Comments on: The neglected doctrine of Hope

By: Robert C.

Robert C. — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 20:55:22 +0000

Jacob #12, very interesting thoughts on the temple symbolism. I’d love to hear you work this out more—I’ll be thinking about it myself in the meantime….

By: Jacob

Jacob — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 16:43:56 +0000

Thanks for the links Robert. I was reading through the links and I noticed your discussion of 2 Ne 31:19-20. I was thinking on posting something more extensive on this, but in the mean time I thought you might be interested in a very bare-bone precursor to my thoughts in this comment over at nine moons.

By: Robert C.

Robert C. — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 17:15:48 +0000

Here's part of an extended conversation I had with Joe Spencer on hope in relation to faith and charity a while back in light of 2 Ne 31:19-20. The commentary page and links probably make for a more polished read. I still tend to think of faith as the first step in approaching God, hope as the anchoring we receive from God's promise after we approach him, and charity as the effective change of heart we receive from this process—an indicator of whether we have exercised faith and obtained hope in a correct manner....

By: Jacob

Jacob — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 05:00:05 +0000

Good point Mark, thanks.

By: Mark Butler

Mark Butler — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 03:40:53 +0000

Well said, Jacob. The only thing I might add is the association of hope with the resurrection, and the relation of the latter to perfect love – having received the promise knowing that even if we suffer unto death in fulfilment of the law and the sacrifice we shall be raised unto a glorious resurrection to dwell eternally with the Lord in the heavens above. That sort of hope, a promise of a glorious resurrection, allows a man or a woman to go forward not sparing his own body, if necessary.

By: Hal H.

Hal H. — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:54:11 +0000

I’ve raised 6 children, 3 of whom are still teenagers. They are pretty grounded kids but at times we have gone through some long-suffering. During these times we have found that Hope doesn’t just apply to us but also to our children. There are moments when it feels like all you have. In fact, thinking about it right now, I get clarity about faith, hope, and charity when I consider the experience of raising a family.

By: a random John

a random John — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 22:25:55 +0000

In Portuguese the word for hope (esperar) can also mean “expect” and “to wait for”. Since the definition to use isn’t clear from the scriptures it is wonderfully ambiguous as to what is meant.

By: Doc

Doc — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 20:45:22 +0000

Thanks for the reminder Jacob. I agree we must press forward with a perfect brightness of hope. And yes, I think the definition you give is very accurate and applicable. We could all use a little more hope and optimism.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 20:25:58 +0000

I agree about the overlapping nature of faith and hope. I am suggesting hope is essentially faith + promise. I am curious to know if there are specific scriptures you think are problematic to the distiction I have drawn above. Of course, “hope” gets thrown in from time to time as a modern word with no special significance, but I find the scriptures to be fairly consistent in conforming to the meaning I’ve outlined.

By: Geoff J

Geoff J — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 18:22:15 +0000

Good stuff Jacob.

I have been meaning to investigate the idea of faith generally applying to persons (the Godhead and Jesus Christ specifically for us) and hope generally applying to things/events. It is difficult to separate faith and hope in scriptures and these discussions though. They seem to be equivocal and overlapping.