Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church by N. T. Wright Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $14.88 You Save: $10.07 (40%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $12.99 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church
Book Review: Not All It Could Have Been
Summary: 2 Stars
While I respect Wright's scholarship and some of his previous books, this one strikes me as notes and thoughts strung together in time to reach an Easter market. Some of his thoughts about the resurrection are interesting, even enlightening, but difficult to follow. As a teacher myself, I know I sometimes gather lectures from many sources and attempt to turn them into a coherent whole. One chapter might have sufficed for the theme of this book or even a good sermon. Maybe he should have followed the advice of a former teacher I had: "Keep it simple; it will get complex all by itself."Book Review: Phenomenal
Summary: 5 Stars
Rob Bell may have been right when he said that this book is N. T. Wright at his best.
With Surprised by Hope Wright begins with a characteristic examination of the New Testament idea of resurrection and then delves into Paul(mainly) to show how a proper understanding of a theology of New Creation will shape every facet of Christianity. The bishop scrutinizes most of today's popular notions of eschatology and does so by simply appealing to scripture. From here he offers, in light of his understanding of "inaugurated eschatology", what perhaps the new creation that has been set loose on Earth in the form of the Church ought to look like, with all of the social, political, sacramental, and other implications of that along for the read.
SBH also offers the reader insight into the whole of Wright's theology and you begin to see how well-intertwined all of his own thought is. He's never hesitant to admit where his own understanding on a topic is lacking--which is refreshing--but he's also constantly calling the assumptions of contemporary Christian thought into question on account of what the scripture seems to be saying. All of this is certainly typical of Wright's work, but, given the range of his application of this new perspective on eschatology and given the popular-level nature of this book, I think that Surprised by Hope may serve as a perfect introduction to Wright for anyone who has been interested in his work but hesitant to dive in. The frequent referencing of his own works would provide a nice spring-board into Wright from SBH for the new-reader, as well as more in-depth treatments of many of the book's topics for those curious to explore further.
Book Review: Brilliant explanations by the Bishop of Durham
Summary: 3 Stars
I was impressed by the explanations that NT Wright gives in his book.
Wright is especially good on explaining the metaphors in Hebrews 1 :-
In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will roll them up like a robe;
like a garment they will be changed.
The heavens and earth will be rolled up and discarded, in the way that clothes are changed.
The old clothes that have perished are thrown away, and replaced with new clothes.
The old clothes are rolled up and thrown away.
As I said, Wright is very good on explaining this 'clothing' metaphor, which many people up to now have failed to understand.
Book Review: Surprised by Hope
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a very wonderful book, which is poorly titled. I never quite found a hope for which I was surprised -- that is because Wright stayed close to Scriptures. The weak link in the book was when he fired off on the social agenda and tried to mask it with Scripture. I did not disagree with the reality of the problem, but I did disagree that it was the worst problem facing our world and faith. He weakened what would have been a 5 star book.Book Review: N.T. Wright At His Best
Summary: 4 Stars
N.T. Wright has written another brilliant work echoing he previously published masterpiece on the resurrection. Wright's expounds on a Christian hope firmly rooted in the Biblical narrative that longs for new creation.
In a world where the radio orthodoxy of Christianity espouses a gospel of fire insurance, Wright correctly and articulates a gospel and hope for so much more than disembodied bliss. "God's Kingdom in the preaching of Jesus refers not to postmortem destiny, not to our escape from this world into another one, but to God's sovereign rule coming on earth as it is in heaven".
Our hope according to Wright is not "going to heaven when you die" but rather in life after life after death. We hope not for an escape from this earth, but to the glorious day when God will make all things new.
Readers of this book may find the lack of eschatological certainty within the book frustrating. In a Christian sub-culture where end-times charts and elaborate explanations of the book of Revelation are the norm, Wright is careful to show that Christian eschatology is not about a certitude of specific events yet to come, but rather a hope for a renewed earth. Eschatology must be viewed as sign posts guiding our way through a fog rather than a detailed map.
Wright's comments in chapter 12 on the meaning of salvation are worth the price of the book, and his restatement of the doctrine of hell in chapter 11 is worth twice the price of the book. How we view the gospel, and the death and resurrection of Jesus greatly determines how our definition and the outworking of salvation.
In short, this is N.T. Wright at his best. A foremost expert on the resurrection of Jesus and the implications of Christ's defeat of death on eschatology and future hope, Wright has given us a clear, readable, and deeply Biblical picture of Christian hope.