Hope as a Virtue in the Middle Ages (original) (raw)
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HOPE. WHERE DOES GPE OUR HOPE LIE?, 2020
The theme itself will not be immediately about the theological virtue of hope, as it is spoken of today in contemporary moral theology. However, I will mention the elements that have introduced a more open approach to dialogue with the contemporary world in contemporary Catholic morality. I will mention the elements that can deepen the motivation and interest of the believer in social processes and contribute to strengthening the hope in building a common house and community.
Early Christian Thinking on Hope
2020
Recent classical studies on hope have sought to correct a long-standing overemphasis on negative aspects of hope in antiquity, setting up possible correlations with early Christian and New Testament studies. These studies, however, have focused more on the contemporary relevance of hope and the particular emphases of certain texts, without taking into account classical advances. This chapter proposes a more integrative model to make up for this lack. The chapter consists of three elements: a “bottom-up” approach, comprehensive textual analysis, and consideration of possible ancient frames. The aim is to facilitate understandings and nuances of hope. This model is then applied to the letter of 1 Thessalonians, arguably the earliest preserved Christian text. The results show to what extent the letter shares other developing conceptions and contexts related to hope, and how it specifically differs from them, with concluding observations for further study.
A major insight of the medieval ars moriendi tradition was to validate the agency of the dying: to say that dying is something you do, not just something that happens to you. The astonishing notion of dying as an “art” validates agency but also makes demands on it, since it takes skill to practice any art. In the ars moriendi tradition, the skills needed for the art of dying are the virtues. Paramount among these for Christians is the theological virtue of hope. This paper suggests that to make hopeful dying a real option, we require a renewed ascesis of hope situated in the body of Christ, which through a shared eschatological vision and set of practices cultivates and sustains the kind of character that enables a hopeful death.
Hope and Catholic theology: a Ratzinger and Metz debate
The traditional understanding of hope in Catholic doctrine can be well represented by Thomas Aquinas. He taught that the object of hope is a future good possible but arduous to obtain. In the case of theological hope, this future good is God himself, who is the perfect happiness of man. This theological hope promotes perfect happiness in two ways. First in a positive sense, by showing that this complete happiness is possible. Then, in a negative sense, it encourages perseverance despite hardship. Hope is not merely individual self-reliance, it is rather relational, since it helps us to trust that God will assist us in the journey. Finally, Aquinas explains that hope can be examined according to its final cause which is God as man’s happiness; or regarding its efficient cause which is God’s help to man. In other words, we see that God is our ultimate end, our complete good, the object of our love. Charity also perceives God as goodness, but desirable in himself, i.e. an object of the love of benevolence. Charity gives form to hope, directing it to God as the ultimate end. Taking in consideration this traditional understanding of hope, in this inquiry we want to offer some insights regarding Christian hope in recent Theology development especially in relation to modern society and politics. We will examine the work of two influential Catholic theologians in the 20th century, who wrote extensively on hope, Johann Baptist Metz and Joseph Ratzinger. This study proceeds by analyzing and comparing how they understood the essence of Christian hope, its relation to political action and society, and how it can be an answer to the challenges of modernity. Such reflection can help us with insights to comprehend the role of the charismatic little daughter, our theological hope, in these times of pandemic.
Christian hope as seen by J. Ratzinger Benedict XVI
One of the most pressing issues today is the need to rediscover hope, which can give meaning to life and history and enables people to walk together. After all, it is that spiritual force that does not allow a person to stop or be satisfied with what they already have and who they are. It provides an opening to the future and paves new paths for human freedom. It gives meaning to human life on earth. Christianity has an important role in this regard, as it is an event that was born out of hope and entered history as a living and profound experience of hope. In doing so, it touched some particularly tender place in the human being, which is precisely hope, without which the human being cannot live. The purpose of this article is to show the magnitude and meaningfulness of Christian hope based on the analysis of selected works of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI. To answer the question: what, according to him, is Christian hope, what is its basis and what is its specificity? What could it offer to the modern world? It is also an explanation of the thesis put forward by the author, which states that without God and without Christ there is no real hope, i.e. one that corresponds both to who man is and to the aspirations and desires arising from his ontic dignity. The first section addresses the reasoning behind hope from the perspective of anthropology. The second one presents and discusses the theological basis of Christian hope. Meanwhile, in the third section, the originality and specificity of Christian hope is shown.