Surprised by Hope (Analysis/Refection)
Refection Essay Surprised by Hope
The book Surprised by Hope was written by N.T. Wright. The author N.T. Wright is a prominent New Testament scholar and a Bishop of Durham in the Church of England. Wright shares many conservative Christian views and is the author to several Christian books dealing with Jesus, death, and the resurrection. In this book, Surprised by Hope, N.T. Wright address two main questions: what is the ultimate Christian hope, and what hope is there for the change, transformation, and new possibilities within the world today. The purpose to writing this book to is help his readers gain a better understanding of death, the resurrection and life beyond. As some great philosophers say: it is what you think about death, and the life beyond it; this is the key to thinking seriously about everything else. Some important topics in Wright’s book are the death and resurrection, the importance of Christ’s ascension and return, the relationship between creation and redemption, and the present Kingdom of God and how we are supposed to live in his kingdom. (Wright)
One of N.T. Wright’s main focuses in his book was the image of heaven. Wright starts by exposing the false idea that our Christian hope for the afterlife should be a disembodied, eternal bliss spent amongst the clouds and angles of heaven. This idea has become very popular in the Christian world and has been planted in our head since a young age so it is important that we understand the true heaven. According to the Bible, heaven is not a future destiny but another hidden dimension of our ordinary life (God’s dimension). Basically, heaven and earth are not two different locations within the same continuum of space or matter. God’s kingdom in the preaching of Jesus refers not to postmortem destiny, not to our escape from this world into another one, but to God’s sovereign rule coming in the earth as it is in heaven. Orthodox Christianity no longer holds to the belief in the physical resurrection,
The book Surprised by Hope was written by N.T. Wright. The author N.T. Wright is a prominent New Testament scholar and a Bishop of Durham in the Church of England. Wright shares many conservative Christian views and is the author to several Christian books dealing with Jesus, death, and the resurrection. In this book, Surprised by Hope, N.T. Wright address two main questions: what is the ultimate Christian hope, and what hope is there for the change, transformation, and new possibilities within the world today. The purpose to writing this book to is help his readers gain a better understanding of death, the resurrection and life beyond. As some great philosophers say: it is what you think about death, and the life beyond it; this is the key to thinking seriously about everything else. Some important topics in Wright’s book are the death and resurrection, the importance of Christ’s ascension and return, the relationship between creation and redemption, and the present Kingdom of God and how we are supposed to live in his kingdom. (Wright)
One of N.T. Wright’s main focuses in his book was the image of heaven. Wright starts by exposing the false idea that our Christian hope for the afterlife should be a disembodied, eternal bliss spent amongst the clouds and angles of heaven. This idea has become very popular in the Christian world and has been planted in our head since a young age so it is important that we understand the true heaven. According to the Bible, heaven is not a future destiny but another hidden dimension of our ordinary life (God’s dimension). Basically, heaven and earth are not two different locations within the same continuum of space or matter. God’s kingdom in the preaching of Jesus refers not to postmortem destiny, not to our escape from this world into another one, but to God’s sovereign rule coming in the earth as it is in heaven. Orthodox Christianity no longer holds to the belief in the physical resurrection,