Life After, Life After Death
I ran across this interview with N.T. Wright, who in my opinion is one of the best New Testament scholars on the planet and an outstanding author. In this interview on his new book, Suprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, Wright offers insight into some of the concepts discussed in the book. I found his thoughts on a "two-stage postmortem reality" to be especially interesting. Check out what N.T. had to say about life after death:
I put it this way for my audiences: "there is life after life after death." People are very puzzled by that, so I begin to explain it to them. There's life after death. That was Jesus between Good Friday and Easter. He was dead, but he was in whatever life after death is—in paradise without his resurrected body. But that wasn't his final destination. Here I introduce the idea of a two-stage postmortem reality. Most Western Christians have only heard about a two-stage postmortem reality in the Catholic idea of purgatory. That's wrong! A person goes to heaven first and then to the new heavens and new earth. People stare at you like you've just invented some odd heresy, but sorry—this is what the New Testament teaches. The New Testament doesn't have much to say about what happens to people immediately after they die. It's much more interested in the anticipation of the ultimate new world within this one. If you concentrate on preaching life after death, you devalue the present world. Life after life after death, however, reaffirms the value of this present world.
(Be sure to read the rest of the interview when you have time, and think about purchasing the book if you are interested in learning more about the Resurrection and Heaven.)
So what do yall think about these comments? Is it just me or has anyone else read this verse and wondered, "well, what is happening to these dead people until Christ comes back?" Then you flip over to this verse and realize that Jesus told the criminal that he would be with him in paradise that "same day". So what are we to make of these seemingly contrasting verses? Any thoughts? What about Wright's comments?
1 comment:
It is easy to see why a lot of Emergent teachers like to reference N.T Wright on matters like this. But I find it funny that he would likely disagree with most of the other things they teach.
I think Wrights comments are in reference to the "intermediate state" of the believers soul between physical death and resurrection.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism says:
(Q.37) "What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?",
(A)"The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves, till the resurrection."
As far as the thief on the cross goes, there is no contradiction because in the intermediate state the believers soul is worshiping in the presence of God, which is paradise.
This comes from J.I. Packer's Concise Theology:
"Death is gain for believers (Phil. 1:21) because after death they are closer to Christ. But disembodiment, as such, is not gain; bodies are for expression and experience, and to be without a body is to be limited, indeed impoverished. This is why Paul wants to be "clothed"with his resurrection body (i.e., re-embodied) rather than be "unclothed"(i.e., disembodied, 2 Cor. 5:1-4). To be resurrected for the life of heaven is the true Christian hope. As life in the "intermediate"or "interim"state between death and resurrection is better than the life in this world that preceded it, so the life of resurrection will be better still. It will, in fact, be best. And this is what God has in store for all his children (2 Cor. 5:4-5; Phil. 3:20-21). Hallelujah! "
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