Richard BAUCKHAM
( n. 1946 )

The hopes by which the modern West has lived are widely understood to have failed. At the outset of the third millennium we can recognise the ideology of historical progress for what it is - a myth that can no longer provide humanity with grounds for hope. The threat of world-wide ecological disaster, for example, shows that attempts to master history and create the future have led not to confidence but the opposite: a deep suspicion and fear of what is to come.
In the face of the failure of secular hope, Richard Bauckham and Trevor Hart present us with a way forward — a radical faith in a future for the world that is in God's hands. They seek to re-source Christian hope from its rich heritage of biblical promises and their interpretation in the tradition. In a fresh and skilful way they explore the major images of Christian eschatology, encouraging us to engage with them using our imagination in order to understand them for today.
The authors insist on the fully cosmic scope of Christian eschatology, writing of God's future not just for human individuals but for the whole creation. They examine the relevance of such eschatology for daily life, saying:
'The more we are able to trust in God finally to transform the situation, the more we are lifted out of the mire of despair and set free to launch small-scale initiatives of resistance.'
Hope against Hope is a thoroughly interdisciplinary work that integrates biblical study, systematic theology and analysis of contemporary Western culture.
This title is part of the Trinity and Truth Series, edited by Stephen Sykes. The series aims to make the best of theological thinking on key subjects accessible to a general readership.