Hoping against hope: Dealing with hopelessness in ancient times and today

Abstract

The hope of Abraham was “hope against hope,” the apostle Paul notes in a famous passage in his letter to the Romans 4:18. Such is the hope of the underdog, whose hope is not backed up by the powers that be, manifest by the prevalent empires of the day. Any discussion of hope in this context needs to deal with the limits of hope that have been expressed powerfully by Miguel De La Torre in his book Embracing Hopelessness (2017). As a result, the faith of Abraham that led to hope against hope cannot be blind faith, or what has sometimes been called “the power of positive thinking.” COVID-19 has once again reinforced this insight. Only when the challenges and the roadblocks to faith and hope are seen and embraced, and when false hope is exposed for what it is, can glimpses of real hope break through.