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I'm not sure that Bishop Wright could be classified as an Evangelical. He certainly was at one stage. And he has a large Evangelical following. But I think his views on Scripture and Justification would put him outside the Evangelical mainstream.
That said it is difficult to pin down exactly what an Evangelical is. And he deserves his excellent reputation among all those who follow Christ, whatever their tradition.

Graham Veale

Now tell the truth, don't most people really enjoy watching a good fight?

gveale you leave me astonished. NT Wright is one of the world's most famous EVANGELICAL writers and scholars. He's even a leading figure in the UK's Evangelical Alliance organisation. He has published books with evangelical presses such as IVP. He even studied at an evangelical college (Wycliffe Hall). He is acknowledged by leading evangelicals around the world as an evangelical leader (including John Stott, Billy Graham, etc.). He calls himself an evangelical.

If Tom wright isn't an evangelical, the term evangelical is meaningless.

NT Wright's concerns appear to be about the authority of Anglicanism. Not being an Anglican however it is difficult to grasp his specific concern. If what he means is that authority does not lie primarily in statements of faith then his concern is understandable.

On the issue of evangelicalism, evangelical has become such a broad term as to have lost almost all meaning. The great weakness in Protestantism is that it is often a loosely stitched patchwork of self-appointed leaders, this is true of evangelicalism.

Particularly on NT Wright and his views of the bible and justification; I think he has come in for some unfair criticism from those who might consider themselves conservative. From what I have read of NT Wright, he simply seems to be trying to understand what the bible actually says, and on the Kingdom of God he is generally excellent.

Augustine of Clippo
Yes I know all that. There are also a lot of conservative evangelicals, especially in the USA, who aren't sure if he's part of the club. He's a bit of a controversial figure. Which isn't fair on him.
His positions on Scripture and Justification aren't exactly traditonal evangelical beliefs. But like Peter, I don't think that he deserves the bad press a lot of evangelicals give him. I think there is room for disagreement among conservative Christians.
I think you may have hit the nail on the head - the term "evangelical" has become meaningless.

Graham Veale

Augustine
I should add that confessing Roman Catholics like Peter Kreeft, Paul Vitz and Jay Budzisewski publish for IVP and speak at evangelical conferences. Kreeft gives one of the best presentations of the Gospel I have ever read.
Kreeft and Vitz would not describe themselves as evangelical, but I think Budzisewki would still accept the label.
It just goes to show how blurred the boundary lines are becoming.

Graham Veale

I must say that though not an Anglican I fully identiy with Tom Wright's comments here. He makes a very telling point about the inherent instability of the "coalition" that Gafcon represents. It simply must remain possible for conservative evangelicals to continue to be outspoken in their opposition to same sex marriage and the appointment of gay bishops, but from within the Angliscal communion. Driving them into a spurious coalition with people with whom the only thing they have in common is their opposition to gay marriages is just not right. It's a kind of press-gang, which Wright and others are right to hold out against.

And by the way Graham, I think Tom Wright's views on justification have been misunderstood. He is as fully committed to the doctine of substitutionary atonement as any evangelical scolar in the UK or the US. He may not seem as clear-cut as we would like on the issue of when justification takes effect: at the moment of conversion or in the parousia. But then the apostle James also said that justification was validated by works, which necessarily come after and not before conversion.

I think Tom Wright is a voice that not only Anglicans but also all the rest of us need to start listening to, on the subject of GAFCON and on every other issue that he addresses.

Excuse my typos. I wishe there were an editing facility here!

Gandalf,

I don't know what system you are using but there are plenty of free to download spell-checkers out there.

Thank you DD. I don't edit befor I send. I just type into the box and submit. I just need to be more careful.

Edited version:

I must say that though not an Anglican I fully identiy with Tom Wright's comments here. He makes a very telling point about the inherent instability of the "coalition" that Gafcon represents. It simply must remain possible for conservative evangelicals to continue to be outspoken in their opposition to same sex marriage and the appointment of gay bishops, but from within the Anglican communion. Driving them into a spurious coalition with people with whom the only thing they have in common is their opposition to gay marriages cannot be right. It's a kind of press-gang, which Wright and others are right to hold out against.

And by the way Graham, I think Tom Wright's views on justification have been misunderstood. He is as fully committed to the doctine of substitutionary atonement as any evangelical scolar in the UK or the US. He may not seem as clear-cut as we would like on the issue of when justification takes effect: at the moment of conversion or in the final judgement. But then the apostle James also said that justification was validated by works ("faith without works is dead"), which necessarily come after and not before conversion.

I think Tom Wright is a voice that not only Anglicans but also all the rest of us need to start listening to, on the subject of GAFCON and on every other issue that he addresses.

Gandalf-

Why not do your post in Word, then cut and paste into the box?

Gandalf
I agree - there isn't a huge divide between Wright and traditional evangelicals on salvation. I think part of the confusion stems from the fact that Wright hasn't finished his project on Paul.
He's a Christian that I have immense respect for.

Graham Veale