I recently picked up N.T. Wright's latest, Surprised by Hope. Tom Wright, the Bishop of Durham (U.K.), is an erudite New Testament scholar who has the ability to publish incredible amounts of work in short periods of time. His latest, frankly, has had the greatest impact on me than any other theological work in recent memory. Not because what he said was necessarily new - but that he synthesized resurrection, death, and hope in such a profound way that it causes one to really rethink everything.
There is little doubt that the overwhelming majority (say 98%?) of bible reading, church attending, faithful Christians believe that when we die - our souls leave our broken/diseased bodies and find themselves eternally in heaven with God. That same majority may even say that the whole point of being Christian is to enjoy that eternal life in heaven. But is that view biblical? Is is consonant with the early church? Is is orthodox?
N.T. Wright says absolutely not. He challenges the statements we sometimes make in passing; 'this body is temporary,' 'we are just passing through,' 'the body is but a shell,' etc., that not only promote a theology of escapism or evacuation but also promote a Platonic view of an evil material world and a holy spiritual world. If, at our death, our disembodied souls ascend to heaven and live forever with God, as wonderful as that is, is that really victory of death, Wright asks. If our resurrection is mainly concerned with the soul (as popular theology suggests), why did the gospel writers so strongly state that Christ's tomb was empty?
Wright's main point is that Christian hope is not life after death - rather it is 'life after life after death.' Christ's resurrection is victory over death. His resurrection is the prototype of our resurrection. His spirit did not escape the confines of the material world - the resurrection redeemed it - recreated it, and by doing so - defeated the power of death.
When we die, our souls go to paradise, heaven. We rest, we are at peace, we are with God. But that is not the end. It is not our final destination. We wait for the resurrection when the redeemed body and soul and made new and the heavens and the earth are recreated and joined together.
I can't summarize 300 pages of Wright's theology here, but let me add a couple of quick things. Not only does the resurrection give hope in the recreation of our own bodies - with body and soul - but the whole earth is to be redeemed, recreated. It makes sense doesn't it? If God created the heavens and the earth and it was good - it was perfect - wouldn't God's victory involve redeeming that creation and not just destroying it? Wright asks us to read Romans 8 and Revelation 21 in this light.
But furthermore, if in our baptism we die and are raised with Christ and we are already experiencing a foretaste of the resurrection as we are new creations (as St Paul said), then we are charged with changing the world - by being people of resurrection - new creations - we are called and charged to invite all of creation to participate in resurrection. Instead of escapism and evacuation, we are responsible (see the previous post) for the world and all that is in it. This deals with the environment and with social problems and everything in between.
I highly encourage the reading of Surprised by Hope. I highly encourage a seismic shift in theology.
3 comments:
Bishop Wright has touched on a common problem in our society that pervades many evanglelical churches. It is the resurrection of the heresy of gnosticism and rejection of tried and true incarnational theology. People have forgotten that Christ rose from the dead with a 'real' body. He sits at the right hand of the Father in a 'real' body. This dangerous idea of totally separating the body and spirit is making for bad theology in many evangelical circles. It has taught people that they will one day be raptured out of this mess of a world and they have forgotten that 'heaven and earth shall be one'. Many Christians forget about the miracle of the 'parousia' that happens each time we take Holy Communion and many more have forgotten that we will be resurrected from the dead to experience the New Heavens and New Earth.
Steve great to see you today. I love NT Wright, his little ____ for Everyone Commentaries, his collections of thematic meditations, and Simply Christian as well. See Steve,I don't bleed totally Baptist!
I am almost done reading this book now and I agree with your review fully. I have also read the little book Wright footnotes by David Lawrence "Heaven: It's Not The End Of The World." It is an extremely well laid out look at heaven through out scripture from OT and NT. It is also an easy read. A good one to recommended to people due to simple writing and short size.
Another I have just started is Heaven by Randy Alcorn. He has many of the same conclusions the two above works. With many more of the specific questions about heaven attempted to answer as well.
It is good to see the new studies and Biblical interest on the place where those who bend there knee to Jesus will spend the rest of their lives, creatively, thoughtfully, actively, emotionally, enjoying the New Earth, where God has chosen to dwell with man.
Steve, I miss the Wrangler's do you still have a pair of those? Do you still fit in those is the better question?
God Bless, Phillip
I read it last year when I was on my summer holidays. It transformed the way I thought about death (& Resurrection), and certainly tranformed my pastoral practice around funerals.
Fr. Dan
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