Description
Describing his objective in writing Eternal Hope, Emil Brunner boldly claimed that ‘a church that has nothing to teach concerning the future and the life of the world to come is bankrupt’. Several decades later, such a challenge might still be levied. Against this backdrop, Brunner offers a way forward that remains closely tied scripture, yet is nevertheless pastorally sensitive. Indeed, one of the central tenets of his approach is that the Gospel offers no comfort to the individual that is not at the same time a promise for the future of humanity as a whole. He proceeds systematically through the promises and mysteries that the Christian faith maintains surrounding death, while holding the hope of eternity as a constant goal.
A precursor to his more rigorous Dogmatics, and partly in preparation for the second assembly of the World Council of Churches in 1954, Eternal Hope was also written just a year after the tragic death of Brunner’s son. It is therefore no surprise that he combines the vulnerability of his personal encounter with death, and a theological outlook that has universal implications.
About the Author
Emil Brunner (1889-1966) was one of the leading theologians of the twentieth century, and helped pave the course of modern Protestant theology. He was Professor of Systematic and Practical Theology at the University of Zürich and lectured around the world. His extensive writings published by James Clarke & Co. include Faith, Hope and Love and Dogmatics.
Contents
1. The Significance of Hope in Human Life
2. Belief in the Progress of Humanity
3. The Ground of the Christian Hope
4. Faith and History
5. The Christian Understanding of Time and Eternity
(Appendix: The Biblical Conception of Time and the Kantian Antinomies of Time)
6. The Ecclesia as the Present Reality of the Future and the Transformation of the Idea of Revolution
7. The Christian Hope of Progress and the Utopian Millennium
8. The Negative Promise: Antichrist
9. The Future Advent of Jesus Christ as the Meaning of History
10. The Significance of the Christian Hope of Eternity for Life in the Present
11. The Mystery of Death
12. Death as the Transition to Eternal Life
13. The Problem Set by the Biblical Representation of the End of History
(i) Mythological Elements in the New Testament Message
(ii) The Changed Picture of the World and its Implications for the Christian Hope
(iii) The Significance of the Expectation of the Parousia in the Near Future
(iv) The Paradox of the End of History
14. The Parousia, the Coming of the Son of God in Glory
15. The Resurrection
16. The Completion of Humanity in the Kingdom of God
17. The Last Judgement and the Problem of Universal Redemption
18. The End of All Things: The Consummation
19. Postscript Instead of Foreword: The Present Theological Situation
Notes
