NT Wright's Surprised By Hope: Rethinking Heaven

In NT Wright’s “Surprised By Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the mission of the church, he asks us a question of what is the ultimate Christian hope? In his book, NT Wright argues that the present understandings of future hope about heaven, resurrection, and the mission of the church have confused believers for decades. Wright then introduces us to God’s intended purpose of hope through Jesus that would ultimately change our worldview practically and reshape the mission of the church. However, Wright presents his own interpretation without presenting other views on the subject.
The book is divided into three main parts that explore believer’s present understanding of hope, Wrights analysis of the God’s intended plan through Jesus …show more content…
In the first chapter called rethinking salvation, Wright explains more in detail the meaning of salvation and the kingdom of God that would help radically shift our way of approaching the mission of the church. In the second chapter, ideas of justice, beauty and evangelism are explored in the building of the kingdom. The final topic of the book focuses on reshaping the church in terms of the future hope discussed in previous sections. The two aspects in the chapter are about biblical roots and living for the future. In biblical roots, He talks about the God’s kingdom and the new world that God has promised is already here through the resurrection of Jesus. Living for the future is about understanding the biblical roots of the Christian hope and reshaping the way we do church by means of prayer, scripture, Eucharist and …show more content…
Wright asserts the view of life after life after death and the idea that the kingdom of God has already been established with Christ as Lord. These views paramount in the understanding of the Christian hope. As someone who has grown up attending church in Asia, many western thoughts of Platonist and Gnostic origin are crept into the Eastern Church and taught to many. This book can provide a guide and a new revelation not just to the west but to the east as well. Wright has also effectively addressed the issue of church missions being about only saving souls has been influenced by Plato’s ridiculous ideas. One aspect that I really like that Wright explored was the Idea of Gnosticism pervading the church. Many Christians, I included, have bought into the idea that the world is going to end and that the soul is the most important. This view gives a complete disregard to our bodies and creation. Wright has effectively persuaded that the body and the earth are just as important to God’s Future in the present day. However, Wright falls short in presenting an alternative perspective of the Christian Hope. He only interprets one version of the Christian’s future hope without presenting us with different interpretations of other respected theologians in his field. Different interpretations would help Wright even more in justifying his own interpretation and allowing the reader to have a broader