In ordinary conversation, imaginary escapes from everyday living often masquerade as 'hope,' but true hope involves seeing what one hopes for intersect present reality. Confusion over hope confuses everything about the relationship between eternal life and everyday living: ideas about the Church, sin and redemption, God, Jesus, worship, love, and, eternal life itself. Conversely, clearer thinking about hope allows clearer thinking on all of these issues. After clarifying hope itself, Dynamics of Hope identifies questions and applies lessons learned about eternal life and everyday living that arise regarding hope. Chapter one discusses how hope always accompanies some particular situation in which what one hopes for is already on its way. Chapter two asks such questions as 'How does the Church render valid a hope of eternal life?' In chapter three, the question becomes that of what the hoped-for-eternal life is like. It focuses on the Church Jesus inaugurated, the community to which a hope of eternal life belongs, and looks at Jesus secondarily as the inaugurator of this community. Chapter four asks 'Will eternal life mean heaven for some and hell for others, or heaven for all, or something else?' Finally, chapter five describes how the coming of eternal life gives new meaning to life here and now. |
