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Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church by N.T. Wright
dkatreads's review
5.0
One of the most paradigm - shifting books on Christian theology and living I've read. Wright shatters the incomplete narrative that says the gospel is simply a matter of justification and atonement, and invites the reader to see and believe how it stretches further--so much further, in fact, that it lands in eternity. This eternity, Wright reveals, full of such immense hope, is so poorly understand by the modern church as to be some disembodied, spiritual existence of constant worship. Rather, he demonstrates that our hope is in the promised coming of Christ's Kingdom here on Earth--not the same one, but a redeemed one, a remade one, one with ourselves actually in it, redeemed, remade, and resurrected too. Our future is not "up in heaven," but in this New Earth, Earth and heaven and all things as they were meant to be, with all the beauty of work and opportunity for creation that entails. And this, he argues, is the full promise of Christ. Not just salvation FROM sin, but salvation INTO an inheritance and Kingdom and resurrected body. This remaking of us and the world is why Christ came, and this is the story God has been writing and preparing us for since the beginning. It was always so much bigger than us.
One of the most helpful things this book accomplishes is its exposure of the far too many habits, practices, and common forms of speaking of the church that distort this truth and dim this hope. In response, Wright calls for vigilant hope - bringing among God's people--affirming our future as resurrected, bodily beings, celebrating and looking forward to the coming renewal of the Earth and even human culture / institutions, and speaking honestly and comprehensively about the Christian gospel as a grander narrative of world-shattering, life-changing hope.
One of the most helpful things this book accomplishes is its exposure of the far too many habits, practices, and common forms of speaking of the church that distort this truth and dim this hope. In response, Wright calls for vigilant hope - bringing among God's people--affirming our future as resurrected, bodily beings, celebrating and looking forward to the coming renewal of the Earth and even human culture / institutions, and speaking honestly and comprehensively about the Christian gospel as a grander narrative of world-shattering, life-changing hope.
moonsea97's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
adammuly's review against another edition
4.0
You’ll never think of heaven the same way again after reading this! But, it’s so very hopeful and a great course correction for getting back to the heart of Christian faith. Highly recommend.
roseleaf24's review
4.0
While I don't agree with everything here, Wright gets the resurrection right. This book is an important voice in a modern Christianity that doesn't even see what it's missing.
utalan's review
5.0
I wish so badly that I had read this when I was younger. What does the bible say happens after we die? More than that, how does the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus affect me now? Not a promise of eternity "in heaven," but eternal life now, life with Christ after I die, and life after life after death - in a new and glorified body. This should probably be on the list of books every Christian should read.
juliasilge's review
4.0
This is my first book by Anglican theologian [a:N.T. Wright|38932|N.T. Wright|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1262134375p2/38932.jpg] and I enjoyed it tremendously; his tone falls somewhere that combines scholarly and devotional but is not dry or overly academic or drippy. I found his main theme here really great and challenging in a good way: we as Christians don't take the resurrection of Jesus seriously enough, especially in what it means for the ultimate future of everybody and everything and what we should we occupied with in the present (including global poverty, third world debt, environmental issues, & so forth). I really appreciate Wright's extended case against Gnostic/Platonic dualism, because I think that colors a lot of my thinking without me realizing it.
Some other aspects of Wright's arguments were challenging to me in a different way-- Do we evangelicals really get our eschatology so wrong (i.e. the rapture and tribulation and so forth)? Is the evangelical understanding of baptism and communion as symbols only really so off target? Not that Wright's main point in this book is evangelical-bashing, by any means; he argues equally strongly against the errors of modernist liberal theology when it comes to denying the resurrection or whatever. Anyway, these smaller issues did not keep me from thinking more deeply and in new ways about his larger points. Really good.
Oh, and look! Wright was on The Colbert Report doing publicity for this very book.
Some other aspects of Wright's arguments were challenging to me in a different way-- Do we evangelicals really get our eschatology so wrong (i.e. the rapture and tribulation and so forth)? Is the evangelical understanding of baptism and communion as symbols only really so off target? Not that Wright's main point in this book is evangelical-bashing, by any means; he argues equally strongly against the errors of modernist liberal theology when it comes to denying the resurrection or whatever. Anyway, these smaller issues did not keep me from thinking more deeply and in new ways about his larger points. Really good.
Oh, and look! Wright was on The Colbert Report doing publicity for this very book.
kalagrace's review
4.0
This is a great exploration of what happens after you die and what it means for you (and the church as a whole) right now. It's a dense read, but I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about life after life after death, Christ's resurrection, our future, and how this great hope should affect your every moment.