Thank you for this valuable discussion. At the end, Lydia Dugdale is quite right to point out, through Aquinas, that hope is a "theological virtue." I think we are unaccustomed to thinking of hope as a virtue. But medievalist C. S. Lewis, discussing virtues, called hope "the specifically Christian virtue" for us to learn. After 58 years as a Christian, I have come to believe that every loss or threat of loss is an occasion for me to affirm that God is my highest good and to embrace him as my deepest desire.
Thank you for this valuable discussion. At the end, Lydia Dugdale is quite right to point out, through Aquinas, that hope is a "theological virtue." I think we are unaccustomed to thinking of hope as a virtue. But medievalist C. S. Lewis, discussing virtues, called hope "the specifically Christian virtue" for us to learn. After 58 years as a Christian, I have come to believe that every loss or threat of loss is an occasion for me to affirm that God is my highest good and to embrace him as my deepest desire.