In the preface to the second edition, Wright states: “I was nervous about republishing these studies, which started out as sermons in and around Oxford. I was still in my early twenties when the first of them were preached ... and the thought of revisiting after 40 years the things I had been trying to say, and the way I had been trying to say them, was somewhat daunting. ... But what I was really glad to discover was not only that I substantially agreed with much of what I had written all those years ago, but also a wealth of memories came flooding back. ... And I realise, in particular, that more of my recent work on the ultimate Christian hope (as in The Resurrection of the Son of God and Surprised by Hope) needs to be brought to bear on what I say about ‘heaven.’ ...

“But I don’t think that the emphasis I would now place on new heavens and a new earth (rather than just ‘heaven’) makes much difference to the main thrust of the book. The greatness of God the Creator and Redeemer is what matters ... it is God himself who counts, not our perceptions or understanding of him, not our faith or our rhetoric or our pilgrimage. I hope and pray that this little book, period piece though it may be, will still be able to make that point clear.”

And it does. The quality of the writing makes you realise it was inevitable that the author would go on to become one of the leading evangelical theologians and writers in Great Britain. 

The book is divided into three parts – faith in a great God, faith to live and love, and faith to walk in the dark. The chapters are short, succinct and sacred. They provide comfort as they remind us that the smallness of our faith does not limit the greatness of our God. They challenge us to realise again that we worship a truly great God, able to do “exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).

By N. T. Wright
2nd. Edition
IVP, 2010
ISBN 978-0-8308-3833-2

– David McLeod-Jones