“So we have no hope. Unless. Unless there is a God who has promised to guide history not to an end, but to a new beginning, to a world in which finally death and evil are completely destroyed and justice and peace reign supreme, the sign of which is the resurrection.”- Timothy Keller
In Chapter 12 (“Hope for the Future”), the final chapter of Hope in Times of Fear, Timothy Keller takes a look at four Christian aspects of hope. The following resources that could renew hope in our culture are uniquely reasonable, full, realistic, and effective. Pastor Keller covers the first two today.
1. Christian hope is reasonable. First, as Pastor Keller discussed in the first chapter, formidable evidence exists that Jesus’s rising from the dead actually happened. Yet, this powerful evidence from the empirical realm still requires faith. Thus, the resurrection of Christ provides a highly reasonable, as well as rational, hope that God’s going to renew the world.
Above all, N. T. Wright explains that Christ’s rising from the dead presents evidence that historians and scientists must explain. He writes: “Insofar as I understand scientific method, when something turns up that doesn’t fit the paradigm you’re working with, one option . . . is to change the paradigm.”
So, a failure to provide a plausible alternative explanation is being less scientific.
2. Christian hope is full. Our secular culture tells its members that ultimate oblivion signals the end for both individuals and world history. Above all, the Christian faith differs, as Pastor Keller explains:
“The resurrection of Jesus is arrabon, a down payment, and aparche, firstfruits of a future physical resurrection in which the material world will be renewed. . . . No other faith says not only that we will be resurrected as individuals but that the material world will be resurrected as well. . . . And this hope is not wishful thinking but is grounded in history, a sign of which is the risen Christ.”
Today’s question: What does it mean to you that one day justice and peace reign supreme? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Defiance comes from looking at ourselves”
