Reviews - Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church

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166 reviews for:

Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church

If nothing else it has beaten the biblical understanding of the resurrection into my brain. Perhaps that was the point and by the time I got to the part about re-shaping the church for mission, I understood it. What you believe about death and the future will shape how live. If you think you go to some unbodied spiritual reality when you die, you won't give two hoots about this life and world. But the centre of our faith is the bodily resurrection of Jesus, and that's what is eventually in store for us as well. Felt very long and not very entry level, sometimes he quoted his larger work on this so often I felt like putting this down to go read that. Sometimes it was easy to read, at other times, really hard work. But I can't argue with the impact it's had on me.

grantklinefelter's review against another edition

5.0

What is our hope for the future? And what does that hope mean for us today? Is our hope a pie-in-the-sky hope of being whisked away to heaven? Wright offers a beautiful re-imagination for the modern Christian that reclaims the biblical reality of heaven. Heaven is not, as we often think, a distant far-off spiritual reality. On the contrary, heaven is the “hidden dimension of our ordinary life" (p. 19). When we reframe our spirituality around this reality, we will stop wishing for the day when we will escape this world, but rather will be active agents of the new creation that is springing up around us as we await for Christ to redeem and restore all that is broken. As we live into a realized eschatology, we can truly pray "Thy Kingdom come" and then go out and be a part of it.

bottleofink's review against another edition

3.5

informative slow-paced

lee_s's review against another edition

5.0

This is a book that every Christian should read. It brings biblical truth to questions regarding, the soul, the church, baptism, communion, and heaven and hell.

ncwalker2000's review against another edition

4.0

In Surprised by Hope, N.T. Wright wants you to reconsider the untested assumptions you are operating under with regards to death, resurrection and life after death. By exploring the teachings of Jesus Paul and other biblical writers Wright establishes that much of what we think about life, death and the afterlife comes from enlightenment writers and not from 1st century beliefs about what God accomplished through Jesus' resurrection from the dead. There's far too much to say about it here. I definitely recommend reading it.

This book also has a practical bent to it. Wright hears the contemporary call for a "mission shaped church," and he adds that we need to recalibrate our eschatology so that our "mission shaped church" has a hope shaped mission." This hope comes from a fully formed understanding of the resurrection, and what it represents for us.

Wright says that resurrection doesn't mean escaping from earth for a body-less existence in heaven, at least not to the biblical writers. It means a new life (a life after life-after-death) a mission to the world based on Jesus' freshly established authority. "Resurrection is not just a surprise happy ending for one person; it is ... the point at which all the old promises come true at last: David's unshakable kingdom, Israel's return from greatest exile of them all, that all the nations would be blessed through the seed of Abraham." (p. 236) Now that is a surprise!

maxwelldunn's review against another edition

4.0

This was enlightening. Quite a long read for a theological non-fiction work, at least for me, someone who doesn't often read this material. However, Wright is obviously extremely knowledgeable, writes in a way that is intriguing, inspiring, and causes you to think about your own beliefs. I enjoyed it.

rick_sam's review against another edition

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. I loved his analogy of Wittgenstein's poker with Karl Popper. I'm glad I read this book, as Wright emphasizes our idea of heaven simply is Platonism, disembodied spirit going to heaven. The Christian life, as Wright describes, "Life after Life after death." It is the God's kingdom on earth and we will be *bodily* raised just as Christ was raised. Our present life matters, each act matters. God's kingdom is already here, it started with Christ, as he defeated death and sin. He also says, after we die, we will be Christ in paradise but that's not the end. He really emphasizes that it is not the end. If you are looking on broadening your perspective, definitely do read Wright.