians) saw the events surrounding Jesus as the beginning of those things they saw foretold in this verse. Wright likes to think of it as the return of Israel from exile. I prefer simply to think of it as the time when God was going to restore the fortunes of Israel and, indeed, the world (less theological baggage).

3. The "Fourfold" Gospel
Wright suggests that the gospel message, the content of the good news, is fourfold (summary on 60): 1) in Jesus, the powers of evil have been defeated, 2) in the resurrection, the New Age has dawned, 3) Jesus is Israel's messiah, 4) Jesus is Lord of the whole world. He suggests two corrolaries about God: 1) The God of Israel is the one true God, and 2) The God of Israel is now made known in and through Jesus.

OK--Wright has a tendency to pack biblical statements with lots of stuff, so let's distill this, sticking a little closer to the biblical language itself.

Romans 1:3-4: Wright helpfully points us to these verses, for they seem to give us somewhat straightforwardly the content of the gospel, namely, the good news "concerning His Son, who came from the seed of David according to the flesh, [and] designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness from the resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord."
Here we do indeed find in a nutshell the elements Wright discusses in this chapter.

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1. Jesus is the Messiah (of Israel), because he is from the seed of David and is proclaimed Christ. Christ is of course the Greek word for Messiah. Scholars debate whether Paul used it almost as a "last name" without much thought or whether Paul distinctly thought of Jesus as the Messiah when he used it. Wright favors the latter, and I generally do as well. In other words, there are any number of times when I think it is clear that Paul is using the term with the specific thought that Jesus is the Messiah (e.g., Rom. 9:5)

2. Even more, Jesus is cosmic Lord; he is Son of God in power. He is Lord, meaning that he is enthroned at the right hand of God in the heavens over all, including the Gentiles.

3. Implied in the statement that Jesus is Lord (cf. Rom. 10:9) is the fact that God raised Jesus from the dead, meaning that the new age has dawned and the beginning of God setting everything to right.
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I also agree with Wright that surely as part of this good news is also the cross. 1 Corinthians 1:23 would lead us to think that the cross featured prominently in Paul's preaching. Interestingly, however, it seems barely mentioned in Romans (3:25). Wright is surely right to see in the cross the defeat of the powers of evil and of sin in particular.

4. The Gospel of God
Clearly this good news about the Messiah, the Christ, has good implications about God as well. In fact, we see in Isaiah 52:7 the likely origins of the phrase "the kingdom of God" (our God reigns). Certainly Jesus' ministry was about the inauguration of the rule of God on earth as it is in heaven, which similarly involved kicking Satan and his minions "out of Dodge." So this good news about the Christ reveals God's righteousness (Rom. 1:17)

Since Wright's next chapter deals more specifically with Paul's Christology in relation to his Monotheism, I will leave that discussion till the next chapter.