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Loading... Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of…by N. T. Wright
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  jd234512 | Sep 20, 2009 |  It’s no secret. I read pretty much everything that Bishop Wright writes. I was particularly excited by the subtitle of this book. This is an area I feel we all could use some clarity in. Here’s the short version of the book. Story #1: Believe that Jesus died for your personal sins and accept him as your personal Saviour so you can go to heaven when you die. True, but highly incomplete. Story #2: In the resurrection, heaven has broken into earth. As we follow Jesus, we do things that will last until that day when God will recreate the heavens and the earth. I started this book hoping to hear some interesting stuff about heaven and hell. I came away from it more excited than ever for what we are able to do today. I especially appreciate how this way of understanding eschatology puts the gospels back in the centre of the faith. In Story #1, the gospels are pretty much prologue to the belief system that Paul mastered later on in the first century. There’s far more to this book than I’ve said here. If you want to demuddle the Christian doctrine of life (after life) after death, and come away challenged to make a difference in the world, read this book. (  ) StephenBarkley | Jul 28, 2009 | susansw | May 24, 2009 | N T Wright is probably the theologian I would happily defend to the death, were I to subscribe whole heartedly to Christian orthodoxy. But I'm not in the mood for a scholarly tome so this gets marked down for dragging its heels. It would be helpful to have a neat and tidy summary up front for those of us who just want the author to get to the point, which in this case is: what do the new testament writers REALLY say happens after death? It's a fascinating read which really deserves more stars. Bring on the new earth. (  ) mcur | Oct 13, 2008 | andrewb47 | Sep 6, 2008 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0061551821, Hardcover)For years Christians have been asking, "If you died tonight, do you know where you would go?" It turns out that many believers have been giving the wrong answer. It is not heaven. Award-winning author N. T. Wright outlines the present confusion about a Christian's future hope and shows how it is deeply intertwined with how we live today. Wright, who is one of today's premier Bible scholars, asserts that Christianity's most distinctive idea is bodily resurrection. He provides a magisterial defense for a literal resurrection of Jesus and shows how this became the cornerstone for the Christian community's hope in the bodily resurrection of all people at the end of the age. Wright then explores our expectation of "new heavens and a new earth," revealing what happens to the dead until then and what will happen with the "second coming" of Jesus. For many, including many Christians, all this will come as a great surprise. Wright convincingly argues that what we believe about life after death directly affects what we believe about life before death. For if God intends to renew the whole creation—and if this has already begun in Jesus's resurrection—the church cannot stop at "saving souls" but must anticipate the eventual renewal by working for God's kingdom in the wider world, bringing healing and hope in the present life. Lively and accessible, this book will surprise and excite all who are interested in the meaning of life, not only after death but before it. (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:10 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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This is truly a book that should be read and at least considered by many folks in western Christianity. N.T. Wright is not someone who seems to be controversial, but rather truly seeks to understand what the Scriptures say(and from a conservative perspective I might add). We were entrusted to usher in the Kingdom of God and that should look hopeful("Good News"), but many times our actions do not reflect this hope. Wright sends us off from this book with much to consider and a return to that responsibility of continuing what was started in Jesus' time on Earth and what He called us to at this point.
This should stir people up into thinking solely of Heaven and back to the present times.
The only criticism I have of this work is that the "alternative" to Heaven that is offered does not seem to differ other than simple semantics. This is passable in that it is not the main focus of the book, but I would appreciate more time being given by him to expound on this idea and give it a little more bulk. (