Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright
Week 8: Part II, Chapter 7 — Heaven, Earth, and the New Creation
Read Part II, Chapter 7 of Surprised by Hope. Key passages: Revelation 21:1–5; Isaiah 11; Isaiah 65; Romans 8.
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Here Wright makes his central positive argument: the New Testament's hope is not heaven instead of earth, but a new heaven and a new earth — God's space and ours brought together at last.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Wright argues that 'heaven' in the New Testament does not primarily refer to the place where Christians go when they die but to the realm where God currently dwells — and which will one day be united with earth. How does this reframing change the way you think about heaven?
2.The famous image in Revelation 21 is of the new Jerusalem coming *down* from heaven to earth, not of believers ascending upward. Wright says this 'direction of movement' is theologically crucial. Why? What does it say about God's intention for the material world?
3.Wright draws on Isaiah 65:17–25's vision of the new creation — where people plant vineyards and eat from them, build houses and live in them, and wolves and lambs lie down together. This is not a vision of disembodied souls floating on clouds. How does this vision challenge or enrich your picture of the 'afterlife'?
a.What continuities does Isaiah 65 suggest between this age and the new creation?
b.What does it do to your sense of meaning and purpose to think that your work, creativity, and relationships might be renewed rather than erased?
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