Heaven

Surprised by Hope #9

by chrisaltrock
November 28, 2009

surprisedbyhope 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 Nine Wright addresses Jesus, the Coming Judge. This is the second of a two-chapter examination of the Second Coming. Wright argues that judgment as it relates to the Second Coming is a good thing: “The word judgmentcarries negative overtones for a good many people in our liberal and postliberal world. We need to remind ourselves that throughout the Bible, not least in the Psalms, God’s coming judgment is a good thing, something to be celebrated, longed for, yearned over…In a world of systematic injustice, bullying, violence, arrogance, and oppression, the thought that there might come a day when the wicked are firmly put in their place and the poor and weak are given their due is the best news there can be.”

Surprised By Hope #8

by chrisaltrock
November 26, 2009

In Chapter Eight Wright takes up the issue of the Second Coming. He writes that “Jesus’s appearing will be, for those of us who have known and loved him here, like meeting face-to-face someone we have only known by letter, telephone, or perhaps e-mail.”

Eulogy for Dorothy Jean Gooch

by chrisaltrock
November 25, 2009

Eulogy – Dorothy Jean Gooch – Nov. 25, 2009 Dorothy Jean Gooch was 83 years old when she fell asleep in Christ on Sunday, November… Read More »Eulogy for Dorothy Jean Gooch

Surprised by Hope: #3

by chrisaltrock
October 22, 2009

In Chapter Three describes the Christian view of life after death and of resurrection in comparison to Jewish and pagan views. In summary, Wright says that “the ancient world–with the exception of the Jews–was adamant that dead people did not rise again; and the Jews did not believe that anyone had done so or that anyone would do so all by themselves in advance of the general resurrection.”