In this stimulating, accessible book, leading theologian Tom Wright explores the Christian hope of life beyond death, and the effect it has on the lives we lead now. He explains why Christians believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus, and how this bears upon the future hope of a new...
In this stimulating, accessible book, leading theologian Tom Wright explores the Christian hope of life beyond death, and the effect it has on the lives we lead now. He explains why Christians believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus, and how this bears upon the future hope of a new heaven and a new earth.
Lively and accessible, this book will surprise and excite all who are interested in the meaning of life not only after death but before it.
* What do Christians hope for?
* To leave this wicked world and go to 'heaven'?
* For the 'kingdom of God' to grow gradually on earth?
* What do we mean by the 'resurrection of the body', and how does that fit with the popular image of sitting on clouds playing harps?
* And how does all this affect the way we live in the here and now?
Tom Wright, one of our leading theologians, addresses these questions in this provocative and wide-ranging new book. He outlines the present confusion about future hope in both church and world. Then, having explained why Christians believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus himself, he explores the biblical hope for 'new heavens and new earth', and shows how the 'second coming' of Jesus, and the eventual resurrection, belong within that larger picture, together with the intermediate hope for 'heaven'. For many, including many Christians, all this will come as a great surprise.
Wright convincingly argues that what we believe about life after death directly affects what we believe about life before death. For if God intends to renew the whole creation - and if this has already begun in Jesus' resurrection - the church cannot stop at 'saving souls', but must anticipate the eventual renewal by working for God's kingdom in the wider world, bringing healing and hope in the present life. ***-Publisher.***
Tom Wright outlines the present confusion about future hope in both church and world. Wright convincingly argues that what we believe about life after death directly affects what we believe about life before death. This book will surprise and excite all who are interested in the meaning of life not only after death but before it.
In this stimulating, accessible book, leading theologian Tom Wright explores the Christian hope of life beyond death, and the effect it has on the lives we lead now. He explains why Christians believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus, and how this bears upon the future hope of a new...
In this stimulating, accessible book, leading theologian Tom Wright explores the Christian hope of life beyond death, and the effect it has on the lives we lead now. He explains why Christians believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus, and how this bears upon the future hope of a new heaven and a new earth.
Lively and accessible, this book will surprise and excite all who are interested in the meaning of life not only after death but before it.
* What do Christians hope for?
* To leave this wicked world and go to 'heaven'?
* For the 'kingdom of God' to grow gradually on earth?
* What do we mean by the 'resurrection of the body', and how does that fit with the popular image of sitting on clouds playing harps?
* And how does all this affect the way we live in the here and now?
Tom Wright, one of our leading theologians, addresses these questions in this provocative and wide-ranging new book. He outlines the present confusion about future hope in both church and world. Then, having explained why Christians believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus himself, he explores the biblical hope for 'new heavens and new earth', and shows how the 'second coming' of Jesus, and the eventual resurrection, belong within that larger picture, together with the intermediate hope for 'heaven'. For many, including many Christians, all this will come as a great surprise.
Wright convincingly argues that what we believe about life after death directly affects what we believe about life before death. For if God intends to renew the whole creation - and if this has already begun in Jesus' resurrection - the church cannot stop at 'saving souls', but must anticipate the eventual renewal by working for God's kingdom in the wider world, bringing healing and hope in the present life. ***-Publisher.***
Tom Wright outlines the present confusion about future hope in both church and world. Wright convincingly argues that what we believe about life after death directly affects what we believe about life before death. This book will surprise and excite all who are interested in the meaning of life not only after death but before it.
Surprised By Hope: Re-Thinking Heaven, Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church$29.99
Koorong code335535
ISBN9780281064779
Pages352
PublisherSociety For Promoting Christian Knowledge Spck
I don't think any other book has had such a profound impact on my understanding of God and the world than this one. Tom Wright has a gift for explaining complex theology in ways that everyday people can understand, and in Surprised By Hope he uses that skill to answer the big questions about Heaven, hell and the afterlife. What happens when we die? And what did Jesus actually achieve with his life, death and resurrection? If you haven't read any of NT Wright's works yet, this is a good introduction.
A
Anonymous
I recommend this product
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
13 years ago
Life after 'life after death'
Before I read this book I believed in the resurrection from the dead at an intellectual level, yet I admit that I still had the picture at the back of mind from popular culture that our ultimate fate when we died was a sort of disembodied eternal existence in heaven. I hadn't really thought too much about the distinction between the two, but this book by N T Wright articulates why there is a much greater hope than bliss in heaven, but rather a life after 'life after death', one which motivates us to live our lives now as part of God's will and kingdom on earth, as it is in heaven. Wright helps clear up some of the confusion about what the Bible says about life after death, especially the view of a soul leaving the body to go to heaven isn't a defeat of death. Our ultimate hope lies in a new heaven and a new earth, with Christ returning, heaven coming to earth to be united with it, and us being resurrected into eternal, noncorruptible bodies. There is much in this book to be considered, I'm still taking it all in and comparing it with the Scriptures, and if I don't end up agreeing with absolutely everything at least it will have been immensely helpful to have a different perspective on the topic.
