N.T. Wright: a discussion on heaven.

Here's the link to the TIME article with N.T.Wright, the Bishop of Durham, on the subject of the distortion of heaven in the eyes of mainstream Christianity. The article follows.

Thursday, Feb. 07, 2008

Christians Wrong About Heaven, Says Bishop

By David Van Biema

N.T. "Tom" Wright is one of the most formidable figures in the world of Christian thought. As Bishop of Durham, he is the fourth most senior cleric in the Church of England and a major player in the strife-riven global Anglican Communion; as a much-read theologian and Biblical scholar he has taught at Cambridge and is a hero to conservative Christians worldwide for his 2003 book The Resurrection of the Son of God, which argued forcefully for a literal interpretation of that event.

It therefore comes as a something of a shock that Wright doesn't believe in heaven — at least, not in the way that millions of Christians understand the term. In his new book, Surprised by Hope (HarperOne), Wright quotes a children's book by California first lady Maria Shriver called What's Heaven, which describes it as "a beautiful place where you can sit on soft clouds and talk... If you're good throughout your life, then you get to go [there]... When your life is finished here on earth, God sends angels down to take you heaven to be with him." That, says Wright is a good example of "what not to say." The Biblical truth, he continues, "is very, very different."

Wright, 58, talked by phone with TIME's David Van Biema.

TIME: At one point you call the common view of heaven a "distortion and serious diminution of Christian hope."

Wright: 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.

TIME: How so? It seems like a typical sentiment.

Wright: 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.

TIME: Is there anything more in the Bible about the period between death and the resurrection of the dead?

Wright: We know that we will be with God and with Christ, resting and being refreshed. Paul writes that it will be conscious, but compared with being bodily alive, it will be like being asleep. The Wisdom of Solomon, a Jewish text from about the same time as Jesus, says "the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God," and that seems like a poetic way to put the Christian understanding, as well.

TIME: But it's not where the real action is, so to speak?

Wright: No. Our culture is very interested in life after death, but the New Testament is much more interested in what I've called the life after life after death — in the ultimate resurrection into the new heavens and the new Earth. Jesus' resurrection marks the beginning of a restoration that he will complete upon his return. Part of this will be the resurrection of all the dead, who will "awake," be embodied and participate in the renewal. John Polkinghorne, a physicist and a priest, has put it this way: "God will download our software onto his hardware until the time he gives us new hardware to run the software again for ourselves." That gets to two things nicely: that the period after death is a period when we are in God's presence but not active in our own bodies, and also that the more important transformation will be when we are again embodied and administering Christ's kingdom.

TIME: That is rather different from the common understanding. Did some Biblical verse contribute to our confusion?

Wright: There is Luke 23, where Jesus says to the good thief on the cross, "Today you will be with me in Paradise." But in Luke, we know first of all that Christ himself will not be resurrected for three days, so "paradise" cannot be a resurrection. It has to be an intermediate state. And chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation, where there is a vision of worship in heaven that people imagine describes our worship at the end of time. In fact it's describing the worship that's going on right now. If you read the book through, you see that at the end we don't have a description of heaven, but, as I said, of the new heavens and the new earth joined together.

TIME: Why, then, have we misread those verses?

Wright: It has, originally, to do with the translation of Jewish ideas into Greek. The New Testament is deeply, deeply Jewish, and the Jews had for some time been intuiting a final, physical resurrection. They believed that the world of space and time and matter is messed up, but remains basically good, and God will eventually sort it out and put it right again. Belief in that goodness is absolutely essential to Christianity, both theologically and morally. But Greek-speaking Christians influenced by Plato saw our cosmos as shabby and misshapen and full of lies, and the idea was not to make it right, but to escape it and leave behind our material bodies. The church at its best has always come back toward the Hebrew view, but there have been times when the Greek view was very influential.

TIME: Can you give some historical examples?

Wright: Two obvious ones are Dante's great poetry, which sets up a Heaven, Purgatory and Hell immediately after death, and Michelangelo's Last Judgment in the Sistine chapel, which portrays heaven and hell as equal and opposite last destinations. Both had enormous influence on Western culture, so much so that many Christians think that is Christianity.

TIME: But it's not.

Wright: Never at any point do the Gospels or Paul say Jesus has been raised, therefore we are we are all going to heaven. They all say, Jesus is raised, therefore the new creation has begun, and we have a job to do.

TIME: That sounds a lot like... work.

Wright: It's more exciting than hanging around listening to nice music. In Revelation and Paul's letters we are told that God's people will actually be running the new world on God's behalf. The idea of our participation in the new creation goes back to Genesis, when humans are supposed to be running the Garden and looking after the animals. If you transpose that all the way through, it's a picture like the one that you get at the end of Revelation.

TIME: And it ties in to what you've written about this all having a moral dimension.

Wright: Both that, and the idea of bodily resurrection that people deny when they talk about their "souls going to Heaven." If people think "my physical body doesn't matter very much," then who cares what I do with it? And if people think that our world, our cosmos, doesn't matter much, who cares what we do with that? Much of "traditional" Christianity gives the impression that God has these rather arbitrary rules about how you have to behave, and if you disobey them you go to hell, rather than to heaven. What the New Testament really says is God wants you to be a renewed human being helping him to renew his creation, and his resurrection was the opening bell. And when he returns to fulfil the plan, you won't be going up there to him, he'll be coming down here.

TIME: That's very different from, say, the vision put out in the Left Behind books.

Wright: Yes. If there's going to be an Armageddon, and we'll all be in heaven already or raptured up just in time, it really doesn't matter if you have acid rain or greenhouse gases prior to that. Or, for that matter, whether you bombed civilians in Iraq. All that really matters is saving souls for that disembodied heaven.

TIME: Has anyone you've talked to expressed disappointment at the loss of the old view?

Wright: Yes, you might get disappointment in the case where somebody has recently gone through the death of somebody they love and they are wanting simply to be with them. And I'd say that's understandable. But the end of Revelation describes a marvelous human participation in God's plan. And in almost all cases, when I've explained this to people, there's a sense of excitement and a sense of, "Why haven't we been told this before?"

I wanted to title this "An essay on the life of a wedding." but it's really, "How we plan our wedding."

I had this big plan for telling you all about the life of a wedding and how I wanted to name the life "Minerva (or a big fat tack stuck to my rear end) but that might actually be a whole other post and I have started this one and proceeded too far to change it all around now. And I'm antsy to put a post up. I would have liked to have written it all out and actually given an essay on Minerva, but this is much easier and there is no desire to go through all that agony again was a bit more fun.

How we plan our wedding (sounds like we've had several and it sure feels like it). As experienced by Michael and Sarah.

1. Promise that under no circumstances will you cave to the gods of the wedding industry. From here on out it is, "Screw the wedding industry."
   
2. Set the date. Spend lots of time pouring over the calendar in the hopes that family does not have conflicts with the dates picked.
3. Head back to the calendar when dates picked to conflict with family plans.
   
4. Repeat #2 as many times as it takes until correct access code (i.e. date) is entered and move forward.
   
5. Encourage as many people as possible to save this date without actually saving it so that in case #2 pops up, nothing was yet solidified.
   
6. Start picking out colors. Realize that colors don't matter a whit and yet they're a nasty necessity. Silently pick out black and gray just by spite. Ours turned out to be deep red and something. Never did quite figure out the complementary color.
   
7. Make up the guest list. This will takes years hours and hours so settle down with a large diet coke, popcorn, and make sure bride and groom have settled all aggravations between them so that guest selection does not incite bursts of argument. We took turns and just listed everyone we knew. E-v-e-r-y-o-n-e. I mean, of course they're going to want to come to our wedding, we're amazing! (but really, we did want as many people to come and share in this time. We would use force if necessary (or bribery))
8. Make up the bridesmaid list. Think of a few new words for "agony." How does "excruciating" sound?
9. Think up a preliminary shower list.
   
10. Send off guest list to parental units so they can fill in addresses. Parents have address books. Plus, whoever they add to the list will probably be the aunts and uncles and cousins whom you haven't seen in years and yet will cause centuries of strife if they aren't invited. So basically the parents will save the day.
11. Search for endless hours for a church to get married in. If you really really thought it through, you might reconsider your homechurch and forget the fact that it's 3 hours away from someone elses home. The endless hours will be just that.
    
12. Silently scream for hours on end that this is getting ridiculous. Keep searching for a church.
13. Visit a few, think "ok, this will work." Find out that churches are INSANELY expensive and make a mental note to stress to anyone you know that they must give their tithes. (not interested in discussion on how a tithe is God's money. I realize that. I also realize that realistically, that money is going into the church's upkeep and if everyone who attended church gave their tithe, WE WOULDN'T HAVE TO PAY $1500 FOR A 30MIN CEREMONY!)
14. Insert "Reception Location" in lieu of church for #8-10 and omit the part of about tithing.
    
15. Start inwardly groaning every time anyone brings up your wedding. Silently wish they would drop through a hole in the floor. Smile.
    
16. Realize that you are slowly being overcome by the wedding industry. Come to grips with the fact that #1 will have some addendums. Realize you can't actually stick it to the wedding industry and in some situations they are kinda right. Hate yourself for thinking that.
    
17. Go dress shopping. This will be a silver lining (yes, there are more silver linings to come) in the dim world of weddingness.
18. Find the dress of your dreams and wonder why in the world have you never considered one like it before. It's gorgeous.
    
19. Mention the dress anytime anyone wants to bring up your wedding and asks how the planning is going. Gush on and on about the dress until the person no longer wants to talk about the wedding and forgets why they wanted to talk to you in the first place. Works everytime.
    
20. Pre-marital counseling will be a time to hear the comrade lover brag and boast about you to other people. It will also be a time to share just why you are getting married. It's pretty cool. (DISCLAIMER: Michael and I work very well together, we use all parts of our mental capabilities, although the P-MC is treated lightly here it's only because we've worked very hard at our relationship and I think we've earned the right to speak humourously about it).
21. Start planning what you will serve at the reception. This will have been discussed when looking at reception halls, planning the colors, etc. But really, there will be a separate, equally grueling discussion on this when the parents are pulled in. Best to both be united on what foods will be served.)
22. Look at bridesmaids dresses. Groan in agony that you really wanted black but you might do red but if you do red you can't have red roses and lord knows you want red roses and they do not look good against red dresses and GASP, the carpeting in that ridiculously expensive church you want is red and red dresses and red flowers on a red carpet just.won't.do. Look at styles. Do you want them to match your dress? Why would you want them to match your dress? It's y.o.u.r. dress! But matching would be neat! Screw neat. They're dresses. Go strapless. Go tea length. Pull your hair out trying to find strapless tea-length dresses from the same designer that's making your dress, look at other places, almost curse those other designers for making lame dresses that make bridesmaids look like grandmothers. Wonder who in their right mind would design a dress that NOBODY WANTS TO WEAR! For the millionth time you pull close to you the mantra of #1. and then push it away for a bit while you try to figure out what colors the bridesmaids dresses could be in order to make everything pretty.
    
23. Decide to go black. Black is chic, the LBD is a powerful option for a woman to have. If it's in her closet she's ready to go.
    
24. Pat yourself on the back.
    
25. Go to book the reception hall. Refrain because it just doesn't feel right.
    
26. Repeat #25 several times. Relax when this is explained to amazing hubby-to-be and he ends up trusting you more than you trust yourself and says it's ok to wait.
    
27. Look for more churches. E-mail every church you find that has an e-mail. Visit the ones who don't respond. Spend time wondering about the distance between ceremony and reception. Groan again when you realize the church you can use is too far away.
    
28. Receive e-mails stating that
    
1. although your wedding is on a Friday, the church does not perform more than one ceremony.
   
2. You must use their pastor.
3. You're not a member so sorry.
4. it's $1500 and that doesn't include a diamond bracelet.
   
29. Realize you still have a honeymoon to plan.
30. ealize you have no place to live once you get married.
31. Realize you can't find a place to live until you get this monster off your back that everyone keeps referring to as a wedding.
    
32. Hold the hand of your comrade lover and hope that somehow you are spending more time preparing for marriage than planning a wedding. Hope that wedding planning counts towards that.
    
33. Bang your head on the desk when you realize you haven't done anything non-wedding related in forever and that all you really want to do is curl up on the couch and read a book but you have no time to do so and are sapped of what energy you might have used to do so. And really, the stress is too great to even think of taking time off to read a book. Sheesh, that's for retired people!
    
34. Chuckle when you realize that when you and the hubs joked about your parents finally meeting at the wedding, you didn't actually believe what you said but now it's looking like it. Maybe that's best.
    
35. Decide it's not best and invite them to lunch at a spanish restaurant in town in the hopes that a neutral territory will ensure a peaceful time. Bank on it.
    
36. Go to the luncheon. Forget to tell all parental units that you do not, under any circumstances, desire in any way shape or form to speak of the wedding. Yeah, just let that one completely slip your mind. I mean, don't even give it a nanosecond of a chance to form. They're meeting for the first time. Of course they won't want to. Of course they will spend the entire time talking about you and Michael when you were kids and what life is like now they are all grown up. Naturally it won't occur to them to even bring up the slightest little hint of a wedding. The thought will be the furthest thing from your min.
37. Order a beer when you realize there is only one thing they will speak of at the luncheon. One thing. There will be only ONE THING they want to talk about. Guess? I mean, I know I know, I haven't even given you the slightest hint as to what that might be. But do, please do, take a gander. Just throw something out there. "Wedding" did you say? Really? You have a plethora of possibilities and you pick "wedding"? Cheater.
38. Start a drinking at the Sunday afternoon luncheon. Every time anyone mentions anything related to "wedding" one swig is allowed.
    
39. Wonder how many beers that's going to be. Oh. It's going to be a lot.
40. Limit yourself to the one bottle. Ticking off your parents is one thing, they'll forgive. Let's not push it with the future in-laws. It was pure luck that that last snippy comment made about something someone said about the wedding was only noticed by Michael.
    
41. Kick yourself when you let another one slip but refuse to put the drink down.
    
42. Dash headlong through the doors to freedom. Walk out with the family and know that they mean well and they really love you and they're only bringing this up because they care.
    
43. Holler the whole way home that "you can't believe they did that and OMGosh what were they thinking and HOLY CRAP was that the luncheon from h..(parents, if you are reading this I am only using this to bring in a wider demographic reading audience. Or just an audience at all. Thank you so much for the next part.)"
    
44. Stand in shock when the love of your life looks you straight in the eyes (once home) and says, "Sarah, I could really go to Scotland." That line was previously said but you were sure he was joking and yet now he's standing in front of you in all seriousness.
    
45. Let minutes tick off the clock while holding your breath.
    
46. Exhale. Inhale.
    
47. Suddenly the blood starts pumping again and some serious lightheadedness takes place. Scotland.
48. Jump up and down and all around when it's realized that nothing has been booked, bought (aside from the dress) or ordered. Hoot and holler while the dream becomes reality.
    
49. Speak breathlessly while frantically grasping at anything that might prohibit this dream from manifesting itself.
    
50. Kiss and hug and shout with joy as you and the groom-to-be finally find yourselves again.
    
51. Begin the real wedding planning. (and spend lots of time thanking your parents for being just who they are. Wonder in amazement that they are even letting you do this and never ever ever forget to remind them how priceless this is to you."