After reading this, I can honestly pun that I was rather surprised by Wright’s ‘Surprised by Hope.’ Namely, I was taken aback by the books shear profundity and paradigm-shifting intellectual eloquence. This book is a veritable tour-de-force (to employ an overused reviewer’s cliché) covering a monumental amount of ground with a panache and verve I understand is characteristic of the Bishop of Durham (this is the first book of his that I have read). Essentially, Wright thesis is that Christian’s have been far too heavily influenced by Platonic theological meanderings and Gnostic philosophical vestiges which view the physical work very negatively and believe that ultimate end of man is a spiritual other-worldly afterlife. As such, many Christians in the modern church, irrespective of denomination, believe that heaven is the final stop after death. Using cleaver and scholarly Biblical exposition, Wright shows how this is not the case and that our stop in ‘heaven’ with Jesus is only a temporary respite until the final (bodily) resurrection. Of note: I have read Wright’s views caricatured as soul-sleep, but the fair Bishop is not a Jehovah’s Witness by any means and states quite emphatically that the dead in Christ are in conscious knowledge of the Saviour. But, as profound as that is, this book offers more than that. Besides presenting a corrective to aberrant end-of-life doctrines which have crept into the church over the centuries, Wright also convincingly rebuts the prevailing philosophical paradigm of “evolutionary progress” whereby mankind can somehow bring about a paradise through it the wiles of its own ‘genius.’ Furthermore, Wright absolutely eviscerates Dispensationalism, the prevailing eschatological view of Conservative American Protestants and Fundamentalists. Erudite, flowing and profound, this is a book I can heartily recommend to all Christians. Don’t be surprised, but It will change the way you think. ( )

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. ( )

The ultimate goal of the Christian life is not heaven. Even more, the ultimate end of the Christian life is not heaven. We are destined for resurrection – a “life after, life after death” which begins even now as we work for the building of God’s kingdom and ultimate renewal of creation. After some lengthy introductory material, Wright’s work is essentially two parts: what scripture says about resurrection (and a number of related themes) and what this means for the mission of the church. As typical, Wright’s exegesis is spot-on (informed, historical, and balanced). Wright’s comments on the mission of the church are challenging and appropriate, but – at times – unrelated (or indirectly related) to a particular text. A ( )