surprised by hope

i recently finished reading surprised by hope by british (anglican) new testament scholar n.t. wright, and thought i'd write a bit of a review...

the overall subject of the book is the resurrection of jesus and what that event means for us now and for the future. a lot of the book is dedicated to eschatology, where wright's primary motivation is to address the muddled and vague thinking of many christians concerning what will happen to us after we die. one of his main bug-bears is the ubiquitous phrase "going to heaven when you die," both because it is a slogan that everybody just seems to accept without thinking very much about it, as well because of it's implication that our eternity will be spent in some dis-embodied spirit form floating around a totally "spiritual" heaven. he rightly calls this latter idea gnostic dualistic clap-trap (my paraphrase). while he does believe in some kind of "interim" existence in "heaven" (which i personally am not convinced about), he asserts that the resurrection of jesus points to a final destiny for all of us of a physical (though transformed) body in a physical (though transformed) universe.

wright belongs in the "earth renewal" camp, in other words he doesn't believe the present "heavens and earth" will be destroyed and new ones made, but that god will renew and transform the earth and the whole universe in an act of re-creation which is presaged in and promised by the resurrection of jesus. while he doesn't really address the counter-argument to this in verses such as 2 peter 3:10 and 12, he believes that the resurrection of jesus into a physical body which "belongs" to this universe (visible to the disciples, able to eat), though obviously with extra dimensions (able to travel through walls, able to disappear, able to fly?!?), is an affirmation from god that this present universe will not be done away with entirely. with the possibly problematic exception of the 2 peter 3 verses, a good argument can be made that the nt passages referring to the end times can be interpreted this way, eg. the metaphor of creation "groaning as if in childbirth" (romans 8:22) suggests that something new will come out of what is already here, not that all will be destroyed and a completely new thing created from scratch. wright's belief is that at the end of the present age, "heaven" will be revealed and will come down and be united with the earth, and that god's children with jesus as king will go about setting all things to right (you'll have to read the book for more detail on what he thinks this will look like).

the primary strength of the book, however, in my opinion, is in the last part, where wright elucidates on how the resurrection of jesus and the future which is promised by the resurrection should impact on and guide what we as christians do in this present life. i totally agree with him that a lot, if not most, of the theology and eschatology that is taught in protestant churches around the world have the effect (inadvertent or not) of basically nullifying any significance for the christian life, because the only really important thing is that you are "saved", and when you die you will be "perfected" anyway so why make much of an effort now. so discipleship is reduced to fitting into the behavioural norms of whatever group you happen to be a part of, with or without the extra pressure (often conveyed by guilt-tripping) of doing what you can to "save the lost". while wright states clearly that nothing we do can enhance our salvation, he highlights the verses (eg. 1 cor 15:58 "...knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain") which suggest that there is a lasting significance to what we do now (though he admits he "has no idea" exactly how this works). for me this makes more sense within an "earth renewal" framework, because there is some continuity between this world and the future perfected world. wright classifies this work of "building the kingdom" which we are to be participating in under the headings Justice, Beauty and Evangelism. i appreciate his inclusion in this of efforts for sustaining and enhancing the natural world, as well as artistic endeavours of every kind, as long as they are positive - pointers to beauty, hope and joy, not to ugliness, destruction and despair.

my main criticism of the book is wright's vague and unsatisfying description of the atonement, the necessary pre-cursor to the resurrection of jesus, which actually gives shape to what we have been saved from and saved to. he seems unwilling to commit fully to the "penal substitution" model and hints at leaning towards "christus victor", but is equally unwilling to disavow penal substitution, perhaps in fear of losing the large american market (yes, cynical I know), or maybe because he rightly perceives that christus victor does not tell the whole story and he thinks penal substitution is the only other option. In my view, if it was coupled with a girardian account of the atonement, and thus a more satisfying and meaningful understanding of what is wrong with the world and what god has and is doing about it in jesus, wright's description of the resurrection and it's meaning for our present life and the mission we have in the world would gain magnitudes of impact and power.

overall, i would recommend the book, as it does a good job of clearing up the muddled thinking of many/most christians about what lies ahead for us and for the world. more significantly, though, the book provides motivation and inspiration to seek active and positive endeavours for furthering the kingdom of god right here and now, each with our individual talents. To see god's mission for the world as making it the best it can be in justice and beauty, though this will never be fully realised in the present age, allows us to locate ourselves as being part of the latest chapter of the story of the bible. this gives a purpose and meaning to our lives that is hard to find with the old cliched slogans and formulations. the resurrection of jesus is a sure promise from god that he will accomplish His purpose, giving us a hope for the future that is indeed surprising.