Hope (virtue)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Hope (Latin: spes) is one of the three theological virtues in Christianity. It is the desire and the expectation of being united with God and of eternal happiness. Faith is about knowing; hope is a choice of the will directed toward a future good with God’s help.

Originating from God, hope has God as its source, motive, and object, just as faith and charity do. Aquinas described hope as a future good, difficult but possible to obtain, with divine assistance. Our hope is always forward-looking.

Scripture and tradition teach that God can be trusted. Hebrews 10:23 invites us to hold fast to our confession because the One who promised is faithful. The Catholic understanding adds that hope is the desire for something and the expectation of obtaining it, specifically the help God offers to lift and strengthen us as we strive for eternal happiness.

Hope is an infused virtue, given by God at baptism, not earned by our own efforts alone. It works with faith to give believers confidence that Christ promises a better life. For Christians, death is seen as a gateway to a life without limit and fullness, not the end of all.

Hope can sustain people through trials and hardships; it is described as an anchor for the soul and is linked to the hope of the New Covenant, which is considered better than the old one. It opposes despair and presumption, and true hope involves active worship, prayer, and penance.

Historically, some quietist ideas denied the value of hoping for anything, but the Church condemned such views as heresy. The Act of Hope is a Catholic prayer expressing this virtue.

In psychology, hope is studied as having goals, seeing ways to reach them, and believing you can act on those ways. If someone lacks a sense of agency, hope may become wishful thinking; with strong agency, it becomes aspirational hope.