N.T. (Tom) Wright is well known as one of our era’s most prolific and well respected New Testament scholars. Not only is Wright appreciated in the academic, biblical studies community, but, with his effective rescue of the Bible, and thus of the message of the gospel itself, from the fangs of modernism, he’s also a star- of sorts - amongst the Emerging/Emergent crowd. In his latest work, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, Wright pulls together and distills his work of the past two decades in one compelling, concise, immensely impacting and far-reaching book. Surprised by Hope addresses what, to Wright, is a two-sided coin of Christian hope. The first kind of hope is related to what we can expect, in this incarnation, before bodily death. The second kind of hope deals with “the hereafter”, and what we can expect on the other side of that chasm. Understanding Christian hope in its fullness, Wright argues, also helps us to reframe our very mission as followers of Christ.

Let me begin without pulling punches. Surprised by Hope is a shining gem of a book. Seriously. It’s a standout. In fact, as thoroughly as I enjoyed McLaren’s, Everything Must Change, I’d have to say this latest offering by the Bishop of Durham reaches even a notch higher. And that’s saying a lot. Considering how much I liked Everything Must Change, I didn’t expect to be saying that about any book, for at least several years.

Of course, saying I enjoyed both these books immensely and saying they’re both important is, in many ways, one in the same. I rank them so highly precisely because their subject matter is so significant, so relevant, so timely, and yet also… timeless.

Interestingly, both books (Everything Must Change and Surprised by Hope) cover much of the same ground, though perhaps in different ways. Why do I put Wright’s book a notch higher? Well, probably for the simple reason that I am a biblical studies guy. And from my perspective, when it comes to biblical scholars, they don’t come any better than “the Bish”. Surprised by Hope is, in many ways, the biblically-based mission statement that launches us into an understanding that everything must, indeed, change. And McLaren's book then takes us futher along this path- imagining new ways to live out our hopeful, hope-filled mission.

Wright begins Surprsed by Hope by giving us the Reader’s Digest version of the conclusions he draws in his epic work, the Resurrection of the Son of God. Namely, Wright exposes as false, the idea that our Christian hope for the afterlife should be a disembodied, eternal bliss spent amongst the clouds and angels of heaven. This, of course, is a Platonic myth. A kind of dualism that rejects physicality as inferior. This gnostic-like myth pervades our western culture, as well as our Christian circles. Indeed, it is woven into the very fabric of our cultural identity.

The New Testament, Wright argues, depicts a very different future where physicality and matter are good and even more substantial than they appear to us now. The Christian hope for the afterlife depitcs a redeeming of all of Creation. That redemption includes our resurrected and glorified bodies, located within a context where the formerly exclusive dimensions of heaven and earth have been fused together in “new heavens and new earth”.

After effectively demonstrating that our Christian hope should be for bodily resurrection – as opposed to disembodied, eternal bliss – Wright starts the next part of his book with a question about application. Is this issue – bodily resurrection versus non-physical spirituality - merely an academic matter? Merely the straightening out of abstract dogma? Not to Wright. He argues, effectively so, that there are some very pragmatic and vital outworkings to address. The Bishop writes,


When the issue of God’s kingdom arises, so to, inevitably, does the issue of salvation. Isn’t God’s Kingdom the disembodied paradise we commonly call Heaven? And isn’t, therefore, salvation, about getting there when we die? Nope. Clearly not. First of all, the Kingdom of God (which is referred to as the Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew) speaks of God’s reign and will, not his abode. And, that being the case, this of course, shines new light on the meaning of salvation. According to Wright, salvation is not primarily about individuals and their postmortem destination.


And next, Wright addresses why getting this issue right is of such import for our understanding of Christian mission. The Bishop continues,


Later Wright clarifies further, by helping us to reframe the question, to which the good news of the gospel becomes the answer (and here he very much echoes McLaren in Everything Must Change). Wright says,


And on this note, in widening the definition of atonement, Wright stands side by side not only with McLaren, but also with Scot McKnight in his recent work, A Community Called Atonement. The bottom line is that atonement, and thus salvation, is a many sided issue that requires a multi-faceted approach.

My hope is that all of this newly navigated common ground between people such as Wright, McLaren, and McKnight suggests that we really are on the cusp of something substantial here. Here we stand, at a Precipice of hope, one might say.

No doubt this reframed understanding of Christian hope, identity and mission might seem unfamiliar; especially when the old coining seems so ingrained in our collective western, Christian consciousness. But people such as the Bishop of Durham help to remind us that this has been the hope, the expectation, the plan of God, all along; going right back to the nation of Israel’s mission to be a light to the nations.

And today the invitation, as always, is to join with the Creator in His task of bringing to bear the values of His Kingdom over the good, beloved and Spirit-reflective Creation. And we do this in anticipation of when He will, once, for all, and completely, fuse the realms of heaven and earth in a new harmonious, spiritual/physical unity.