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Surprised By Hope (a review)
Surprised By Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church
N.T. Wright
Harper Collins—Religion | Theology – Eschatology | Church Life
295 Pages
“Surprised By Hope is this generations Mere Christianity,” commented a fellow pastor here in the city of San Francisco. There has been a great deal of attention paid in the media to this work from a spot on Nightline and The Colbert Report to an article in TIME Magazine and an insightful interview by Brian Lowery in Preaching Today (among many others). Each article and interview seems to deal more with his conclusions rather than the framework by which he works to arrive at those conclusions (a good third to half of the book creates the framework through which his conclusions are derived.)
Wright concludes from his extensive New Testament research that our understanding of the afterlife is incomplete and because we fall short in our understanding we’ve constructed an after-life that is completely foreign to the understanding of the New Testament and early Christians. Instead of living out eternity in heaven (according to Colbert it entails getting a harp, drinking a mint julep and asking Ronald Reagan questions) singing songs to God all day while sitting on clouds, heaven is a mere step in the process before life after life after death occurs when the new heaven and the new earth are merged into one as described at the end of Revelation.
Therefore, the Christian response is to work towards new creation not sitting back to wait for the end of the world to occur. Perhaps what is most intriguing about this position is Wright alludes to and at several points calls out the fact that many Christians, including those in the United States are contributing more to the destruction of the world instead of new creation. We participate in this destruction with how we treat the environment (pollution, nuclear proliferation, destruction of rain forests and other environmental concerns) as well as how we treat others through economic slavery (the insurmountable debt we place upon third world countries, trade regulations, etc) and a slew of other ways. None of these hep to bring about new creation, but instead play into the systematic injustice of the worlds ruling structure.
Perhaps the most important thing to recognize about this book is the underlying thesis that your eschatological position truly does determine how you act and respond in the world. If you live as if “Left Behind” and the Rapture are to occur (Wright does a great job of de-bunking pop-theologies interpretation of 1 Thessalonians 4) then there is no reason to give a rip about anything on this planet, from poverty and economics to war and violence and the only point become “saving souls” in a very gnostic understanding so that our spirit can enjoy life in the spiritual realm.
This is hands down the best book I have ever read. The call to action integrated with the amazing framework created by Wright for you to enjoy in Part 1 is a veritable playground for the mind.
6 Responses to “Surprised By Hope (a review)”
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Hey Monts, dig the new set-up.
Indeed, a very good book (I don’t know about best book though – this isn’t even in the top two or three Wright books that I’ve read). Who would have thought that a resurrection centered eschatology would be thought of as new or strange. That shows us how far we have drifted from the biblical message. Reading this book (and studying the speeches of Acts) really made me rethink how I preach. The resurrection was always on the lips of the first Christians – no matter the context or the audience, but contemporary Christians talk about the resurrection only rarely and quickly when they do. But really the resurrection should animate everything that we do as Christians and as the church.
If you want some other thought provoking books on eschatology – pick up Bauckham’s Hope against Hope or Conyers’ The Eclipse of Heaven.
Thanks for the book recommendations Rags!
Honestly, I haven’t read very much Wright (only 5 of his minor works) but this is by far the best and perhaps the most influential for the church towards not only a positive eschatology but a tangible missiology. He gives a backbone for social justice that hasn’t been there in some time and perhaps that’s why it’s so “revolutionary” in our day and age.
It’s always ‘bothered’ me that we don’t take Easter seriously… even on Easter. I’ve attended churches where the 4th of July and Veterans Day were more heavily celebrated than Easter itself, and that’s never really sat well with me… as I search for a “cause” it seems clear that this happens (in my experience) in the churches that celebrate Communion haphazardly, not in how they celebrate it but in its frequency. Could it be the reason we’ve ventured down this path as a Church is because we have failed to respond to the resurrection on a regular, weekly basis?
There’s something that I think is explicit in Luke’s gospel with the two on the road to Emmaus, they’re eyes weren’t opened to the resurrected Christ until he broke bread with them. Communion/Eucharist is our eye opening experience with resurrection and when we skip out or take it lightly we forget why we gather and what our purpose is.
Thoughts?
Yes, you are absolutely right. They are connected, but it is hard to identify whether a lack of resurrection theology has led to a cheapening of worship (especially communion) or whether it is the other way around.
I think that Wright’s observation is correct that we are reaping the long embedded influence of Greek thought in our faith. It is so deeply embedded, that most Christians don’t even give it a second thought. This is just the way that most Christians have been trained to think through the years. Just look at a hymnal (if you can find one). I’ve done this exercise recently (in an abreviated way). Go through and look at the songs with an explicit eschatology. What you will find is that the vast majority will promote either escapism or triumphalism. A precious few talk about our promise for resurrection (even if they do happen to mention Jesus’ resurrection), and even fewer talk in any way about a new heaven and earth.
I also think that laziness and a lack of creativity has crept into our theology. It takes creative thinking to identify what the new creation has to do with healthy marriages (which it does). It is easier simply to preach a self-help type of sermon on having a healthy marriage. It is also much easier to talk of some vague, pop-culture image of “heaven” than it is to talk of a new heaven and earth.
Western Christianity lazy? Never! No creativity? Shut your mouth!
So, I take it you’re staying true to Western tradition at the big O and teaching a gnostic dualism hell bent on escaping this God forsaken planet, right?
I’m continually amazed at how much we overlook eschatology in the church considering how formative it is for who we, how we respond to and how we live in this world. It took us an awful long time to end up where we are today with the cheap & easy theology of “your best life now” and reversing that path seems nearly impossible.
Because of this post, I purchased this book today – I look forward to reading it. And then commenting. You may or may not like it
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I have had the book for what feels like years, and Im still not done. Just one of those books that I have to sit down for a while and go and ponder it for a bit. I definitely think he is in sync what I have felt for years. While I may not be at the point where some thing the “return” has already come, I do think we clearly cant focus our whole approach to Jesus and living a life of Christ on the one day I’ll fly away mentality. Good review man.