For the Life of the World / Yale Center for Faith & Culture

Advent Hope: Darkness, Endurance, and No-Exit Situations / Miroslav Volf

Dec 4, 2023

Theologian Miroslav Volf reflects on the dark hope of Martin Luther and the Apostle Paul, emphasizing how hope and endurance are intrinsically connected in Christian spirituality. Exploring the power of hope in the midst of darkness, chaos, and evil, Volf discusses its connection to God's power to create and bring about new beginnings. He also highlights the transformative power of hope in seemingly hopeless situations.

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INSIGHT

Hope's Power

Hope is more than a feeling; it's a transformative force.
It connects us to a future good, even when the present seems bleak.

INSIGHT

Hope vs. Optimism

Hope differs from optimism, which relies on present trends.
True hope anticipates something entirely new, unrelated to current circumstances.

ANECDOTE

Abraham's Hope

Abraham and Sarah hoped for a child despite their old age, demonstrating hope against reason.
Their hope was based on trust in God's promise, not logical probability.

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A special Advent bonus episode on hope. Theologian Miroslav Volf reflects on "Hope is the thing with feathers" by Emily Dickenson, comments on the dark hope of Martin Luther & the Apostle Paul, and how hope and endurance are intrinsically connected in Christian spirituality.

Show Notes

Evan Rosa & Macie Bridge reflect on the theme of the first week of Advent: “Hope”
“Hope is the thing with feathers / That perches in the soul / And sings the tune without the words / And never stops at all / And sweetest in the Gale is heard / And soar must be the storm / That could abash the little bird / That kept so many warm / I've heard it in the chillest land / And on the strangest sea / And yet never an extremity, / It asked a crumb of me” – Emily Dickenson
“In hope, a future good, which isn't yet, somehow already is”
Luther – "just as love transforms the lover into the beloved, so hope changes the one who hopes into what is hoped for."
The present is pregnant with the future
But hope does not come from what is happening in the present, it is something entirely new
Hope lives apart from reason
Hope and God belong together
“The God who creates out of nothing, the God who makes the dead alive, that God justifies hope that is otherwise unreasonable”
“Genuine hope remains alive when there is no good reason to expect something positive in the future."
Hope transfers a person “into the unknown, the hidden, and the dark shadow, so that he does not even know what he hopes for.” Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, 25:364
"Hope is open to the difference between how we imagined fulfillment and how it arrived, openness even to recognize in the actual fulfillment what we in fact have wanted all along."
"We are most in need of hope in threatening situations which we cannot control; but it is in those same situations that it is most difficult for us not to lose hope. That is where patience and endurance come in."
"Hope needs endurance and endurance needs hope. Or: Genuine endurance is marked by hope; and genuine hope is marked by endurance."
Hope is for no-exit situations.

Production Notes

This podcast featured Miroslav Volf
Edited and Produced by Evan Rosa
Hosted by Evan Rosa
Production Assistance by Macie Bridge
A Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/about
Support For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give