For All the Saints [Paperback]

N. T. Wright (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2004

"We have been drifting into a muddle and a mess, putting together bits and pieces of traditions, ideas and practices in the hope that they will make sense. They don't. There may be times when a typical Anglican fudge is a pleasant, chewy sort of thing, but this isn't one of them. It's time to think and speak clearly and act decisively." With these robust words Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham, throws down a challenge to current liturgy and practice surrounding All Saints' and All Souls' Days, and sets out to clarify our thinking about what happens to people after they die. Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory, what it means to pray for the dead, what (and who) are the saints, are all addressed in this invigorating and rigorously argued book.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In challenging the existence of an eternal soul and questioning the traditional view of Heaven, Dr. Wright is taking a more biblical approach than most of his more liberal contemporaries. More often it has been the liberalism of Bishops of Durham that shocked the establishment."

About the Author

N. T. Wright was recently appointed Bishop of Durham. He has taught New Testament Studies at Oxford, Cambridge, and McGill Universities, and lectures regularly at Princeton and Harvard. He is the author of many books including The Resurrection of the Son of God.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Morehouse Publishing (September 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0819221333
• ISBN-13: 978-0819221339
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #269,393 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #85 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Protestantism > Anglican

More About the Author

N.T. Wright is Bishop of Durham and was formerly Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey and dean of Lichfield Cathedral. He taught New Testament studies for twenty years at Cambridge, McGill and Oxford Universities. Wright's full-scale works The New Testament and the People of God, Jesus and the Victory of God, and The Resurrection of the Son of God are part of a projected six-volume series entitled Christian Origins and the Question of God. Among his many other published works are The Original Jesus, What Saint Paul Really Said and The Climax of the Covenant. He is also coauthor with Marcus Borg of The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions and the volume on Colossians and Philemon in The Tyndale New Testament Commentary series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For all the Anglicans..., October 15, 2004

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FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: For All the Saints (Paperback)

N.T. Wright, recently appointed Anglican bishop of Durham, has had a distinguished academic and writing career as well, having taught at both Oxford and Cambridge, and being a frequent lecturer at Ivy League schools in America. He has authored theology texts, bible commentaries and histories, as well as devotional texts. This slim volume incorporates a bit of each of these types of literature, looking at the way Anglican tradition has treated our memory and understanding of the departed (the saints and others), as well as his own views on what a more biblically-based understanding would look like.

The text of this book grew out of lectures and sermons Wright delivered while canon theologian of Westminster Abbey. As part of his development of the subject, Wright explores the theology present in various hymns sung by Anglicans, particularly those around All Saints Day, the first of November. Wright admits the divisions that exist in Anglican polity, the tension between catholic and protestant sensibilities, and the problems with trying to come up with once-and-for-all formulations. In his first chapter, Wright looks at the development of ideas from the medieval times, including purgatory, limbo and other such doctrines not explicitly found in scripture. He concludes with different ways one may question such traditions, deciding for himself the best course of action to be a 'fresh reading of the New Testament' and recognition of more modern developments affecting the church.

Wright's second chapter lays out some of his ideas. He dismisses the idea of universal salvation (saying that, despite the fact that he was congratulated once upon a time for being a universal salvation-ist, he is not) as being the modern-day replacement for the idea of purgatory, and is often meaningless in its construct. Wright takes the bible seriously about heaven and hell without attaching too much literalism to the descriptions of the bible. Perhaps the most intriguing idea was the sense that humanity bearing the image of God is as much a vocation as it is a part of our being -- we are called to be Christlike, being in the image of God here understood as something we do as much as it is something we are.

Wright's third chapter will most likely appeal only to Anglicans -- it deals with liturgical issues surrounding All Saints and All Souls commemorations. The fourth chapter similarly deals the the 'Kingdom season', another liturgical/calendrical issue for Anglicans. The short conclusion, however, has a wonderful and brief discussion of how and why we continue to pray for the departed, if the idea of purgatory is no longer what it was. Wright's discussion of Professor Sir Norman Anderson and his unexpected argument in favour of the continued practice is a gem.

For Anglicans, this is a very worthwhile book. For other Christians, parts will have direct impact and interest, and the rest will demonstrate how other faithful Christians practice prayer and remembrance. At a mere 76 pages, this is a quick but valuable read.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fellowship Divine, May 22, 2006

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Labarum (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: For All the Saints (Paperback)

Noted Scripture scholar and Anglican Bishop of Durham N. T. Wright is no stranger to controversy. A moderate within the Reformed strain of Anglicanism, he has issued thought provoking research that has caused the Church to better understand the Jewish roots of Christianity while also infuriating many Protestants by challenging their standard reading of St. Paul's epistles regarding the issue of justification. Simultaneous with his more technical works, he has also released a number of more popular works aimed at a general audience seeking to grasp disputed issues in the Church. He is the rare example of a Christian author who can both research the foundations of Christianity and teach the faith of the Church.

In For All the Saints?, Wright is aiming at the general audience in explaining his thoughts on what happens after we die. In a move that is sure to aggrivate all parties, he rejects praying to saints but accepts prayers for the dead. In the former case, he fully accepts that the saints in heaven might well be praying for us but sees no Scriptural justification for asking them to do so. One might challenge his Reformed presuppositions, but he consisently applies them and does not attack straw men. The result might be a predictable rejection of the belief in seeking the intercession of the saintly departed, but is a well thought out and sincere one.

It is very interesting how he approaches the issue of prayers for the dead. Wright concedes this was a Jewish practice that was adopted by the early Church and seeks to apply it within a Reformed framework. Rejecting the Western medieval notion of a tripartite Church - triumphant in heaven, expectant in purgatory, and militant on earth - he holds a bipartite Church that is both triumphant and expectant in heaven and militant on earth. The Church in heaven is triumphant as they are with Christ forever but expectant as they are not complete since they have not yet been resurrected. It is for the completion of God's purpose in their lives that we may pray for the saintly departed.

Throughout the book, Wright seeks to give latitude to those outside his ecclesial tradition while remaining faithful to his own principles. For All the Saints? stands as an excellent example of bringing a Catholic outlook into the Reformed tradition. For the more sectarian in that tradition, it will only confirm their ill feelings towards Wright, but for those honestly wrestling with these difficult issues, it is essential reading.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What the Bible really teaches about life after death, August 15, 2009

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DarrenGJohnson "DarrenGJohnson" (Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: For All the Saints (Paperback)

I have seen some reviews stating that this is the true Anglican view of life after death, but no this is what the Bible actually teaches about life after death. This is an excellent little book with only one draw back and that is it gets too much into the Church calendar and discussing it as if Wright is reacting to a recent celebration of All Saints Day or All Souls Day. Regardless, this book is great for those who do not have the time (but I must say it is well worth the time) to read his larger work "The Resurrection of the Son of God." This book is very short (could be considered a long pamphlet) and can be read in a couple of hours.