Surprised by Hope

What do Christians hope for? To leave this wicked world and go to ''heaven'' For the ''kingdom of God'' to grow gradually on earth? What do we mean by the ''resurrection of the body'', and how does that fit with the popular image of sitting on clouds playing harps? And how does all this affect the way we live in the here and now? Tom Wright, one of our leading theologians, addresses these questions in this provocative and wide-ranging new book. He outlines the present confusion about future hope in both church and world. Then, having explained why Christians believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus himself, he explores the biblical hope for ''new heavens and new earth'', and shows how the ''second coming'' of Jesus, and the eventual resurrection, belong within that larger picture, together with the intermediate hope for ''heaven''. For many, including many Christians, all this will come as a great surprise. Wright convincingly argues that what we believe about life after death direc