Finding Hope in James Muyskens' The Sufficiency of Hope
Most people hope the world is the way they believe it is. That is, most people hope that their view of the world is right. They usually do not hope for the truth about things to be much better than what they suppose it is. Sometimes the hope is a factor in causing the belief; sometimes the hope stems from the desire to be right about one's belief; and in some cases the hope may follow the belief, i.e., one becomes accustomed even to an austere view of the world and finally comes to prefer it. It seems that most people, especially most philosophers, would rather be right than have the world turn out to be even a better place than their theory allows. They might not admit this
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Certainly many people believe in him who are sure that their manner of life puts them in danger of his wrath.
There have always been many people who believe that there is inadequate evidence for supernature, whether God or the afterlife. Supposing there is indeed little evidence for God, this raises the intriguing question, would there be anything epistemologically sinful in permitting oneself, not to believe in God's existence, but to hope for his existence? James Muyskens, in his book, The Sufficiency of Hope, makes a curious argument to the effect that such hope is not only epistemologically permissible, but also an agnostic may actually be a full-fledged Christian based upon this hope. According to Muyskens, an agnostic who honestly does not know what to think on the subject of God, who does not believe there is enough evidence to make a judgment either way, is entitled to do two things: first, he can hope Christianity is true; and second, if he does hope that Christianity is true, he can be a Christian, a full-fledged, praying, worshiping Christian, based merely upon his hope and without at all believing in God as we usually think of the term believing. This is a strange but important thesis. The agnostic Christian says, I do not know if God exists; I neither believe nor disbelieve in his existence, but I do hope he exists, and I'll pray to him,
“You don't understand the power of loss when it first hits you like a baseball coming fast from an out-of-control pitcher. You reel back stinging from the blow.” (Bauer,162). Throughout the novel Hope Was Here we see characters go through struggles and gain strength to overcome them. In our everyday lives we have struggles that we also have to overcome. In the novel Hope Was Here, one of the characters Braverman has to choose his family or education. The character Addie, faces the struggle of miscarrying three babies. In my life I have struggles and so do the people around me. For instance, my grandma went through the struggle of losing her husband. From this novel it is learned that if there's no struggle there's no strength.
In a world that is so unpredictable, sometimes there is nothing else that a person can do to make a situation better besides hoping for a good outcome. Hope can have a big impact on the way people view the world, and can potentially save lives. Hope is communicated in many ways, including a variety of art forms, such as literature. Some examples of literature that show how powerful having hope can be are the novel Soledad Brother by George Jackson, the short story Salvation by Langston Hughes, the short story Superheroes, Just for Each Other by Peter S. Goodman and the article Man Needs Hope to Live, by Christopher Kaczor. These literary works show that even the smallest bit of hope can help a person make wiser decisions regarding his or her future, but having no hope for the future leads people to make choices that are ethically wrong.
Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright is a must read for any Christian looking to expand their understanding of faith. Surprised by Hope gives us a full understanding of salvation as it is revealed in the Bible. This book also tells us how we should act in our lives and in this world as God’s redeemed people. It reveals incredible insight that is important to us because it explains just how crucial our role in this world is. Wright talks about the way things currently are and how they will be with the resurrection and our salvation. The book expands on the Christian mission and what it means to live with hope and faith and attempts to answer the very famous question: What is heaven?
This paper will focus on the Statue of Dionysos leaning on a female figure. Also known as the Hope Dionysos. The statue is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art and is located on the first floor Roman and Greek art chamber. Upon entering this sector, you will notice a grand statue that catches your eyes and captivates you as it welcomes you in gracefully. The exhibition is set up in the back center of the room, and is noticeable due to the largeness in scale and the enigmatic yet calming disposition the statue portrays. My first impression of the sculpture was how detailed and realistic the statue is. Since the statue was so defined you would be able to identify what he was wearing and how his body was shaped to how long his hair was during this time period. I was profoundly intrigued by how peaceful the statue of Dionysos embodied and found myself coming back to it and looking in awe. In curiosity, I would choose this statue for my assignment because I wanted to learn more about the history of the Hope Dionysos. In this essay I will be describing my formal analysis of the artwork, the subject matter behind it, the artist and the historical content of the statue of Dionysos.
An example of how hope can affect a nation is the Christchurch earthquakes in New Zealand. IN September 2010 Christchurch was struck by a strong earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale, leaving thousands of residents with injuries, without homes and hundreds of casualties. These people demonstrated hope, as although the region is still recovering and receiving numerous after shocks weekly, they still are remaining positive and hopeful. As a consequence of the people of Christchurch’s hope, people all around the world and New Zealand are wiling to give aid to e people affected by the earthquakes . Also because of Christchurch residents hope that the earthquakes will stop, the majority of them have chosen to stay in the region and help recover their city. With hope comes positivity. Although the people of Christchurch have been affected terribly by the earthquakes they are still positive because of their hope. This shows how hope can be a good and important thing for nations today to have.
Hope is surprisingly difficult to define and may be expressed in many ways. Overall, I feel that a good definition for hope would be that it is an optimistic and expectant desire that emerges from a stressor. It is a coping mechanism deeply rooted in motivation. It is the opposite of despair and fear as well as the influence that keeps us from succumbing to them. Hope can be identified as a means of perseverance as well as perseverance itself. Hope is the ability to detect even the smallest amount of light in the darkest of places.
As shown in the poems that were included in this DBQ, the spirit triumphs. Yes, Holocaust survivors, reflect the brutality and finding beauty within their unfortunate circumstances. However, those who overcome ravaging diseases, an accomplishment in sports, or just about anything involving liberation is evidence of triumph - making holocaust survivors a small percentage of what the human spirit can overcome. For instance, my fear of doing certain skills in sports gave me the motivation to endure. Similar to the Holocaust stories, at one point, I thought I would never be able to break free of the moments where I was convinced there was no solution to my problem.
Despite the bitter realities, we always search for the silver lining or light at the end of the tunnel. There's always that one key aspect that keeps one motivated to continue on. The value of Hope is proven in Elie Wiesel's memoir Knight as well as throughout The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy. Although the key to survival is maintaining hope, while simultaneously the delusions can be one's Achilles Heal.
The book, Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer, tells the story of Hope Yancy as she realizes what life is about; letting go of pain and hurt, and cherishing the love. The main character is a sixteen year old waitress named Hope Yancy. She feels she is the person to enlist hope in others and in herself since changing her name from Tulip to Hope. She is a terrific waitress, like her mother. Her mom, Deena, left her older sister to care for Hope after she was born early and could barely eat because she felt she wasn’t ready for motherhood. Addie, Hope’s aunt, is the head or chief cook and manager of diners and eateries she has worked at. She is always thinking about Hope and their lives together. Hope was her only chance at motherhood after three miscarriages
Individuals of a certain society are raised with a particular set of ideals and values that are ingrained in their perception of everyday life. One may wonder how such individuals can continue life if they must abandon all of their fundamental principles of living. Jonathan Lear describes in his book, Radical Hope, how Plenty Coups, the last chief of the Crow nation, was able to help his tribe discontinue their particular way of life in order to survive in the future. Lear states how Plenty Coups does this: “Precisely because Plenty Coups sees that a traditional way of life is coming to an end, he is in a position to embrace a peculiar form of hopefulness. It is basically the hope for revival: for coming back to life in a form that is not yet intelligible” (Lear 2006: 95). Through this statement, Lear implies many things. As a young boy, Plenty Coups experiences a dream in which he is told that the Crow culture is coming to an end and is given advice on how he must proceed with his life through certain virtues, such as listening and recognizing wisdom of others. His dream is interpreted by the Crow elders as an inevitable halt to their way of living. As Plenty Coups is able to anticipate the complete demolition of the Crow culture and its values, he recognizes he must adapt his perception of everyday life to whatever the necessary circumstances demand. Although he may be only following the instructions of what he had been told in his dream, Plenty Coups commits himself to an
There once lived a beautiful, innocent, and pure maiden named Hope. This girl was filled with love, compassionate, and a sense of happiness that enlivens her whole body. One day, she was gathering water in a nearby river, but then she started to feel like she was being watched. She immediately stopped, and said in her soft voice, "Is anyone there?" She looked around, and all of a sudden, a knight appeared. "Oh my, you startled me", she said with a smile. She kept a content demeanor while looking at the knight, but the knight was not speaking at all. The knight started to walk closer to Hope, but Hope did not expect anything wrong with this. After realizing that the knight is getting really close to her, she started to back up, but then the knight reached out and grabbed her arm. Hope jumped, fear rushing through her whole body, she started to struggle. Hope began crying and screaming for help as she was unclothed and sexually violated.
The classical Greeks for example, at their most optimistic, or Europeans during the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment, have seen humans very optimistically: as the center and "measure" of all creation; as supreme strivers, beyond good and evil; characterized by reason, as inherently good and perfectible. Shakespeare's Hamlet puts it best: "What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in
Hope, by definition means to look forward to something with reasonable desire and confidence. Hope also means a person or thing in which expectations are centered. When discussing the word hope, one must consider the core values by which the word works around. You could hope for financial success, world peace, or simply hope for some good out of your day. In 2006, Barack Obama wrote the political biography The Audacity of Hope to outline his core political and spiritual beliefs, as well as his opinions on different aspects of American culture. The Illinois senator divided the book into nine chapters, each concentrating on both his own and the United States’ successes and failures in local and state politics. While revealing great
In an ironic way, the optimism of the vast majority is the greatest inhibitor of satisfaction. Both the future and the past are born of the present mind; the now is interminable. For some reason, humanity seems to possess an unwavering insistence on running, so to speak, to an illusory end that is really nothing more than a product of momentary dissatisfaction.
Traditionally, failure is seen as a negative concept and is defined as lacking success. I, on the other hand, try to put a positive spin on everything in life. I see failure as an obstacle that is experienced by all, but it does not define an individual. Failure in essence will force an individual to be more receptive to their surroundings and actions and also will force an individual to mature. Looking back on my childhood years I can now pinpoint the areas where I failed and I can confidently say that I have grown and prospered due to those failures. The three major failures I have experienced were my attention deficit issues which affected my ability to succeed in school, my anti-social habit that I let consume my early years, and my