Books read in May 2009 (8)

1. Surprised by Hope by Tom Wright

Wright had written an excellent text to show the Christian hope is not heaven after death but resurrection. Salvation is for the body, not disembodied souls. We do not look to heaven but to a new creation at the return of Christ, a new heaves and earth. Wright works out the practical implications now. He certainly makes one look afresh at our hymnody where the focus is too often on heaven not resurrection.
However, at three points I would depart from Wright. First, he says that once you establish there is no purgatory there is nothing wrong in prayers for the dead. I do not see to one end one can in any way pray for any alteration in the state of the dead. Second, Wright has a less than biblical understanding of hell and eternal punishment. He sees the lost merely as in someway dehumanised by losing the divine image. I think this is mere non-biblical speculation . Finally I cannot for the life of me understand why he thinks that third world debt is as big a modern scandal as slavery was 200 years ago.

2. A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey. Archer

I like Archer's work but I found the identity swap at the heart of the plot to be unbelievable. The author has drawn on his own prison experience which was much more credible than his fictional prison.

3, The Murder Club Guides: South West England and Wales by Brian Lane

Some are centuries old stories, some modern. Murder was more interesting before the death penalty was abolished. More was at stake. I was pleased to find it included a brief account of the murder of a relaative of mine in 1920

4. Cold Steel by Paul Carson

A run of the mill thriller to while away some idle hours. Not bad but far short of the best in the genre.