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Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church by N.T. Wright
moonsea97's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
adammuly's review
4.0
You’ll never think of heaven the same way again after reading this! But, it’s so very hopeful and a great course correction for getting back to the heart of Christian faith. Highly recommend.
roseleaf24's review against another edition
4.0
While I don't agree with everything here, Wright gets the resurrection right. This book is an important voice in a modern Christianity that doesn't even see what it's missing.
utalan's review against another edition
5.0
I wish so badly that I had read this when I was younger. What does the bible say happens after we die? More than that, how does the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus affect me now? Not a promise of eternity "in heaven," but eternal life now, life with Christ after I die, and life after life after death - in a new and glorified body. This should probably be on the list of books every Christian should read.
juliasilge's review against another edition
4.0
This is my first book by Anglican theologian [a:N.T. Wright|38932|N.T. Wright|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1262134375p2/38932.jpg] and I enjoyed it tremendously; his tone falls somewhere that combines scholarly and devotional but is not dry or overly academic or drippy. I found his main theme here really great and challenging in a good way: we as Christians don't take the resurrection of Jesus seriously enough, especially in what it means for the ultimate future of everybody and everything and what we should we occupied with in the present (including global poverty, third world debt, environmental issues, & so forth). I really appreciate Wright's extended case against Gnostic/Platonic dualism, because I think that colors a lot of my thinking without me realizing it.
Some other aspects of Wright's arguments were challenging to me in a different way-- Do we evangelicals really get our eschatology so wrong (i.e. the rapture and tribulation and so forth)? Is the evangelical understanding of baptism and communion as symbols only really so off target? Not that Wright's main point in this book is evangelical-bashing, by any means; he argues equally strongly against the errors of modernist liberal theology when it comes to denying the resurrection or whatever. Anyway, these smaller issues did not keep me from thinking more deeply and in new ways about his larger points. Really good.
Oh, and look! Wright was on The Colbert Report doing publicity for this very book.
Some other aspects of Wright's arguments were challenging to me in a different way-- Do we evangelicals really get our eschatology so wrong (i.e. the rapture and tribulation and so forth)? Is the evangelical understanding of baptism and communion as symbols only really so off target? Not that Wright's main point in this book is evangelical-bashing, by any means; he argues equally strongly against the errors of modernist liberal theology when it comes to denying the resurrection or whatever. Anyway, these smaller issues did not keep me from thinking more deeply and in new ways about his larger points. Really good.
Oh, and look! Wright was on The Colbert Report doing publicity for this very book.
abbsentminded's review against another edition
5.0
A great Easter read. Renew your wonder at the resurrection
kalagrace's review against another edition
4.0
This is a great exploration of what happens after you die and what it means for you (and the church as a whole) right now. It's a dense read, but I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about life after life after death, Christ's resurrection, our future, and how this great hope should affect your every moment.
chrisbaker1981's review against another edition
5.0
What a great book to read leading up to Easter! It explores the idea that the empty tomb means that the hope of the Christian is as much this-worldly and now as well as later.