Cornelis Venema’s slim text Getting the Gospel Right: Assessing the Reformation and the New Perspective on Paul is, by its author’s own admission a “condensed version of a much larger work” offering its reader “only a skeleton of the larger work, and cannot stand alone.” That much larger work, The Gospel of Free Acceptance in Christ, represents Banner of Truth’s first full-book foyer into the wild and woolly world of the new perspective on Paul. All modesty and scholarly caution aside, Getting the Gospel Right succeeds superbly at the task it sets out to accomplish, namely “to offer a short summary of the important debate regarding the gospel that newer perspectives on Paul have provoked” as well as “a brief introduction to the kind of study and evaluation of the new perspectives on Paul that is needed.”

The book itself is divided into three principle parts. The first portion – “The Reformation Perspective on Paul” – rehearses the traditional protestant understanding of justification as a objective and judicial declaration of God based upon Christ’s imputed righteousness (solo Christo) by grace alone (sola gratia) through faith alone (sola fide). Venema focuses his attention upon presenting the reformed understanding of justification as a coherent, biblical and indivisible doctrine: “‘Grace alone,’ ‘Christ alone,’ and ‘faith alone,’ are all corollary expressions. To say one is to say the other.”

The second portion – “A ‘New Perspective’ on Paul” – traces the development of the new perspective through the work of its three most able proponents: E.P. Sander, James D.G. Dunn and N.T. Wright. Venema’s summaries are clear, succinct and most importantly faithful to the work of their original authors. In particular, the footnotes throughout part two are a wealth of pointed bibliographic information, providing its reader with additional notes on helpful essays, web-addresses and pertinent chapters. While being cautions about oversimplifications, Venema identifies three key claims that unites the new perspectives: (1) “the Reformation view of justification was built upon the foundation of a false picture of Judaism,” (2) “the Reformation view of justification improperly identified the problem to which Paul’s doctrine of justification was addressed” in particular by taking “his language about the ‘works of the law’ to refer to a kind of legalistic righteousness,” and (3) “the language of ‘justification’ in Paul’s epistles does not primarily refer to the way guilty sinners find acceptance with God, but to the identification of who belongs to the covenant people of God.”

Part three – “A Critical Assessment of the New Perspective” – offers a brief critique of the various new perspective without reducing itself to the all too common approach of “Calvin says,” “Luther says” and “the Westminster confession says.” While acknowledging what is of value within the new perspective – namely, a refocusing on the historical person of Jesus over and against a mere a-temporal though orthodox system of religious truth as well as a welcomed return to a more corporate view of the Christian life – Venema highlights the movement’s deficits under four heads: (1) Sander’s portrait of Judaism, (2) the “works of the law” and (3) the “righteousness of God” in Paul’s epistles and (4) the nature of justification, including both the role of imputation, substitution and faith as well as the role of works in the so-called “final justification.”

All and all, Venema has produced an excellent resource for pastors and laypeople alike. His presentation of the new perspective is both accurate and accessible and his critique is simple yet pointed. Getting the Gospel Right is highly recommended, especially for those less acquainted with this growing movement.