N. T. Wright deals with the meaning of salvation in Surprised by Hope. He examines it in the context of Scripture, exposing the false concept of salvation that most western Christians embrace. Wright states that the normal western Christian view is "that salvation is about 'my relationship with God' in the present and about 'going home to God and finding peace' in the future." Wright then adds, "This is simply not what the New Testament teaches."

My purpose here is not to deal with salvation per se, but to simply use it to illustrate how far off course western Christianity has strayed. If something as basic as salvation is skewed, how much is the rest of our theology twisted to the extent that it bears little or no resemblance to the truth of Scripture?

At the risk of being simplistic, I think a primary culprit in our corruption of the Scriptures is our interpreting them from an individualistic man-centered perspective. When interpreted from a corporate God-centered perspective, they take on a radically different meaning.

We desperately need Spirit-inspired scholarly study of the Scriptures in their original context if we are to recalibrate and redefine western Christianity to the intent of original Scripture.