One of my goals for vacation was to finish reading the book, "Surprised by Hope," by N.T. Wright, a New Testament scholar and Anglican Bishop who resides in the UK.
The main point of the book is to help Christians get back to an orthodox and early church understanding of the meaning of the word, "resurrection." Too often, people associate the word, "resurrection" with a vague belief that "after I die, I'll go to heaven." Wright argues that after a person who has faith in Jesus Christ dies, that person goes to heaven to be with Jesus, not as a final destination but as a two-part process.
The 2nd part of that process is for all of God's people to be given new transformed bodies when Jesus returns to this earth and sets up his kingdom of justice and peace once and for all. It should be noted that this understanding is very different from the "Left Behind" theology that claims that Christians will be snatched away one day (the rapture) and live in a disembodied state in a place called, heaven, for ever and ever.
From there, Wright explains how this proper understanding of resurrection affirms one of the most basic theological truths of the Christian faith - that God created this world, called it good, and through the life, death, and resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, has already inaugurated the project of new creation (defeating sin, disease, & death) which will find it's fulfillment when Jesus returns and sets up his kingdom on this earth.
When Christians have this proper understanding of resurrection and of God's desire to redeem and reclaim all of creation, the church's task is then to join God in working toward justice and peace through word and deed. We do this while knowing in advance, that one day we will live in God's new creation and be given new bodies that will not be subject to sin, disease, and death.
2 comments:
This book seems like it's in line with the teachings of Eckhart Tolle in A New Earth! He teaches about the body and consciousness being separate. He also provides support from the Bible to support this state of consciousnes. It is a life changing book and in accordance with this ideology!
I'd be interested in Tolle's faith background and how much of his thinking is rooted in classic Christian faith.
Sometimes, folks go the route of pantheism (where creation and the Creator are inseparable or close to it) which isn't in line with Christianity.
It's interesting to note that many Christians are dualists where they tend to disregard the goodness of creation (a point that the book "Surprised by Hope" goes to great lengths to correct) while a lot of New Age folks tend to go the opposite direction of pantheism (another detour from classic Christianity.)
Thanks for mentioning Tolle here.
Post a Comment