In Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, N. T. Wright challenges us to rethink our notions of heaven and the implications of the doctrine of heaven for the entire Christian faith.
In Chapter One, Wright sets forth the two questions around which the book is written: 1) “What is the ultimate Christian hope?” and 2) “What hope is there for change, rescue, transformation, new possiblities within the world in the present?” Or, 1) what hope does Christianity provide for life after death? and 2) what hope does Christianity provide for life before death?
Wright argues that “As long as we see Christian hope in terms of ‘going to heaven,’ or a salvation that is essentially away from this world, the two questions are bound to appear as unrelated.” That is, some argue that the first issue is the most important one–how do we get to heaven?–and there is therefore no reason to even raise the second issue–how does Christianity contribute to life here on earth? Others argue that the second is the most important and the first is therefore irrelevant. Wright suggests, however, that the Christian faith is ultimately about “God’s new creation” which “has already come to life in Jesus of Nazareth” and therefore focuses on both issues–our life before death/resurrection, and our life after death/resurrection. In other words, if we correctly understand what Christianity means by “salvation” or “heaven” we will understand the hope it offers both for life before death and for life after death.
Wright then surveys three common views of life after death, none of which correspond to Christian orthodoxy: 1) Annihiliation – we cease to exist after death; 2) Reincarnation – after death one is “absorbed into the wider world, into the wind and the trees.”; 3) Spiritualist – we exist as ghosts after death and can contact the living.
