Where are my grades?!?
Captured below is photographic evidence of why I still don’t have most of my final grades back 
Most of the gentlemen hoisting around that table are Westminster Seminary profs. The gentleman to the right trying to duck away from the truthful eye of the camera is Stephen Taylor, instructor for the incredibly beneficial New Testament Introduction class we took this past fall. This picture, and the one below, were taken at the Auburn Avenue Pastor’s Conference earlier this month (courtesy of Barb’s Whilin’ Away the Hours blog).
They say that some of the greatest debates of the Reformation took place over beers at English pubs. May the tradition continue.
This year’s Auburn Avenue conference brought together two of the lightning rods in the current lively discussions (sometimes “battles” sadly might be the more apt word) concerning the nature of justification and imputed righteousness. The Rev. Dr. N. T. Wright is the Anglican Bishop of Durham (UK) and perhaps the single most controversial figure in Reformed circles in our time (although Douglas Wilson keeps trying to take the prize away!). The other conference main speaker was Dr. Richard Gaffin, professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology here at Westminster. Karyn and I sat under his teaching last fall in his Introduction to Systematic Theology class.
Both men have gained notoriety by expressing nuanced approaches to the issue of justification of the believer that some have felt were at odds with the historic confessions of the Reformed churches. While often lumped together by critics, Gaffin and Wright each felt that there were some distinctive differences in their approaches. Some of the Westminster professors who attended the conference were hoping that it would work to bring more understanding and concord, not only between these two great teachers, but also across the troubled Reformed world. The former goal seems to have been accomplished to some degree; the latter remainst to be seen.
In the meantime, below is photographic evidence that great theologians can meet and not leave with blood on their ties 
Rev. Dr. Wright is on the left and Dr. Gaffin on the right:
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January 21st, 2005 at 8:37 am
Sounds like N.T. is making the rounds! He’s coming here in March to debate the resurrection with John Dominic Crossan, who, as you may know, thinks that Jesus’ body was eaten by dogs.
Did you take any notes from the Auburn Conference? I’d be interested to hear your impressions of the material covered.
January 21st, 2005 at 12:37 pm
On, sweet Concord!
January 21st, 2005 at 2:24 pm
Hi Mark, I saw your recent discussion on Wright on the Rumor Forum (where I am happily lurking), and I appreciate what you had to say. I defintely think Wright has a lot of good things to say, and that his Reformed critics have not done the best job of fairly representing him.
I also was at the AAPC (though I’m not in either of the pictures you posted!), and I think Wright and Gaffin both did superb jobs in their sessions. The Q&A sessions, where they asked each other questions, served to show that the two men have a great deal of overlap and many points of intersection in their views. If only there were more outlets for this sort of constructive dialogue.