For All The Saints?: Remembering The Christian Departed

Rating:
Summary: For all the Anglicans...
Review: 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.