If we consult the Holy Scriptures we can have no doubt that God promised his church here on earth a better state than this.

Philipp Jakob Spener (1675)

Given all the problems we discussed in our previous episode, why should Christians today join Pietists like Spener in holding out “hope for better times” — for the church, but also for the world?

This week Mark, Sam, and I discussed the nature of Christian hope (including its grounding in the Resurrection, its relationship to faith and love, and whether it’s this-worldly, other-worldly, or both) and why it’s distinct from secular hopes (including political expressions — on left and right — and the kind of self-exonerating historical progressivism that Ta-Nehisi Coates has criticized).

Further reading:

• Philipp Jakob Spener, “The Possibility of Better Conditions in the Church” (part II of Pia Desideria)
• Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom, “How Should We Hope?” (ch. 4 of Angels, Worms, and Bogeys)
• Jürgen Moltmann, Theology of Hope
• N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church
• Mark S. Ferrara, Barack Obama and the Rhetoric of Hope
• Chris Gehrz, “Truthful, Hopeful: A Christian Reflection on History” and “Expectation and Joy: A Benediction for Easter Monday,” The Pietist Schoolman

You can download this and all episodes of The Pietist Schoolman Podcast at iTunes.

Image Credit: Wikimedia/CC BY 2.0 C.G.P. Grey