Contact: Grant Van Leuven, 412-731-8690, ext 108

PITTSBURGH, Oct. 16 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (RPTS: see www.rpts.edu) will present a free webinar entitled "A New Perspective on the New Perspective on Paul" led by Dr. Jack Kinneer, adjunct professor of New Testament Studies, on Tuesday, October 20, at 3 p.m. The event is provided for RPTS alums and friends, but it also is open to anyone interested in learning about the topic.

N. T. Wright's book, What Saint Paul Really Said, and other writings of his have challenged the traditional understanding of Paul's doctrine of justification in the Bible.

"The standard critiques have not focused on the exegetical fallacies from which N. T. Wright's position arises," says Kinneer. "He has this nice system, but it's simply not what Paul says."

Since that traditional understanding of justification is enshrined in the creedal formulas of the churches of the Reformation, the criticisms of much of N. T. Wright's thought have been creedal and dogmatic. For instance, it has often been pointed out that N. T. Wright's views are in conflict with the creed of Presbyterians -- the Westminster Confession and Catechisms.

"Such a consideration is, without question, needed and helpful," says Kinneer. "But in this presentation we will aim at a new perspective on the New Perspective by considering not whether N.T. Wright's views are compatible with the creedal theology, but whether they are based on good literary analysis of Paul's language."

Dr. Kinneer's webinar critique will endeavor to show that N.T. Wright has misconstrued the expressions and thought of Paul by arbitrarily assigning meanings to Paul's language which cannot stand the test of literary analysis, most importantly, Wright's insistence that "righteousness of God" does not refer to that righteousness that is reckoned to believers.

To participate in the webinar, log in the day of the event at 3 p.m. at www.infiniteconferencing.com/join. The Participant Entry Code is 998991. Participants will need audio speakers on their computers and will need to choose "audio stream" to listen, but they also can phone in to a special number for audio at 1-800-935-3856, and enter 998991 for the participation code.

This webinar is sponsored by RP Missions (see rpmissions.org).