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1 The Christian Virtue of Hope and the Epistemological Underpinnings of Christian Eschatology Eschatology: a human problem without a human solution. —Giacomo Biffi1 Hope is the breathing of the soul; Hope is a memory of the future; Hope is the very fabric out of which our soul is made. —Gabriel Marcel2 The brain is not interested in reality; it is interested in survival. —John J.Medina3 Quoniam tu, Domine, singulariter in spe constituisti me. —Psalms 4:9 Christianity, like Judaism, is the religion of God’s promise. God, in creating the world and saving humanity, did not leave everything neatly and accurately arranged from the outset. His creating action marks the beginning of time. And time opens space for further progress: space for God, who continues to act, to create, to save, to provide, to perfect, to renew, to re-create; and space for humans , who are offered again and again the opportunity of freely responding to God’s gifts. The incompleteness of the present moment belongs to the very essence of Christian revelation. The letter to the Hebrews reminds us that “here we have no lasting city” (13:14). Nonetheless, however transient and deficient the present situation may be, the ultimate horizon of Christian life may not be identified with incompleteness or transience, for according to Scripture God has promised “eternal life” to those who are faithful to him, “resurrection of the dead” for one and all, a “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pt 3:13). 3 1. G.Biffi, Linee di escatologia cristiana (Milano: Jaca Book, 1984), 7. 2. G.Marcel, Homo viator (Paris: Aubier-Montaigne, 1944), 79, 68; Etre et avoir (Paris: AubierMontaigne , 1935), 117. 3. J.J.Medina, “The Science of Thinking Smarter,” Harvard Business Review (May 2008): 51–54, 54. 4 The Dynamic of Hope The term “eschatology” derives from the Greek word eschaton, “that which comes last.” Originally, the term refers to what is lowest in the hierarchy of being , to the very dregs of matter. From the Christian standpoint, however, what comes at the end is not decayed matter, the poorest, the lowest, and the weakest, but rather fullness, consummation, perfect fulfillment. Thus eschatology is the science of the “last things,” the object of divine promise we hope for, because hope refers to the future and directs humans to gifts that are offered to them. Before considering the object of Christian promise (part 2), in this chapter we shall briefly consider some aspects of the dynamic of hope itself, as well as the epistemological and hermeneutical issues it gives rise to. The fundamental question being asked is the following: how can we ascertain the truth value of eschatological statements drawn from the New Testament, given that as yet they have not been verified? In other words, can the Church responsibly preach to humanity the promise of final resurrection and eternal life? The Passion and Virtue of Hope Hope as a Passion Aristotle explains that the passion of hope arises from the perception of the bonum futurum arduum possibile, that is, the absent good that is difficult, though possible, to obtain.4 Hope is occasioned in the first place by the bonum futurum, the absent good, the good that is perceived by the subject, but is not yet fully possessed . In this sense it may be said that hope is a form of desire, which, for Aristotle , is also a passion. However, hope and desire are not one and the same thing. Gabriel Marcel and other philosophers of hope have insisted on the point.5 It is possible to desire something without ever really “hoping” to possess it, that is, without thinking that it is realistically possible to obtain. In effect, hope adds to desire the inner conviction that it is possible to obtain or possess the object desired , in spite of the difficulty in doing so. In other words, the good desired is an arduous yet possible one. Interestingly, according to Thomas Aquinas, who develops Aristotle’s reflections on the passions, birds of prey and other animals also experience the passion of hope.6 This should come as no surprise. Perception of its quarry awakens the bird’s appetite, which turns into hope as it invests all its experience , resources, energy, agility, and ingenuity in an effort to capture its victim. 4. On the passions in Aristotle, Metaph. IV, 5, 1010 b33; De mem. et rem., 450 a3; De anima II, 3, 427 b18. See also H...

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