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

Wright, N T

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062089978 ISBN 13: 9780062089977

Publisher: HarperOne, 2018

Synopsis

In this groundbreaking book--available in paperback for the first time--renowned Bible scholar, Anglican bishop, and bestselling author N. T. Wright argues that Christians have not distorted the Bible's message about heaven and what happens after we die.

For years, Christians have been asking, "If you died tonight, do you know where you would go?" It turns out that many believers have been giving the wrong answer. It is not heaven.

Wright outlines the present confusion about a Christian's future hope and shows how it is deeply intertwined with how we live today. Wright asserts that Christianity's most distinctive idea is bodily resurrection, and provides a magisterial defense for a literal resurrection of Jesus. Wright then explores our expectation of "new heavens and a new earth," revealing what happens to the dead until then and what will happen with the "second coming" of Jesus. For many, including many Christians, it will come as a great surprise to learn that heaven comes to earth instead of us going to heaven.

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's 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.

About this title

Review:

"In calling Christians to an epistemology of love and a re-emphasis of the Easter season, Wright knocked it out of the park."--Beliefnet (A "Top Religious Book of the Year")

His conclusions are both simple and world-shaking--Library Journal

This book will be widely read because it stirs together Scripture, tradition, art and world affairs with pleasing metaphors and public courage.--The Dallas Morning News

A crystal-clear, powerful course-correction for all of us--Christian or otherwise. If you want to know what Easter is about, get yourself a copy of Surprised by Hope and hunker down for the read of a lifetime....literally.--Phyllis Tickle, Beliefnet.com

"Wright's unwavering faith in the resurrection is quite evident as he defends the Easter narratives on historical and theological grounds."--America Magazine

"N.T. Wright can write. . . when it comes to questions of Christ's resurrection and what that means, no one is more persuasive. Wright's new book, Surprised by Hope, builds on C.S. Lewis' succinct defense of the faith and takes it to a new level."--World Magazine

"This book is N.T. Wright at his finest."--Rob Bell, author of Velvet Elvis

About the Author:

N. T. Wright, one of the world's leading Bible scholars, is the chair of New Testament and Early Christianity at the School of Divinity at the University of St. Andrews, an Anglican bishop, and bestselling author. Featured on ABC News, The Colbert Report, Dateline, and Fresh Air, Wright is the award-winning author of Simply Good News, Simply Jesus, Simply Christian, Surprised by Hope, How God Became King, Scripture and the Authority of God, Surprised by Scripture, and The Case for the Psalms, as well as the recent translation of the New Testament The Kingdom New Testament and the much heralded series Christian Origins and the Question of God.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperOne
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0062089978
• ISBN 13: 9780062089977
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352