The word hope refers to a concept, emotion, attitude of mind, and object of expectation that is expressed in different ways in different cultures. Its meaning develops in association with other notions, as in the cluster of faith, hope, and love. It may be focused on one central object—hope in God, or much less definite—sometimes people may half-hope for things. Such reflection is a human activity; rabbits do not reflect much on what they will do when they retire.

In order to survey the shape of hope an element of systematization is necessary. This will be invariably selective. Surveys of the Christian doctrine of hope have to try to avoid finding harmony in a tradition where there are significant elements of dissonance. There is a risk of assimilating too easily notions of hope in non-Christian sources with Christian paradigms. Linguistic usage, even in distinctive discourses, is rarely monolithic. Generalizations...