Hope: a despised Christian virtue?

Abstract

Christian theologians and some philosophers disagree on the status of “hope.” The first group sees it as a great theological virtue that points to God’s victory over the trials of existence and to the joy of eternal life, where “death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Rev 21:4). The second group, however, views it as a deceptive illusion, a clinging to baseless dreams, or a form of surrender and acceptance of injustice under the pretext of awaiting the fulfillment of the Kingdom of Heaven. On the occasion of the Year of Hope, this article presents a confrontation between the views of two major contemporary figures on opposite sides: the Argentinian Pope Francis and the French philosopher André Comte-Sponville.