Franz and I intentionally used the term “vision of the future” for hope’s promise. Nonetheless, my discussion groups frequently characterized it as utopian. An online conversation with Paul about what he calls techno-utopian-drift, or TUD, convinced me to examine further society’s growing dependence on technology. Both of us believe it is important that society makes […]
People are really worrying about the future. That’s what I found in all my classes from the high school, the young adults, the three more mature, and the online ones. When we discussed hope, all spoke in one way or another of fearing the future. Some seemed to live under constant threat. A lot of […]
I have been trying to show that our visions of the future impact the way we live in the present. The responses I have been receiving reflect the discussion that has taken place ever since the first century. They range from “needing to wait” because there is no way we can realize the promises now, […]
The Just Society is the second vision on which our hope is built. In it, God promises he will bring the day when all people will treat one another fairly. The promise goes beyond fairness, however. It involves a distributive understanding of justice in which each person has enough. Like all other visions of the […]
Christian hope is based on God’s promises about his future actions. The resulting visions inspire our loving actions in the present. Isaiah’s beautiful picture of the Peaceable Kingdom serves as the model for the first vision. Its promise addresses one of history’s most poignant expressions of humankind’s lamentation at the ever-present threat of war. No […]
The visions of the future associated with Christian hope are quite different than those of technology. Like every proclamation of the Gospel, they call believers to loving action in the present time. The two technological visions that Franz and I suggested, on the other hand, make no demands except patience. “Technological expectation” is a determinism […]
The following is a sermon I proclaimed on the Second Sunday in Advent. The lesson was Isaiah 11: 1-10. I hoped it would speak to the present situation in the Christian community. Advent is special this year. We are all looking for hope, and Advent is the season when Christians talk about hope. It is […]
Hope, the third theological virtue, is based on God’s promise to make all right in the future. I am suggesting it has a practical side-affect that is helpful in overcoming personal suffering. Hope gives us confidence that God is working with us to overcome suffering and make a better world. Because there is so much […]
I have been using 2000 year-old biblical language to lay our groundwork. Bob reminds us we often must translate this into contemporary concepts by noting that science teaches us natural diasters are not “evil.” Lupe suggests more helpful biblical language used by the Gospel of John to describe evil as darkness that is overcome by […]
The course will look at some of the components of Practical Christianity, sometimes described as the art of Christian living. It will begin examining how Christianity offers a way to overcome suffering, whether this is from natural disaster, social injustice, or personal problems. God obviously does not promise to shield us from the suffering caused […]
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