Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church by N. T. Wright Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church
Book Review: Politics
Summary: 1 Stars
N.T Wright may be a great New Testament scholar, but he needs to keep his politics out of his books. I bought this to get some insights on how death as sleep reflects 1st century Jewish culture, or similar insights. Instead, Wright express his belief that the popularity of dispensationalism in America is explained as a political ploy to allow General Motors to pollute the environment. This opinion appears not once, but twice. In a 200 page book. The heroic assumption that all right thinking people will agree with his view is breathtaking. How about limiting yourself to one controversial assertion at a time?Book Review: An LDS Perspective On the Book
Summary: 4 Stars
Reading this book was interesting becasue his discussion of "Paradise" as being an intermediate state between death and ressurection. This is exactly on point with LDS belief on what happens after death.
The concept of "Paradise" as being an intermediate state, as articulated by N.T. Wright, is clearly explained in The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ (Official Edition) in chapter 40 of the Book of Alma.
The Book of Mormon, first published in 1830, clearly teaches that "there is a time appointed unto men that they shall rise from the dead; and there is a space between the time of death and the resurrection"(Alma 40:9) and that "concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection--Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life." (Alma 40:11)
Now, N.T's Wright isn't LDS but a Angelican Christian. I don't know how Mr. Wright feels about an "LDS" reading/interpretation of his book in which one LDS reader sees much agreement between his book and LDS theology. Perhaps he would be happy by it or maybe he would be unhappy with the fact that his book happens to broadly reflect LDS theology on Heaven, Paradise and other theological issues of life after death.
I hope he understands my respect and enjoyment in his book and that it was refreshing to read this book since he provides well thought out explanation of Christian beliefs and uses evidence to back up his ideas. For me personally, I enjoyed it because much of what he explained in the book just happen to line up with LDS theology on life after death.
Book Review: Strikingly similar to arguments made in ACTS OF GOD, Book 3 of THE CHRIST CLONE TRILOGY
Summary: 5 Stars
Bishop Tom Wright's explanation of what happens to the Christian after death is strikingly similar to that presented in the novel ACTS OF GOD, Book 3 of THE CHRIST CLONE TRILOGY. I am pleased to see this scholarly presentation of those ideas. There is, however, one thing that Bishop Wright has not factored into his account, to wit, God is not subject to the restrictions of time.
In truth, the Bible presents a paradox concerning what happens to the dead. From the following verses it is clear that the dead are unaware until their resurrection: Psalms 6:5 and 115:17-18; Isaiah 38:18-19; Job 14:12 and 19:25-27; Luke 14:13-14; Acts 2:29-34; I Corinthians 15:22-23 and 15:51-52. And, yet, the following verses indicate an immediate or near-immediate transition into God's presence: Luke 23:43; Philippians 1:23.
This is where the issue of time comes in. To make this simple, consider the 1960 movie THE TIME MACHINE with Rod Taylor. From his time machine Rod Taylor watched what was going on around him in fast motion because he traveled *through* time. Contrast that with time travel in BACK TO THE FUTURE. When Marty McFly and Doc Brown traveled forward in the DeLorean, they traveled instantly, jumping *across* time, from one point to another without experiencing any passage of time themselves.
When a Christian dies, he does not travel through time as Rod Taylor did (and as we all do, though at normal speed). The dying Christian closes his eyes to life and passes across time to the point of Christ's return and the resurrection. Why is it necessary to add this "science fiction" touch to Bishop Wright's thesis? Because, simply, it is the only way to reconcile the paradox without ignoring or discounting verses like Luke 23:43; Philippians 1:23.
Book Review: Perhaps Wright's Most Important Book...
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the finest articulation of what the Bible and Earliest Christians ACTUALLY hoped for.
In terms of theology and scripture study truly intersecting and informing our "everyday lives"...there is none like this book.
This book gives us a weighty answer to the question, "What, ultimately, do we hope for in response to death?"
This might prove to be the most important book Wright gives to pastors, Christian teachers, and followers of Jesus. I've read all of his others...and, they all certainly have their own unique place and voice (especially his big Christian Origins series)...but, there is something about this one.
Maybe it is the scope...maybe it is how alarmingly (and probably scarily for some) practical it is...to those of us still soaked in the idea that God's end game is "souls escaping the world for Heaven's clouds" it may seem so foreign...to those of us who have embraced a God who is more concerned with Reshaping, Restoring and Resurrecting His Good World, it will be invigorating and energizing (especially for mission).
What a task! Wright wrote a book about what we can and must ultimately hope for: a good world fully restored. We are all indebted to N. T. Wright for this masterpiece.