(Say the Jesus Creed morning and evening during Lent.)
Chp 13 in Tom Wright’s Surprised by Hope explores building the kingdom and does so by showing that his view of resurrection reshapes justice, beauty, and evangelism.
Overall, a vigorous embodied resurrection leads to a life now dedicated to building the kingdom since it is in continuity with the final state.
1. Justice: his target here, consistent with a decade long set of talks, is economic disparity that must be put to rights. He explores how his views give new shape to this with four points:
a. The debates about global economic injustice echo the debates about slavery.
b. Liberals marginalize the Bible and therefore the only source they have for the fight.
c. Conservatives have reinforced dominance by capitalism.
d. Resurrection is not simply God’s supernatural otherworldliness but thisworldliness.
2. Beauty: this draws on parts of his book Simply Christian.
3. Evangelism. Here he brings out issues that many have asked about:
a. The gospel is that God is God, Jesus is lord, and the powers have been defeated.
b. If a church … a tell expression … lives up to the gospel the message is demonstrated as true.
c. Individuals respond through conversion, regeneration, “entering into Christ” … and such a person is a “living, breathing little bit of ‘new creation'” (228).
d. This means a Christian does not say no to the world, cannot be isolated from the church, and behavior is integral to being a Christian.