false 2319645 2 <p> 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. </p> <p> Award-winning author N. T. Wright outlines the present confusion about a Christian's future hope and shows how it is deeply intertwined with how we live today. Wright, who is one of today's premier Bible scholars, asserts that Christianity's most distinctive idea is bodily resurrection. He provides a magisterial defense for a literal resurrection of Jesus and shows how this became the cornerstone for the Christian community's hope in the bodily resurrection of all people at the end of the age. 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, all this will come as a great surprise. </p> <p> 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&#8212;and if this has already begun in Jesus's resurrection&#8212;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. </p> <p> Lively and accessible, this book will surprise and excite all who are interested in the meaning of life, not only after death but before it. </p> 2326165 1 2 2008 Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church total:326|5:168|4:111|3:42|2:4|1:1| 326 1419 686 100 3 3 false false Wed Jan 28 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jun 16 17:16:23 -0700 2008 Wed Jan 28 05:31:47 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 2 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jan 12 21:08:46 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 12 21:09:26 -0800 2009 4 1 false false Tue Oct 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 30 15:41:09 -0700 2008 Fri Nov 14 20:22:36 -0800 2008 1
Personally, I wasn’t that “surprised” about Wright’s description of the future because it meshes well with my own views. It would com...more...]]> 0 1 false false Thu Jul 10 21:44:01 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 10 21:51:45 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Nov 20 11:31:45 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 20 11:32:23 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Aug 29 22:27:31 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 31 10:30:18 -0700 2009
Before I get into any longwinded discussion of N.T. Wright’s Surprised by Hope, let me just say that it’s absolutely amazing. I picked this book up and could hardly put it down, its pr...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 14 03:13:01 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 14 03:18:29 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 05 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 25 07:45:29 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 25 07:54:43 -0800 2009
Surprised by Hope explores the truly biblical concept of what happens after we die (going temporarily to a place we call heaven, then to the re-created, redeemed heavens and earth) and how the reality of that aff...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Oct 22 05:07:48 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 14:08:43 -0700 2009
Back story: I decided to pick u...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 08 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 08 06:44:45 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 08 08:05:03 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Apr 29 08:52:56 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 29 08:59:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Apr 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 19 10:41:15 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 19 10:41:46 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Oct 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 18 21:20:07 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 22 20:04:01 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Oct 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 13 06:06:26 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 17 14:43:04 -0700 2009
He does have ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 06 17:25:36 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 06 17:25:36 -0700 2009
N.T. Wright forces us to look critically at the early church and how they viewed the resurrection. Our contemporary "Christian formula" probably goes something like this:

God created - m...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 16 09:53:24 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 16 09:59:46 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Sep 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 19 22:19:54 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 20 15:21:09 -0700 2009 ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Feb 26 06:09:10 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 26 06:17:49 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Aug 17 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 29 04:59:36 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 17 11:44:00 -0700 2008
The first half of the book is a theological and historical look at heaven and the resurrection. Wright...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jan 12 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Jun 18 20:14:06 -0700 2008 Wed Jan 14 00:01:53 -0800 2009
I was just saying to myself, after trudging through the first hundred pages for several weeks, that Christian books are so obvious. It's like, I get it, I already got it, and then the book goes on and on for another 200 pages. But here N.T. Wright...more...]]>