For All the Saints? Remembering the Christian Departed

“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. “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.” —The Times 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.