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a well lived bland life
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Point of Christianity
I'm currently finishing the book Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense by N.T. Wright. The book has been a fairly good one and I have enjoyed reading it. I'm presently in the last twenty pages of the book and read something I felt like sharing. If you have any feedback on your thoughts feel free to share them.
"Despite what many people think, within the Christian family and outside it, the point of Christianity isn't 'to go to heaven when you die.'
"The New Testament picks up from the Old the theme that God intends, in the end, to put the whole creation to rights. Earth and heaven were made to overlap with one another, not fitfully, mysteriously, and partially as they do at the moment, but completely, gloriously, and utterly. 'The earth shall be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.' That is the promise which resonates throughout the Bible story, from Isaiah (and behind him, by implication, from Genesis itself) all the way through to Paul's greatest visionary moments and the final chapters of the book of Revelation. The great drama will end, not with 'saved souls' being snatched up into heaven, away from the wicked earth and the mortal bodies which have dragged them down into sin, but with the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven to earth, so that 'the dwelling of God is with humans' (Revelation 21:3)."
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"I am constantly amazed that many contemporary Christians find this confusing. It was second nature to the early church and to many subsequent Christian generations. It was what they believed and taught. If we have grown up believing and teaching something else, it's time we rubbed our eyes and read our texts again. God's plan is not to abandon this world, the world which he said was 'very good.' Rather, he intends to remake it. And when he does, he will raise all his people to new bodily life to live in it. That is the promise of the Christian gospel."
Simply Christian by N.T.Wright
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Blando's Blog
Disciple of Christ, Husband, Father, and IT-guy.
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