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A review by crummeyforthewin
Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church by N.T. Wright
5.0
This book was fantastic, and changed the way I think about eschatology and the resurrection.
It's divided into three parts. In the first, Wright briefly traces some misconceptions around the content of the gospel message, particularly around the future hope of the Christian (a misconception which, as he points out, is unfortunately held by both Christians as well as non-Christians), as well as briefly address some of the arguments against the historicity of the resurrection, since the resurrection is the key to our future hope. He doesn't dwell to long on establishing the credibility of the resurrection (having done that in other books), but points out the resurrection fits in with Jesus' ministry, is novel enough that it wouldn't have been made up, explains the subsequent behaviour of the early church (as well as the content of the gosple it proclaimed), and could have easily been disproved.
The second part of the book details how the early church's message and life was shaped by their understanding of the resurrection, which also shaped their understanding of the future hope of Christians. Wright repeats, almost to the point of repetitiveness, that the future hope was, and is, a bodily resurrection within God's new created cosmos, and that this future new creation has already broken into the present through the resurrection of Jesus, and continues to break into the present through the lives of those who have been baptised into his death and resurrection, empowered by his Spirit. One of the most interesting teachings for me was his explanation of heaven, not as something "up there" which we go to when we die, but as a way of describing the place where God's will is done perfectly, which intersects with our world in beautiful and surprising ways (such as prayer, worship, the sacraments, mission, etc.).
In the third section Wright briefly outlines how a church shaped by this understanding of the resurrection and the future hope, a new heaven and earth which is already breaking into the present, should shape the life of the church. Here his ideas are a little more broad (although he does focus on working for justice, beauty, and the role of evangelism), but I sense it is because he is providing an overview rather than a step by step guide. I enjoy much of what he had to say here, particularly around the Christian's task of creating and celebrating beauty, but did feel that he was simply repeating himself a little bit here.
Therefore, I highly recommend this book to anyone, Christian or not, who wants to learn what the big deal about the resurrection is anyway. I especially recommend it for it's ability to help Christians form and articulate a fuller view of salvation; it's not just about saving souls for heaven, but inviting people to accept God's invitation to re-create them, through love, forgiveness, and the power of His Spirit, just as He is recreating the whole of the universe.
It's divided into three parts. In the first, Wright briefly traces some misconceptions around the content of the gospel message, particularly around the future hope of the Christian (a misconception which, as he points out, is unfortunately held by both Christians as well as non-Christians), as well as briefly address some of the arguments against the historicity of the resurrection, since the resurrection is the key to our future hope. He doesn't dwell to long on establishing the credibility of the resurrection (having done that in other books), but points out the resurrection fits in with Jesus' ministry, is novel enough that it wouldn't have been made up, explains the subsequent behaviour of the early church (as well as the content of the gosple it proclaimed), and could have easily been disproved.
The second part of the book details how the early church's message and life was shaped by their understanding of the resurrection, which also shaped their understanding of the future hope of Christians. Wright repeats, almost to the point of repetitiveness, that the future hope was, and is, a bodily resurrection within God's new created cosmos, and that this future new creation has already broken into the present through the resurrection of Jesus, and continues to break into the present through the lives of those who have been baptised into his death and resurrection, empowered by his Spirit. One of the most interesting teachings for me was his explanation of heaven, not as something "up there" which we go to when we die, but as a way of describing the place where God's will is done perfectly, which intersects with our world in beautiful and surprising ways (such as prayer, worship, the sacraments, mission, etc.).
In the third section Wright briefly outlines how a church shaped by this understanding of the resurrection and the future hope, a new heaven and earth which is already breaking into the present, should shape the life of the church. Here his ideas are a little more broad (although he does focus on working for justice, beauty, and the role of evangelism), but I sense it is because he is providing an overview rather than a step by step guide. I enjoy much of what he had to say here, particularly around the Christian's task of creating and celebrating beauty, but did feel that he was simply repeating himself a little bit here.
Therefore, I highly recommend this book to anyone, Christian or not, who wants to learn what the big deal about the resurrection is anyway. I especially recommend it for it's ability to help Christians form and articulate a fuller view of salvation; it's not just about saving souls for heaven, but inviting people to accept God's invitation to re-create them, through love, forgiveness, and the power of His Spirit, just as He is recreating the whole of the universe.