2009 Christianity Today Book Award of Merit in Theology and Ethics
"If you died tonight, do you know where you would go?" Christians for many years have been asking this question. As award-winning author N.T. Wright points out however, the answer isn't heaven. In Surprised by Hope, Wright, 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.
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.
Wright, one of the greatest, and certainly most prolific, Bible scholars in the world, will touch a nerve with this book. What happens when we die? How should we think about heaven, hell, purgatory and eternal life? Wright critiques the views of heaven that have become regnant in Western culture, especially the assumption of the continuance of the soul after death in a sort of blissful non-bodily existence. This is simply not Christian teaching, Wright insists. The New Testament's clear witness is to the resurrection of the body, not the migration of the soul. And not right away, but only when Jesus returns in judgment and glory. The "paradise," the experience of being "with Christ" spoken of occasionally in the scriptures, is a period of waiting for this return. But Christian teaching of life after death should really be an emphasis on "life after life after death"—the resurrection of the body, which is also the ground for all faithful political action, as the last part of this book argues. Wright's prose is as accessible as it is learned—an increasingly rare combination. No one can doubt his erudition or the greatness of the churchmanship of the Anglican Bishop of Durham. One wonders, however, at the regular citation of his own previous work. And no other scholar can get away so cleanly with continuing to propagate the "hellenization thesis," by which the early church is eventually polluted by contaminating Greek philosophical influence. (Feb.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars(4.5 out of 5 stars)
7 of 7 Reviews Showing:
5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Rick Shipley (Knoxville, TN), April 24, 2009
As one would expect, Tom Wright is a bastion of orthodoxy as he cuts through the cultural additions made over the centuries and brings out the true "faith of our fathers" concerning "life after life." Wright's style is one of both academic brilliance and a fatherly spiritual mentor as he methodically works through the epistemological and historical issues to illuminate an orthodox Christian view of death and life after death. Readers will be able to relate well to his discussions about how non-Christian, even pagan beliefs, have infiltrated Christian thought. Indeed a strong defense of orthodox Christian belief in a literal bodily resurrection (of Jesus and believers) and how this belief should drive us to embrace a hope that mimics Christ's downward mobility toward humanity by loving and serving others. This book should energize the church to "love our neighbor as ourselves" in this life, love and appreciate God's "good creation," and find a balance between "saving souls" and "serving souls."
5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Red (Detroit, MI), January 10, 2009
This book does a great job of undoing the mess of theology we have made in the US. I'd note to one of the other reviewers that one of Wright's points is specifically that our faith has been twisted to focus too much on our "individual" destinies. Once you are alive in Christ, a whole world of life opens up, including life in faith community.
3 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Alvin Hebert (Houston, Texas), July 21, 2008
I found Surprised by Hope revealing and inspiring, as well as a bit of a let down. Wright's ideas about our lives after death actually beginning with Jesus and His resurrection, and, our bodies and all of creation being eventually renewed by God for an eternity existence are enlightening, refreshing and very convincing and believable. However, after reading the book, I was a bit let down, too. Maybe, I was expecting far too much, although I must admit that what he presented is a lot more than has ever before been presented in this light. I felt he spent too much effort trying to justify and build a role for the church, a manmade institution, in helping us get to our lives after death and too little effort addressing our "individual" lives after death. There should be such a role for the church, however, the fact is that the church has chosen a different role for itself. That being justifying it's existence as a "buffer" between God and us. I am looking more toward my needs as an individual. After all, as Wright says, we don't need (agents) to represent us before God. We can go to Him and to Jesus directly. Surprised by Hope is refreshing and new, though. Wright's ideas are welcomed, indeed.
5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Natasha Mwangi (Scarborough, On,), July 15, 2008
I bought it as a gift for my husband. It must be good because a few days before I received this book, I found this book in a bag of his which he had purchased himself!
5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Thomas Olson (Clearwater, FL), July 01, 2008
Bishop Wright has another must read book for you. He focuses on the dilution of the meaning of resurrection over the years and emphasizes the need to return to exactly what the early church knew and taught. Excellent, clear and provocative.
4.5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Tomas Axeland (Maple Ridge, Bc,), May 20, 2008
The book has great insight into the true Christian view of the resurrection, and makes an example of the ever-so-popular dualistic view of the body/spirit heaven/earth evangelicalism of today. Wright makes a point of telling all the moral and ethical conclusions of both views. Though the book is not an academic treatise, where some points could be further proven if the reader has read Wright before then this should not be a problem.
5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Donald (Arlington, TX), February 25, 2008
Wright once again provides a great book that is very readable and full of information that is vital for a proper understanding of heaven, the resurrection, and the mission of the church. Further, Wright also answers the question: Is the world getting better or worse?
I would recommend this to pastors, lay people, and anyone who wants to gain a fresh new understanding of what truly is "Christian Hope."
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