Christianity Today: Heaven Is Not Our Home by N. T. Wright
The bodily resurrection is the good news of the gospel—and thus our social and political mandate.
There is no agreement in the church today about what happens to people when they die. Yet the New Testament is crystal clear on the matter: In a classic passage, Paul speaks of "the redemption of our bodies" (Rom. 8:23). There is no room for doubt as to what he means: God's people are promised a new type of bodily existence, the fulfillment and redemption of our present bodily life. The rest of the early Christian writings, where they address the subject, are completely in tune with this.
The traditional picture of people going to either heaven or hell as a one-stage, postmortem journey represents a serious distortion and diminution of the Christian hope. Bodily resurrection is not just one odd bit of that hope. It is the element that gives shape and meaning to the rest of the story of God's ultimate purposes. If we squeeze it to the margins, as many have done by implication, or indeed, if we leave it out altogether, as some have done quite explicitly, we don't just lose an extra feature, like buying a car that happens not to have electrically operated mirrors. We lose the central engine, which drives it and gives every other component its reason for working.
When we talk with biblical precision about the resurrection, we discover an excellent foundation for lively and creative Christian work in the present world—not, as some suppose, for an escapist or quietist piety. ...
...Resurrection itself then appears as what the word always meant in the ancient world. It wasn't a way of talking about life after death. It was a way of talking about a new bodily life after whatever state of existence one might enter immediately upon death. It was, in other words, life after life after death. ...
I'm looking forward to when I have more active brain cells (summer?) with which to read N.T. Wright. I have seen interviews and heard recordings and read some articles on-line...and I like what I hear.
...and speaking of life after life after death...how are you dealing with March Madness in your neck of the world? We're waiting to see if the Cougars can slow down the Tar Heels come Thursday ;^)
...and also wondering how your neck of the world is dealing with the flooding. I have been in prayer for the wide-spread devastation I've been seeing on TV.
Posted by: Peggy | Mar 25, 2008 at 01:09 PM
I'm hoping to plow through Wright's triology this summer. I've read a few of his books and, like you, read articles and interviews.
I think he has some profound theological insights and as long as he stays away from economic analysis I resonate with most of what he has to say. :)
As to B-Ball, the Big 12 managed to get two into the final 16. Texas and Kansas. I don't really have a favorite. The Cougars will have the hands full with NC.
Kansas City has largely been missed by all the disasters (thankfully). Most of the bad weather has been just to the east ranging from Iowa down to Arkansas. Thanks for your concerns. Lots of folks going through hard times with this weather.
Posted by: Michael W. Kruse | Mar 25, 2008 at 01:42 PM