Back in June I mentioned a book, Simply Christian, by NT Wright that I was reading (and would highly recommend). I recently ordered Wright’s latest, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, The Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (which, according to Amazon is on its way to my mailbox at this very moment!).

A couple of days ago, David Van Biema conducted an interview with Bishop Wright that can be found on Time magazine’s website.

At one point you call the common view of heaven a “distortion and serious diminution of Christian hope.”

It really is. I’ve often heard people say, “I’m going to heaven soon, and I won’t need this stupid body there, thank goodness.’ That’s a very damaging distortion, all the more so for being unintentional.

How so? It seems like a typical sentiment.

There are several important respects in which it’s unsupported by the New Testament. First, the timing. In the Bible we are told that you die, and enter an intermediate state. St. Paul is very clear that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead already, but that nobody else has yet. Secondly, our physical state. The New Testament says that when Christ does return, the dead will experience a whole new life: not just our soul, but our bodies. And finally, the location. At no point do the resurrection narratives in the four Gospels say, “Jesus has been raised, therefore we are all going to heaven.” It says that Christ is coming here, to join together the heavens and the Earth in an act of new creation.

The entire interview, Christians Wrong About Heaven (Don’t you love provocative titles?) is worth the few minutes it takes to read.

Related…

• Catherine Crouch has a smart review of Simply Christian in Books and Culture.
• Scott McKnight is slowly reviewing Surprised by Hope. Here’s the link to his latest post.