Book Review: Surprised by Hope

I recently finished reading Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church by N.T. Wright. I had not previously read Wright’s work and I have to say, I truly enjoyed his approach and his sense of humor. Dry humor and theology make a nice mix!

The primary point of the book is that Jesus’ resurrection is the pivotal, climatic point of God’s story with humankind and how we understand the resurrection directly impacts how we do faith.

Per Wright, Western Christianity has gotten caught up in a dualistic, Gnostic faith system that values those things of the spirit and disparages those of the flesh. This thought system has over centuries woven itself into our understanding of the resurrection, heaven and the mission of the church. Wright goes back to Jewish culture, the culture around the time of Jesus’ arrival and the writings of the New Testament to challenge the effects this Gnosticism has had on church theology.

One of my favorite paragraphs in the book is found on page 227:

The power of the gospel lies not in the offer of a new spirituality or religious experience, not in the threat of hellfire (certainly not in the threat of being “left behind”), which can be removed if only the hearer checks this box, says this prayer, raises a hand or whatever, but in the powerful announcement that God is God, that Jesus is Lord, that the powers of evil have been defeated, that God’s new world has begun.”

The resurrection is the first glimpse of heaven that bursts forth into the present; it is “new creation.” This new creation is already present, not just in a one-time decision to follow Jesus, but in transformed life.

For those of you who want to participate, how do you see this “new creation” working itself out in our lives in a way that goes against the dualist tendencies of Western Christianity?

Tonight, my kids and I talked about all the things that make God happy. They listed all the normal stuff of being nice to each other, obeying mommy and daddy, praying, but with a little prodding, they starting saying that God is happy when they’re silly, that God enjoys it when they watch the little house finches that visit the bird feeders out our front window or when they build cool stuff with their Legos. I like that they started getting the concept. I know I still struggle at times to consider time with my children as important as “devotions” or other “spiritual” stuff.

Surprised by Hope encompasses so much more than I’ve mentioned here, so if you’re interested, I encourage you to pick up a copy. It is well worth the read!