Session 1
March 2, 2023
Session 2
March 9, 2023
Session 3
March 16, 2023
Session 4
March 23, 2023
Session 5
March 30, 2023
Session 6
Session 7
Session 8
Session 9
Session 10
Session 11
Session 12
Session 13
Session 14
Session 15
Session 16
Session 17
Session 18
Session 19
Session 20

In-person Course: 12pm - 1pm | Online course: 7pm - 8pm.

Online Course Details    

Meeting ID 854 4650 4527 | Passcode 847713

Jurgen Moltmann said that hope produces an ‘unquiet heart’ that ‘can no longer put up with reality as it is.’ But what is the difference between hope and childish fantasy? And what about the criticism that says that we should pay more attention to the world as it is, rather than diverting our attention to the hope for ‘the life of the world to come’? In other words, what if hope ‘becomes an excuse not to deal with the reality of injustice’ (De La Torre). What about hope and desire? Thomas Aquinas said that to hope is to be ‘directed by the power of desire’ to some difficult-to-obtain good. So how should we understand the connection between the content of our desires, and the object of our hopes? Shouldn’t we learn to accept reality as it is, and learn that we cannot always get what we want?

 

In this course we will wrestle with these and other questions, as we explore what theologians and philosophers have said about hope, and ask how we can learn this ‘theological virtue’ in an era when our very sense of the future as an open field of possibility is threatened. How can we connect our experiences of hope and despair with the idea that God is a sometimes-secret but powerful presence within human history?

 

Week 1
‘Directed by the power of desire’? On the nature of hope

In this session we begin to examine what hope is, with the help of Thomas Aquinas and a few contemporary philosophers. It seems that hope concerns our desire for that which is possible, but uncertain, and out of our control. Does mean that hope is always likely to be a pervasive feature of our lives – and if so, what should we make of this?


Week 2

God, hope and humanity

In this session we explore what it might mean to hope in, and for, God. We continue to explore Aquinas’ account of hope, this time insofar as hope is for, and on, God. We also look at what the Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner has to say about hope in relation to the ‘uncontrollability’ of God: might it be that hope shows us something fundamental about how we are oriented to divine mystery?


Week 3
Against hope

A wide range of modern thinkers have expressed doubts about the value of hope: on the one hand, perhaps hope indulges us with wishful thinking that prevents concrete action and engagement with the world as it is. On the other hand, perhaps hope for a longed for Beyond actually robs us of contentment in the present, flawed as it may be. We explore the powerful work of Jurgen Moltmann to see if Christian theology can answer these critiques, and if so, how.

 

Week 4
Hope and happy endings

In this session we bring some of the philosophical and theological issues above to bear upon popular culture. The final scene of a film is an interesting moment, one which can arouse powerful emotions, from sheer pleasure through to confusion, frustration or outright indignation. Why do we find certain kinds of endings satisfying?Why do some film-makers deliberately refuse us a happy ending? In this session we explore how we are comforted, challenged, inspired and perhaps sometimes exploited by film endings. And ask what all of this may have to do with the Christian imagination of ‘the life of the world to come’?

 

 Week 5
Hope, love and the suffering of others

Finally, we ask what hope has to do with love. On the one hand, love seems to be connected with a deep acceptance of another person, so that we want to be with them. On the other hand, love also seems to involve desiring the best for another person, which might mean not accepting the present as it is. So it seems natural to connect hope for the good and well-being of others with love. But if love is about the desire to be with others – the desire for communion – then we can also ask whether hope in God – and hope for communion beyond death – is grounded in love as it is experienced now.

Course
Resources

Week 1
‘Directed by the power of desire’? On the nature of hope

In this session we begin to examine what hope is, with the help of Thomas Aquinas and a few contemporary philosophers. It seems that hope concerns our desire for that which is possible, but uncertain, and out of our control. Does mean that hope is always likely to be a pervasive feature of our lives – and if so, what should we make of this?

Preparation for seminar

In addition to the audio, please listen to the episode of In Our Time, on the BBC, here: BBCRadio 4 - In Our Time, Hope

Week 2
God, hope and humanity

In this session we explore what it might mean to hope in, and for, God. We continue to explore Aquinas’ account of hope, this time insofar as hope is for, and on, God. We also look at what the Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner has to say about hope in relation to the ‘uncontrollability’ of God: might it be that hope shows us something fundamental about how we are oriented to divine mystery?

Readings

David Elliott, ‘Hope in theology’ in Historical and Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Hope available to download from academia.edu for free here.

Karl Rahner, ‘On the theology of hope’ from Theological Investigations, vol.X (see below).

John Haught, God after Einstein, ch. 11 (see below).

Week 3
Against hope

A wide range of modern thinkers have expressed doubts about the value of hope: on the one hand, perhaps hope indulges us with wishful thinking that prevents concrete action and engagement with the world as it is. On the other hand, perhaps hope for a longed for Beyond actually robs us of contentment in the present, flawed as it may be. We explore the powerful work of Jurgen Moltmann to see if Christian theology can answer these critiques, and if so, how.

Reading

Jurgen Moltmann, Theology of Hope – ‘Meditation on Hope’

Week 4
Hope and happy endings

In this session we bring some of the philosophical and theological issues above to bear upon popular culture. The final scene of a film is an interesting moment, one which can arouse powerful emotions, from sheer pleasure through to confusion, frustration or outright indignation. Why do we find certain kinds of endings satisfying?Why do some film-makers deliberately refuse us a happy ending? In this session we explore how we are comforted, challenged, inspired and perhaps sometimes exploited by film endings. And ask what all of this may have to do with the Christian imagination of ‘the life of the world to come’?

Week 5
Hope, love and the suffering of others

Finally, we ask what hope has to do with love. On the one hand, love seems to be connected with a deep acceptance of another person, so that we want to be with them. On the other hand, love also seems to involve desiring the best for another person, which might mean not accepting the present as it is. So it seems natural to connect hope for the good and well-being of others with love. But if love is about the desire to be with others – the desire for communion – then we can also ask whether hope in God – and hope for communion beyond death – is grounded in love as it is experienced now.

 

In addition to the audio recording, which contains a reflection about hope and the love of others, we will also read a section of Pope Benedict XVI’s Encyclical SpeSalvi, which connects hope with the sense that ‘true life’ is something that we desire, even though we do not fully know what it is. An earlier section of his book Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life might also be informative.

 

Readings:

-  Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi (para 1-15)

-  Ratzinger, Eschatology, ch. IV

Resources


















Week 2

Week 3

Week 5

No items found.

No items found.

Tutors

Dr Stuart Jesson

Stuart is the Theology Lead at LJC. He graduated with a degree in Literature and Theology from the University of Hull in 2000. From 2003-9 he studied Philosophical Theology part-time at the University of Nottingham, whilst continuing to work in the third sector with vulnerably-housed or homeless people, and young asylum seekers (as well as pulling pints in a pub). He was Lecturer at York St John University for almost a decade, before moving to London Jesuit Centre in 2021. He now lives in South East London, and spends as much time as he can in the woods.

MY LJC