One of my favorite theologians, N.T. Wright (does the fact that I have a favorite theologian make me akin to a person who spends his weekends playing World of Warcraft?) went on Stephen Colbert's show on Comedy Central a few days ago. If you don't know either of those people this might not be so interesting to you, but Wright was promoting his latest and much acclaimed book Surprised By Hope where he discusses the subject of the afterlife. It's interesting that Wright was given a venue to discuss such subject-matter on the Colbert Report, a fairly sarcastic, but pretty funny show (click here for a link to the interview).
Wright has, for some reason, become the unofficial theologian of the young, hip, Evangelical Pastor . . . the kind of pastor that wears thick-framed glasses, owns a mac, drives a hybrid, and drinks herbal tea.
He's received alot of street cred among scholars and lay Christians alike for his emphasis on covenant and
creation, and the idea that this is the all-consuming theme in the Bible. This book
, Surprised By Hope, which is on my list of books to read, is all about how the hope Christians have in the afterlife is a re-creation of earth and our bodily resurrection. This is different from the popular idea that the intermediate state, the disembodied state where only the soul is with God, is the source of our hope. It's also different from George Carlin's "Frisbeetarianism" which says that when you die, your soul goes up on a roof and gets stuck for all eternity :).
Wright has influenced alot of people. I'm currently in the middle of studying his views on justification, which is a bit more controversial, but I haven't yet got a handle on it. I think I'm going to blog through it once I figure it out alittle more, because I have some questions I want to think through. In the mean time, check out Stephen Colbert interviewing N.T. Wright on his show. It's pretty funny, and you might learn something about what the Bible really says about the afterlife too.
http://www.spike.com/video/2995361?cmpnid=716&pt=sr&refsite=7103
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