New video from N.T. Wright
What if the Reformers had Emphasized Ephesians Instead? What the Reformers Missed about Justification: –
Will NT Wright go to heaven? Given all his polemics against the idea of saved souls going to heaven, I will certainly rejoice with the angels in heaven upon hearing an affirmative answer from NTW. Furthermore, given NTW’s rejection of soul-body dualism (of which there are various forms), it would be most enlightening to know how NTW would describe the nature of his existence in heaven (however defined by NTW).
The title of the video should have been – “What NT Wright missed about justification, the soul being forgiven and received into presence of God.”
Quote from the video – NTW: God’s purpose is the coming together of heaven and earth in the great act of cosmic renewal spoken of in Revelation 21, 1 Cor. 15, in Romans 8…the church is to be a small working model of God’s new creation…The earthly community suffused with the reality of heaven. The heavenly-seated people living out their vocation in the difficult and challenging world of space, time matter, & pagan hostility. And we are justified – set right- with God in order to be that community, & so to be visibly and shockingly that before the watching world.”
Great rhetorical elaboration on justification being about becoming a member in “the earthly community suffused with the reality of heaven” (for NTW justification is not forensic, being declared righteous before God but is about ecclesiology). Would be great if NTW could give more concreteness to this earthly community suffused with heavenly reality). Regardless, NTW’s hope seems strictly earth-bound.
Question: What is the difference between NTW’s hope and the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ hope of living in God’s new creation on earth (except for 144K heavenly elite)?
NTW’s rejection of simple believers’ eschatology which envisions going to “heaven” to exist without a body because it results from platonic influence is too simplistic and tars mainstream Christian hope with Gnosticism which denigrates the human body. He ignores many theologians (e.g. Anthony Hoekema, The Bible and the Future) who in fact envisage the future existence of believers to include both embodied existence in the renewed earth and in God’s presence (which surely cannot be simply earth-bound?)
NTW’s conflation of all forms of soul-body dualism in Christian faith tradition to be due to undue influence of Platonism leads him to commit an opposite form of reductionism which devalues the biblical nuanced and holistic view of the body-soul relation. Likewise, while NTW professes to believe in a “heavenly future”, his new creation as heaven on earth is overly materialistic (his new earth seems to eclipse heaven as the final reality) and reductionist in downplaying, if not dismissing the traditional spiritual dimension of personal eschatology (forgiveness of sin and joyous existence in God’s presence both now and forever surely cannot be simply earthbound?).
What does Scripture say about the spiritual blessings of Christian salvation? Since NTW refers to the Book of Ephesians, we note first that Paul exults about the believers blessings in heavenly places (Ephesians 1).
Ephesians 1: 3. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” Believers not only receive heavenly blessings, but are made participants in some ways in the heavenly realm because they are incorporated in Christ.” Harold Hoehner comments, “…the concept of the heavenlies as a source of spiritual blessings and power is rooted in the OT rather than some Gnostic notion of transcendence interacting with human existence wherein the believer is called to make decisions. Thus, in receiving the spiritual benefit from the heavenly places it is in the midst of satanic attack and interference. The spiritual benefits for the believers are from the heavenlies and the unbelievers’ opposition to the believers find their source in wicked spiritual leaders who also reside in the heavenlies (Ephesians 6:12)…Hence, the believers reside on earth having been enriched with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies necessary for their spiritual well-being. ”1 Harold Hoehner, Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary (Baker, 2002), p. 170. Cohick adds, “An unusual phrase found only in Ephesians first appears here: “in the heavenly realms” (see also Ephesians 1:20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12). In one case, the phrase stresses the believers’ being raised and seated with Christ (2:6), and twice Paul emphasizes spiritual forces that dwell in the heavens and who now know God’s plan of redemption in Christ (Ephesians 3:10) but actively seek to undermine God’s faithful followers (Ephesians 6:12). Though evil forces also populate the heavens, God has secured our place there with him in and through Christ.” L.H. Cohick, The Letter to the Ephesians NICNT (Eerdmans, 2020), p. 90.
Finally, Paul highlights to the Ephesians that their real battle is against principalities and powers, a timely reminder since Ephesus was a major centre of pagan worship and spiritual activities.
Ephesians 6: 13. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
While salvation is holistic in including both the vertical (spiritual) and horizontal (renewal of creation and societal unity) dimensions, it seems that in the case of NTW, the horizontal dimension has displaced the vertical dimension. One has to be rationalistic to be able to ignore or overlook Paul’s many references to the believers’ position in the heavenly places and the battle against dark spiritual forces in the Book of Ephesians. It is precisely because the spiritual battle is won in the heavenly places that the believer’s inheritance is secure.
1 Peter 1:3-5. “According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”2J.H. Elliot, “This transcendentalized notion of inheritance occurs in the later OT and Israelite writings (Dan 12:13; Pss. Sol. 14:7; 1QS XI 7) as well as in the NT, where it denotes the inheritance of “eternal life” (Mark 10:17; Titus 3:7), “the kingdom of God” (Matt. 25:34; 1 Cor. 6:9–10; Gal. 5:21; Jas. 2:5), “imperishability” (1 Cor. 15:50), “glory” (Rom. 8:17–18), or the eschatological gift of salvation in general (Col. 3:3; Heb. 1:14). According to our author, the permanent inheritance is that believers are established by God as heirs of salvation and “coheirs (sygklēronomoi) of the grace of life” (1 Pet. 3:7) and have been “called to inherit (klēronomēsēte) a blessing” (1 Pet.3:9).” J. H. Elliott, I Peter. AYB Commentary (Yale UP, 2008), p. 336). Our eternal and impreishable inheritance cannot be merely earthly.
NTW’s rejection of soul and body dualism also leads to inconsistencies. He rightly rejects the theory of soul-sleep since he affirms a continuation of personhood after death – the “real person” is continuing while the body is “asleep”. But isn’t NTW’s hope a form of (unacknowledged) dualism which he overtly rejects? NTW applies an analogy borrowed from John Polkinghorne (Surprised by Hope, p. 163), “God will download our software into his hardware until the time when he gives us new hardware to run the software again.” However, the metaphor (NTW’s word) is obviously flawed. Any software waiting to be uploaded, being just lines of codes, has no self-consciousness, even in the presence of God. Perhaps a fuller critique for another day?
Related Post:
Apart from a few of my earlier posts critiquing NT Wright’s view on justification, see –
– Second Thoughts on N.T. Wright’s Second Thoughts on Heaven
– Critiquing N.T. Wright’s Eschatology: Why the Huffs and Puffs?