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A review by mdewit
Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church by N.T. Wright
4.0
For many it seems as if the world has lost its meaning. For some, human beings are seen as little more than small cogs in a large machine, propelled forward by the forces of evolution. For others, humans are the ultimate threat to a planet in crises. For others, it is a temporarily place where one only passes through towards a better place. Neither of these ideas leaves a sense of hope that transforms how human beings think and act in the current world. Christianity, at least the variety that is Biblical in its orientation, has a different answer. This book by Tom Wright (2007) provides a sound basis to expose such an alternative Biblical vision.
In a world challenged by far-reaching problems in time and scale, Tom Wright (2007) presents a theology of ultimate Christian hope, one that energises to tackle such problems as the ecological rises head-on in a confused world. Wright acknowledges that Christians themselves are very confused on the topic what the future will bring. He points out that the prevailing dualisms between heaven and earth are not Biblical, but Platonic in nature, and leads to a downgrading of our bodies and of created order in general (Wright, 2007:37). He further argues that heaven is not a future destiny, but a hidden dimension of our ordinary lives (Wright, 2007: 26).
Wright contrasts this confused, Platonic Christianity with one that firmly believes in the doctrine of resurrection. Resurrection, as a vital part of God’s new creation gives more value, not less, to the present world and to our present bodies (Wright, 2007:37). In contrast to a piety that sees death as a moment of “going home at last” or the time we are “called to God’s eternal place”, Wright states the transformative power of a belief in resurrection: Resurrection, by contrast, has always gone with a strong view of God’s justice, and of God as the good creator (Wright, 2007:38). Such a view goes with a robust determination to oppose justice and improve society.
The resurrection of Jesus is a matter of rediscovering hope (Wright, 2007: 87):
Hope is what you get when you suddenly realize that a different worldview is possible, a worldview in which the rich, the powerful and the unscrupulous do not after all have the last word. The same worldview shift which is demanded by the resurrection of Jesus is the shift that will enable us to transform the world.
The ultimate future hope remains a surprise, but there is a powerful intermediate hope – the things which happen in the present time which implement Easter and anticipate the final day (Wright, 2007:41). Left to ourselves and without a belief in the resurrection, humankind lapses into a kind of collusion with entropy…the general belief that things may be getting worse but there’s nothing much we can do about them (Wright, 2007:41). Wright argues this is wrong. Christians have a major task in this world (Wright, 2007:41)
Our task…is to live as resurrected people in between Easter and the final day, with our Christian life, corporate and individual, in both worship and mission, as a sign of the first and a foretaste of the second.
So what is this future that God in planning for us? Wright argues that the biblical vision of the future world is a vision of the present cosmos renewed from top to bottom by the God who is both creator and redeemer (2007:93). Such a purpose stands in direct contrast to the myth of perpetual progress, originating in the liberalism of the Renaissance and Enlightment and aided with the projects of science, technology, economic progress, democratic freedom, education and hard work. But, according to Wright (2007:98) the world is still a sad and wicked place, not a happy upward progress towards the light. The myth of progress cannot work, it cannot stop evil, it would also not solve evil retrospectively (once Utopia would have been reached) thereby presenting a moral problem, and it underestimates the nature and power of evil itself and fails to see the importance of the cross (Wright, 2007:99). There is no such thing as an upward movement to the light, but a creator God going down into the dark, to rescue humankind and the world from its plight (Wright, 2007:99).
The biblical vision of future world is also in direct contrast to the negative myth telling humans to escape this wicked world. Such an idea is ontologically Platonic, viewing space-time-matter as a mess that should be avoided for the tidy, clean philosophical mind, which dwelt upon eternal realities (Wright, 2007:100). This Platonic idea entered Christianity through Gnosticism, a belief in an inferior and dark material world, but with some people who are meant for something else (Wright, 2007:101). The creation itself is perceived as the ‘fall’, as it produced matter, which is seen as the real evil (Wright, 2007:101). In this view, the purpose of being Christian is often seen as going to heaven when you die (Wright, 2007:103).
Wright contrasts this Platonic, Gnostic Christianity with the central Christian affirmation that what the creator God has done in Jesus Christ, and supremely in his resurrection, is what he intends to do for the whole world – meaning by ‘world’, the entire cosmos with all its history (Wright, 2007: 103).
This is real Christian hope. Wright identified three themes of large-scale Christian hope, namely the goodness of creation, the real and powerful nature of evil and the remaking of creation through redemption. There is no ontological distinction between an evil earth and a good heaven, but only an eschatological duality between the present age and the age to come (Wright, 2007: 107). Creation and redemption are both acts of God’s love for the world. The cross is where the goal of creation is brought back into harmony with the wise creator. Jesus will be the judge when he is present with us again, returning after his ascension to heaven. In His presence the dead will be raised and living believers transformed for the new heaven and new earth. The final marriage of heaven and earth will happen when all is consummated, this is when God will be all in all.
Wright further argues that the process of a new creation has already started with the death and resurrection of Jesus. A belief in the resurrection of the entire cosmos, including believers, leads to a view that work done in the present last into God’s future; it builds God’s kingdom. The followers of Jesus are agents of the transformation of earth; through Jesus’ work God’s kingdom has been launched on earth as in heaven (Wright, 2007:215). Building God’s kingdom is ultimately God’s work, and not in the hand of humans, but does not exclude humans who are intended to reflect God back to God in worship and to reflect God into the rest of creation in stewardship (Wright, 2007:105). God’s wise, creative, loving presence and power is not limited to the sole tasks to save souls or to help people enjoy fulfilling relationships with God, but to redeem the whole created cosmos, including space, time and matter.
Wright also emphasizes judgment and sin in his theology. Jesus is judge on His return, personally and visible (Wright, 2007:155). He will prepare the earth, so that His will happens on earth as in heaven. Wright (2007:191) states that judgment is necessary, unless we conclude that nothing is wrong or that God does not mind very much. The world is full of evil which consists in idolatry where humans worship elements of the natural world rather than God the creator Himself (Wright, 2007: 106).
It comes as no surprise than that Wright argues that a reflection on Christian ethics is crucial. How we think and act in this world lasts into God’s future. As agents of transformation reflecting God’s image in this world, human beings have a responsibility towards the Creator and the whole of His creation. Christian ethics is an expression of the hope we have through the resurrection of Jesus (Wright, 2007:242). It is a lifestyle that already celebrates and embodies the new creation, and needs to be fed by Christian spirituality as enabled by the Holy Spirit (Wright, 2007: 58). Followers of Jesus Christ are already joined to Him by the Holy Spirit (Wright, 2007:156), and it is to Him we turn in thinking and acting in an ethical way.
God’s future has already started on this earth. Wright calls for an inaugurated eschatology, a radical transformation of the way we behave, not only as individuals, but as a worldwide community, anticipating the eventual time when God will be all in all even though things will not be complete by then (Wright, 2007:233). He cites a few examples. Hopeful Christians cannot be content with major injustice, such as global debt, in this world. Hopeful Christians loath ugliness and revitalize aesthetic awareness and creativity (Wright, 2007:233), as beauty in creation points towards the beauty of God (Wright, 2007:234). If we cease to be surrounded by beauty we also cease to hope (Wright, 2007: 243). Hopeful Christians will also not stop in describing the world as it is or as it should be, but as in grace it one day will be (Wright, 2007:255). Hopeful Christians will not stop at ‘savings souls’ and guiding converts into a relationship with God, but help them find out where their contributions with Gods’ kingdom project may fit.
According to Wright the church has a major role to play. Ethical reflection in the present age and being agents of transformation reflecting God’s image is a large responsibility. Any individual cannot achieve more than fraction of this mission. The mission in the church needs to be shaped by a real hope of the new creation, firmly rooted in the resurrection of Jesus. The business of the church is not to save souls, but to take a stand against evil and to work with the good in this world. The church is the place where central aspects of Christian spirituality such as baptism, eucharist, prayer and scriptural teaching and hearing takes place. It needs to be holy, a community of saints and a place of love as a destiny. This does not exclude personal spiritual growth and ethical reflection, but re-emphasise the point that the new heaven and new earth will be there for a whole community of believers.
In an age of financial, economic and ecological crises Tom Wright presents us with a magnificent book that brings meaning to the concept of a living Christian hope. The book energises and makes an appeal to transform into action. It is a timely book and one I recommend it without hesitation.
In a world challenged by far-reaching problems in time and scale, Tom Wright (2007) presents a theology of ultimate Christian hope, one that energises to tackle such problems as the ecological rises head-on in a confused world. Wright acknowledges that Christians themselves are very confused on the topic what the future will bring. He points out that the prevailing dualisms between heaven and earth are not Biblical, but Platonic in nature, and leads to a downgrading of our bodies and of created order in general (Wright, 2007:37). He further argues that heaven is not a future destiny, but a hidden dimension of our ordinary lives (Wright, 2007: 26).
Wright contrasts this confused, Platonic Christianity with one that firmly believes in the doctrine of resurrection. Resurrection, as a vital part of God’s new creation gives more value, not less, to the present world and to our present bodies (Wright, 2007:37). In contrast to a piety that sees death as a moment of “going home at last” or the time we are “called to God’s eternal place”, Wright states the transformative power of a belief in resurrection: Resurrection, by contrast, has always gone with a strong view of God’s justice, and of God as the good creator (Wright, 2007:38). Such a view goes with a robust determination to oppose justice and improve society.
The resurrection of Jesus is a matter of rediscovering hope (Wright, 2007: 87):
Hope is what you get when you suddenly realize that a different worldview is possible, a worldview in which the rich, the powerful and the unscrupulous do not after all have the last word. The same worldview shift which is demanded by the resurrection of Jesus is the shift that will enable us to transform the world.
The ultimate future hope remains a surprise, but there is a powerful intermediate hope – the things which happen in the present time which implement Easter and anticipate the final day (Wright, 2007:41). Left to ourselves and without a belief in the resurrection, humankind lapses into a kind of collusion with entropy…the general belief that things may be getting worse but there’s nothing much we can do about them (Wright, 2007:41). Wright argues this is wrong. Christians have a major task in this world (Wright, 2007:41)
Our task…is to live as resurrected people in between Easter and the final day, with our Christian life, corporate and individual, in both worship and mission, as a sign of the first and a foretaste of the second.
So what is this future that God in planning for us? Wright argues that the biblical vision of the future world is a vision of the present cosmos renewed from top to bottom by the God who is both creator and redeemer (2007:93). Such a purpose stands in direct contrast to the myth of perpetual progress, originating in the liberalism of the Renaissance and Enlightment and aided with the projects of science, technology, economic progress, democratic freedom, education and hard work. But, according to Wright (2007:98) the world is still a sad and wicked place, not a happy upward progress towards the light. The myth of progress cannot work, it cannot stop evil, it would also not solve evil retrospectively (once Utopia would have been reached) thereby presenting a moral problem, and it underestimates the nature and power of evil itself and fails to see the importance of the cross (Wright, 2007:99). There is no such thing as an upward movement to the light, but a creator God going down into the dark, to rescue humankind and the world from its plight (Wright, 2007:99).
The biblical vision of future world is also in direct contrast to the negative myth telling humans to escape this wicked world. Such an idea is ontologically Platonic, viewing space-time-matter as a mess that should be avoided for the tidy, clean philosophical mind, which dwelt upon eternal realities (Wright, 2007:100). This Platonic idea entered Christianity through Gnosticism, a belief in an inferior and dark material world, but with some people who are meant for something else (Wright, 2007:101). The creation itself is perceived as the ‘fall’, as it produced matter, which is seen as the real evil (Wright, 2007:101). In this view, the purpose of being Christian is often seen as going to heaven when you die (Wright, 2007:103).
Wright contrasts this Platonic, Gnostic Christianity with the central Christian affirmation that what the creator God has done in Jesus Christ, and supremely in his resurrection, is what he intends to do for the whole world – meaning by ‘world’, the entire cosmos with all its history (Wright, 2007: 103).
This is real Christian hope. Wright identified three themes of large-scale Christian hope, namely the goodness of creation, the real and powerful nature of evil and the remaking of creation through redemption. There is no ontological distinction between an evil earth and a good heaven, but only an eschatological duality between the present age and the age to come (Wright, 2007: 107). Creation and redemption are both acts of God’s love for the world. The cross is where the goal of creation is brought back into harmony with the wise creator. Jesus will be the judge when he is present with us again, returning after his ascension to heaven. In His presence the dead will be raised and living believers transformed for the new heaven and new earth. The final marriage of heaven and earth will happen when all is consummated, this is when God will be all in all.
Wright further argues that the process of a new creation has already started with the death and resurrection of Jesus. A belief in the resurrection of the entire cosmos, including believers, leads to a view that work done in the present last into God’s future; it builds God’s kingdom. The followers of Jesus are agents of the transformation of earth; through Jesus’ work God’s kingdom has been launched on earth as in heaven (Wright, 2007:215). Building God’s kingdom is ultimately God’s work, and not in the hand of humans, but does not exclude humans who are intended to reflect God back to God in worship and to reflect God into the rest of creation in stewardship (Wright, 2007:105). God’s wise, creative, loving presence and power is not limited to the sole tasks to save souls or to help people enjoy fulfilling relationships with God, but to redeem the whole created cosmos, including space, time and matter.
Wright also emphasizes judgment and sin in his theology. Jesus is judge on His return, personally and visible (Wright, 2007:155). He will prepare the earth, so that His will happens on earth as in heaven. Wright (2007:191) states that judgment is necessary, unless we conclude that nothing is wrong or that God does not mind very much. The world is full of evil which consists in idolatry where humans worship elements of the natural world rather than God the creator Himself (Wright, 2007: 106).
It comes as no surprise than that Wright argues that a reflection on Christian ethics is crucial. How we think and act in this world lasts into God’s future. As agents of transformation reflecting God’s image in this world, human beings have a responsibility towards the Creator and the whole of His creation. Christian ethics is an expression of the hope we have through the resurrection of Jesus (Wright, 2007:242). It is a lifestyle that already celebrates and embodies the new creation, and needs to be fed by Christian spirituality as enabled by the Holy Spirit (Wright, 2007: 58). Followers of Jesus Christ are already joined to Him by the Holy Spirit (Wright, 2007:156), and it is to Him we turn in thinking and acting in an ethical way.
God’s future has already started on this earth. Wright calls for an inaugurated eschatology, a radical transformation of the way we behave, not only as individuals, but as a worldwide community, anticipating the eventual time when God will be all in all even though things will not be complete by then (Wright, 2007:233). He cites a few examples. Hopeful Christians cannot be content with major injustice, such as global debt, in this world. Hopeful Christians loath ugliness and revitalize aesthetic awareness and creativity (Wright, 2007:233), as beauty in creation points towards the beauty of God (Wright, 2007:234). If we cease to be surrounded by beauty we also cease to hope (Wright, 2007: 243). Hopeful Christians will also not stop in describing the world as it is or as it should be, but as in grace it one day will be (Wright, 2007:255). Hopeful Christians will not stop at ‘savings souls’ and guiding converts into a relationship with God, but help them find out where their contributions with Gods’ kingdom project may fit.
According to Wright the church has a major role to play. Ethical reflection in the present age and being agents of transformation reflecting God’s image is a large responsibility. Any individual cannot achieve more than fraction of this mission. The mission in the church needs to be shaped by a real hope of the new creation, firmly rooted in the resurrection of Jesus. The business of the church is not to save souls, but to take a stand against evil and to work with the good in this world. The church is the place where central aspects of Christian spirituality such as baptism, eucharist, prayer and scriptural teaching and hearing takes place. It needs to be holy, a community of saints and a place of love as a destiny. This does not exclude personal spiritual growth and ethical reflection, but re-emphasise the point that the new heaven and new earth will be there for a whole community of believers.
In an age of financial, economic and ecological crises Tom Wright presents us with a magnificent book that brings meaning to the concept of a living Christian hope. The book energises and makes an appeal to transform into action. It is a timely book and one I recommend it without hesitation.