On Hope

by Josef Pieper

This is a masterpiece of a forgotten virtue by one of the great Christian philosophers of the twentieth century.

Genres: Philosophy, Religion, Nonfiction, Theology, Spirituality, Catholic

99 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1935

About the author

Josef Pieper was a German Catholic philosopher and an important figure in the resurgence of interest in the thought of Thomas Aquinas in early-to-mid 20th-century philosophy. Among his most notable works are The Four Cardinal Virtues: Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance; Leisure, the Basis of Culture; and Guide to Thomas Aquinas (published in England as Introduction to Thomas Aquinas).

Reviews

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to give this book 5 stars, but Pieper includes some anti-Reformation sentiments and seems to suggest that assurance of salvation is presumptuous.

7: "Although he should slay me, I will trust in him" (Job 13:15).

Reflections on the concept: status viatoris
11: too much "pilgrim" talk without knowing what it really means; "viator" = "one on the way"; status viatoris = "condition or state of being on the way"; antonym is status comprehensoris ("condition or state of having arrived"; see Phil. 3:13)
12: a viator makes "progress toward eternal happiness"
13: status viatoris is inherently "not yet" (we're finite beings); this "not yet" has negative and positive elements; negative: humans' proximity to nothingness (we're created ex nihilo); sin is turning to nothingness
14: positive: creatures have a "natural orientation toward fulfillment" and the "ability to establish, by [their] own effort, a kind of justifiable 'claim' to the happy outcome of his pilgrimage" [cf. Przywara's potentia oboedientialis in Analogia Entis, pp. 105, 228]
14-15: sin (negative) is abolished by union, and the orientation toward fulfillment (positive) is abolished by the reality of the fulfillment
15: status viatoris ends "when uncertainty comes to border on certainty"; eternal damnation = inner "not yet" —> inner "not"
16: status viatoris ends at death when man "steps out of time"
18: "the concept of the status viatoris designates . . . the inner structure of man's creatureliness" (we're different from God; "analogy of being"); God is absolute being, and man is "in the process of becoming"; Przywara's "becoming-ness"—between being and nothingness
18-19: "To be a creature . . . means being grounded in absolute being and having an existential orientation toward being, toward one's own being and, at the same time, toward the divine being"
19: nihilists: orientation/movement toward nothing; Christians: orientation/movement toward a good (existence)
20: homo viator (a man on the way) doesn't oscillate between being and nothingness, but rather toward being and away from nothingness (realization, not annihilation) (sounds like Przywara)
20-21: the appropriate response to the status viatoris is neither despair nor presumption, but hope; "The virtue of hope is preeminently the virtue of the status viatoris; it is the proper virtue of the 'not yet'."; "In the virtue of hope more than in any other, man understands and affirms that he is a creature, that he has been created by God."

Hope as a virtue
25: "hope is either a theological virtue or not a virtue at all"; "Virtue is . . . the most a man can be. It is the realization of man's potentiality for being."; "grace-filled participation in the divine nature"
26: justice is not a virtue if it doesn't tend toward the good, but "natural" hope can tend toward the bad and still be real hope (but not a virtue, because virtues must be oriented toward the good)
27: "In hope, man reaches 'with restless heart', with confidence and patient expectation"; hope is ordered by two other virtues, magnanimity and humility
28: natural hope tends toward magnanimity, and humility is a "protective barrier and restraining wall"; magnanimity takes courage; Thomas and Aristotle call magnanimity "the jewel of all the virtues" (see Nicomachean Ethics); humility "is only apparently the opposite of magnanimity"
29: humility as a "negative measure"; "Magnanimity directs . . . hope to its true possibilities; humility, with its gaze fixed on the infinite distance between man and God, reveals the limitations of these possibilities and preserves them from sham realizations and for true realizations"
30-31: interrelation of faith, hope, and love
31-32: the perfect love of friendship (for the friend's sake) vs. the imperfect love of concupiscence (for love's own sake)
32: love as "the mother and root of all Christian virtues"
33: Council of Trent's anathematization and Bonaventure's focus on a personal search for beatitude: "There are many who look for beatitude, but worry little about themselves and much about God" [Catholic elevation of human effort]; hope is "wholly supernatural," but Pieper still wants to talk about "man's innate capability"
34: infused vs. acquired virtues; "Christ is the actual foundation of hope"
36: "Prayer and hope are naturally ordered to each other. Prayer is the expression and proclamation of hope; it is interpretiva spei; hope itself speaks through it."; "hope, as the lasting elevation of man's being, cannot exist except from, through and in Christ"
37: hope is grounded in divine mercy and omnipotence
37-38: humans (via free will) can destroy God's grace in their lives [Pieper sounds like he's resisting the Protestant doctrine of perseverance of the saints, or assurance]
39: James as an apostle of hope; reference to Paradiso 25.1-9
40: connection between youth and hope; natural hope vs. supernatural hope; supernatural hope has a long future that waits patiently for the "not yet"
41: Augustine's "God is younger than all else"
42: Job 13:15 (see p. 7)
43: Isaiah 40 (comfort and hope)

Anticipation of nonfulfillment (despair)
47: two kinds of hopelessness: despair (anticipation of nonfulfillment; "not") and presumption (anticipation of fulfillment; "already"); both destroy the status viatoris
48: presumption is false hope; despair isn't a mood, it's a decision of the will
49-50: redemption heightens hope and deepens despair; "the same flash of light that reveals to the creature the supernatural reality of grace lights up also the abyss of his guilt and his distance from God"
50: despair destroys both the pilgrim character of existence and the "way" to fulfillment (Christ); hope (spes) linked to foot (per): "Despair has no foot on which to walk the way that is Christ"; "For the Christian, despair is a decision against Christ"
51: "Despair is the state of being which is proper to the damned"; "Like hope, despair presumes the existence of a desire"
52: despair as a sin against the Holy Spirit?
53: "the beginning and the root of despair is acedia, sloth
54: acedia is not simply synonymous with laziness and idleness (opposites of diligence and industry)—theologically speaking, it is slothful sadness, a refusal to exhibit the greatness (magnanimity) that God has given us (see pp. 55-57); read a quote here
55: workaholism, rest, leisure (see p. 59 ["world of total work"]; cf. Pieper's Leisure: The Basis of Culture); Catholic way of counting the decalogue; lack of courage
57-59: brotherhood of acedia: despair, evagatio mentis ("uneasy restlessness of mind," including loquaciousness, excessive curiosity, importunity, interior restlessness, and instability of place or purpose), torpor (sluggish indifference), pusillanimity, rancor (irritable rebellion), and malitia (malice par excellence)
60: avoid acedia and despair by "vigilant resistance" and "steady watchfulness"; "The root and origin of despair is the slothful sadness of acedia. But its 'perfection' is accompanied by pride"

Anticipation of fulfillment (presumption)
65: in both forms of hopelessness (despair and presumption), youthfulness is reduced to senility (by despair) and infantility (by presumption); "presumption is less opposed to hope than is despair"; "despair is the true anti-type of hope, whereas presumption is but its false similitudo, its fraudulent imitation"
66: presumption doesn't understand futurity and "arduousness"
66-67: presumption is overconfidence, overreaching, and negatively related to reality
67: "In the sin of presumption, man's desire for security is so exaggerated that it exceeds the bounds of reality"
67-68: two forms of presumption: Plagianism ("man is able by his own human nature to win eternal life and the forgiveness of sins"; associated with "liberal, bourgeois moralism") and Reformed theology ("the sole efficacy of God's redemptive and engraving action" = heresy)
69: Reformed theology denies both the negativity of the "not yet" and the positivity of "man's proper existence as a positive progression toward fulfillment"; Reformed folks have an "inordinate trust in God's mercy"; presumptuous self-esteem denies "one's actual creatureliness"
69-70: hope presupposes both magnanimity and humility
70: true prayer is blocked by despair (assumption that request won't be granted) and presumption (expects its fulfillment)
70-71: connection between justice and mercy
71: presumption is not as bad as despair (despair is more contrary to human nature)
71-72: Pieper characterizes the status viatoris as full of uncertainty—pilgrims can never achieve absolute certainty (cf. p. 37)
72: we are finite creatures and do not have being from ourselves [sounds like Przywara]
72-73: segue to fear (as a good thing)

The gift of fear
77: contemporary view that men shouldn't be afraid (this idea comes from enlightened liberalism and un-Christian stoicism)
78: both disordered fear and unnatural fearlessness are opposed to fortitude
79: fearlessness is actually unnatural; "fear of the Lord" language starts here
80: fear of the Lord is not just respect, reverence, or awe
81: the ultimate threat is our own ability to sin because it separates us from God [Pieper seems to equate the fear of the Lord with the fact that we can never have confidence that we are saved by God's grace; see pp. 37 and 85]; God is the Ultimate Ground of all being [sounds like Przywara—see pp. 72 and 85]; "heroism" (see p. 67)
82: some fear the sin itself, and others fear the punishment of sin; filial, chaste, and servile fear; servile fear fears eternal damnation
83: fear of the Lord paves the way for loving the Lord and wisdom; angels and fallen angels should be frightening [cf. C.S. Lewis]
86: we are naturally disposed to ethical good [Catholicism]
87-88: connection between hope, fear, and love

Author's remarks
91: indebted to Aquinas; footnotes are usually references to the Summa

Translator's note
95: bibliographical information, including customary abbreviations

[Fr. Peter Mottola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Josef Pieper's treatise "On Hope" has a magnificent consideration of natural hope, philosophically understood, which makes it a very worthwhile read for anyone regardless of what they may believe about eternal life.
"The proper impulse of natural hope," Pieper explains by presenting the thought of Thomas Aquinas, "is toward the virtue of magnanimity. ... A person is magnanimous if he has the courage to seek what is great and become worthy of it." Aristotle call magnanimity "'the jewel of all the virtues,' since it always ... decides in favor of what is, at any given moment, the greater possibility."
Pieper's exploration of the nature of hope is extremely practical and useful for the modern reader. I say this because in describing hope's opposite, despair, he explains how the "beginning and root of despair is acedia" (an even more profound problem than is suggested by our modern English "sloth"), and Pieper goes on to describe at some length the remedy for sloth and despair, namely that they are destroyed "not by work but only by that clear-sighted magnanimity that courageously expects and has confidence in the greatness of its own nature." (If you're reading this review because it came up on your newsfeed, which you scroll through for hours at a time with the sinking feeling that you ought to be doing something more with your life, this is the book for you.) Pieper gives a similar treatment of that other vice opposed to hope, presumption, and explains how the virtue (not the mere external attitude!) of humility serves as a "restraining wall" against excesses from the soul's impulse for greatness.
Moving from the natural and philosophical to the supernatural and theological, our author explains that our hope in things eternal is not rooted in our natural hopes: we can experience great suffering and loss in this life without needing to lose our supernatural hope. "Although He should slay me, I will trust in Him." (Job 13:15) Many people, even good and faithful people, assume that "the fulfillment of supernatural hope must occur through the fulfillment of our natural hope," but this is false. In this context he explores the phenomenon of doubt, which can co-exist in our live with hope. "All manner of doubt can exist ... closer to the surface above a hope that has its roots in the most interior depths of a soul. But these doubts do not touch the hope that is so deeply rooted." In connecting this thought with hope in eternal life, Pieper concludes that "the heathen cannot be tempted to the same depths of despair as the Christian." One can definitely see here an example of how Pieper influenced the thought of Joseph Ratzinger (and fun fact: it was through Piper that Ratzinger met Karol Wojtyła).
This book is highly recommended to all readers, and especially to anyone who suffers from sloth or despair. If the book seems too philosophical at first I dare say you could skip the first chapter and still get a lot out of this. "On Hope" is most easily obtainable in the collection "Faith, Hope, Love" published by Ignatius Press in 1997, reprint 2012.

[Keira Konson · Rating 4 out of 5]

he really had me until he started saying that Reformation theology on the sufficiency of Christ for salvation “destroys the true pilgrim character of Christian existence”

“the only answer that corresponds to man’s actual existential situation is hope.”

“in the virtue of hope more than in any other, man understands and affirms that he is a creature, that he has been created by God.”

“humility is the knowledge and acceptance of the inexpressible distance between Creator and creature.”

“Christ is held by the hand of hope. we hold Him and are held. but it is a greater good that we are held by Christ than that we hold Him. for we can hold Him only so long as we are held by Him.” -Paschasius Radbert

“the theological virtue of hope is the power to wait patiently for a “not yet” that is the most immeasurably distant from us the more closely we approach it.”

“despair is not the most serious sin. but it is the most dangerous of all. it threatens man’s moral existence, for man’s self-realization is linked to hope.”

“acedia is the signature of every age that seeks, in its despair, to shake off the obligation of that nobility of being that is conferred by Christianity and so, in its despair, to deny its true self.”

“only hope is able to comprehend the reality of God that surpasses all antithesis, to know that His mercy is identical with His justice and His justice with His mercy.”

[Frank R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pieper hits us with Latin straight from the get-go o as he expounds upon the theological anthropology of Christians—and indeed, all of humanity—as being that of “status viatoris” (the condition or state of being on the way) (11). He defines human beings as “Homo viator,” man on the way, as the defining existential and spiritual feature of what we are as beings; we are pilgrims in this world moving “toward being and away from nothingness” in fulfillment of our “creatureliness” (11; 20). With this operational definition of our existential nature and spiritual telos—a movement toward God—in mind, Pieper states that the “virtue of hope more than any other” affirms we are “created by God” (21).

Pieper is best known for “Leisure: The Basis of Culture,” so I was surprised to find this little Christian theological piece. As with many other philosophical anthropologists, Pieper begins by defining humanity (H. viator) with an accompanying final
cause, and working out the manner in which a virtue (Hope) can help to make a person the most human possible as they move toward fulfilling that end goal. Of course, we run into all kinds of Homo fill-in-the-blanks from H. Ludens (Huizinga) to H. religiosus (Eliade, Turner, Geertz) to H. ritualis (Michaels) and all of them reduce humanity to one type based on a set of limiting characteristics that end up in a reductionist understanding of what it means to be human. While Peiper’s H. viator may work for Christian theology, it may not do so well cross-culturally or across the religious spectrum. I suppose it could be universal if we consider it humanistically: we are all pilgrims moving from birth to death. This might take away some of that hope he believes is so valuable to the journey TO God, however. If we take hope as useful in the journey and in the mystery of the unknown post-mortem, it could still apply in the way his understanding calls for it.

Hope is a theological virtue for Peiper—as it assists in fulfilling the greatest potential that a human can aspire to being—and he considers it a “primordial disposition” that we all possess, a reaching for the “‘not yet’ of fulfillment” which extends into supernatural territory for him (27). He goes to great length to describe how Humility and Magnanimity are “the most essential prerequisites for the preservation and unfolding of supernatural hope” but it seems to be a lot of wasted ink to me as he hammers out a place for hope tempered by humility aiming for magnanimity as one approaches divinity (30). He spends some time as well with subjective assessments of the order in which Faith, Hope, and Love are gained and lost; “hope takes precedence over love…love is lost first, then hope, and last of all, faith” (31). Why? Who has established this? He cites Aquinas’ Questio Disputata de Virtutibus Cardinalibus as backup, but this adds not even a length of St. Thomas’s proverbial straw to the subjective nature of this statement. Of course, in this theology, Jesus Christ is the “actual fulfillment of hope” and Pieper points to Romans 8:24 for support of Hope’s primacy as a virtue allowing for the saving of our soul by Christ (35). He distinguishes between natural and supernatural hope. This supernatural form of Hope allows us to envision a long future in glory such that it cannot be likened to “natural hope” that we may have in youthfulness for a future that will bring us only old age and death (40). Again, he points to Paul to link this understanding of a supernatural youthfulness gained by supernatural hope gained by our recognizing salvation through Christ (2 Cor 4:16) (42).

The next three chapters contain Pieper’s core theology on Hope and are divided as such: Anticipation of Nonfulfillment (Despair), Anticipation of Fulfillment (Presumption), and The Gift of Fear.

Despair, a “perverse anticipation of the nonfulfillment of hope,” is a “sin” and both “he who hopes and he who despairs choose these attitudes with their will and let them determine their conduct” (47; 48; 49). Despair “destroys the pilgrim character of his natural existence” and decides “against Christ…It is also a denial of redemption” and is therefore “the state…proper to the damned” (50-51). He is not original in this theology as Sts. John Chrysostom and Peter Lombard concur that despair throws one into hell faster than sin and it is a sin against the Holy Spirit (53). This is a lot to handle; I hope no one sought out Pieper when they were in the throes of despair! Furthermore, he utilizes Aquinas—Questiones Disputatae de Malo—to lump attributes of restlessness and even “excessive curiosity” as branches from “sloth” (acedia) which form a “demonic constellation” (57-58). Despair itself is rooted and originates in “the slothful sadness of acedia” (60).

What about our friend Presumption? Sprinkle in some pride and “infantility” here and you get another permutation of despair (65)! Presumption is the “perverse anticipation of fulfillment” which denotes the infantilism of this quality, and a “fraudulent imitation” of Hope (65). Pieper refers to Augustine here to add that Presumption is a false “security” with “no existence in reality;” he goes on to describe Pelagian presumption (the belief that we can gain eternal life by our own efforts alone) is a “bourgeois moralism” that assumes we may stand before God justified based on our own moral acts (67-68). The second type is a Protestant presumption that believes one is already saved via the sacrifice of Christ entirely without our participation in the “positive progression” of one’s own efforts in the pilgrimage that is Christian life in this world (68-69). It seems we walk a tightrope between sins here and must be “humble enough really to pray and…magnanimous enough to wait cooperatively for the fulfillment of the prayer” without presuming it will be fulfilled according to our expectation (70). But, Pieper does not want the reader despairing too much here so he allows for presumption as the “anticipation of fulfillment” to be “not so contrary to man’s real existential situation as the anticipation of nonfulfillment [despair]” (71). It is the “lesser sin” and is “less contrary to human nature”(71). Why? Because Christian theological anthropology rests upon the hopefulness of salvation to be fulfilled for the Christian—but not too much or that would be presumptuous of us! Too little faith and too much trust seem to be problematic for Pieper and perhaps Catholic theology in general.

I agree with him that the one “who looks only at the justice of God is…little able to hope” (if we assume God’s “justice” is limited to the only option of damning one to hell for everything) and disagree that “the one who sees only the mercy or God…fall[s] prey to hopelessness”(71). Pieper describes the “natural lot” of humanity to be “existential uncertainty” and “man understands himself as a finite nature that does not have being from himself…therefore does not possess himself…and takes refuge in the merciful power of God’s decrees;” only Hope can “overcome” the “uncertainty of human existence,” though it will never be “totally removed” (72).

Finally, Pieper joins Hope to Fear, claiming that Hope lives “intimately with fear” and because presumption “shuts out fear” (since it postulates a positive and beneficial certainty for us) it therefore shuts out hope (73). How is fear linked to hope? Before I read the last chapter, I assumed that fear of nonfulfillment of some goal must exist if we utilize hope to cope with the uncertainty of fulfillment. Therefore, hope in a positive outcome arises as a coping mechanism (or virtue) when we face uncertainty in achieving an end, and the emotion of fear accompanies this uncertainty as a negative outcome can be envisioned.

For Pieper, the theology of the Catholic Church offers a different view of fear than the rejection of fear by “enlightened liberalism” and stoicism (which he reduces the origin of the rejection of fear as a positive attribute in modernity to) (77). Again, he is drawing upon—too much for my taste—Aquinas to distinguish between the “order or lack of order that is manifest” in fear to determine whether it is seemingly functional and good theologically; “disordered fear” and fearlessness are based on a “false interpretation of man and of reality itself” (78). But, the classic “fear of the Lord” we see in Job 41:24, Sir 1:28, and Prov 14:16 is something entirely different.

He is quick to say that this fear of the Lord is not reverence, respect, or awe, but true FEAR! This fear is the “fear of sin” and that sin leads to separation from God. It is either timor filias/timor castus, “filial fear” or “chaste fear,” a fear to commit sin itself (which he says is no longer “comprehensible to us today”) (81). The other fear is timor servilis, or “servile fear,” which is a fear of punishment and eternal damnation (81). This is not altogether a “bad” thing as it is still “from the Holy Spirit” and can bring us to “true love of God” as it is the “beginning of wisdom” (82-83). Such a fear has decreased in magnitude for people due to, he claims, liberalism, stoicism, and a decrease in the belief of the reality of heaven (often as little more than a “playground) and hell (83). However, when properly utilized in spiritual discourse, it can be a guide to authentic, filial fear, though filial fear is also a gift of the Holy Spirit and is not “natural” to mankind (86). Essentially, we have the capability to love God perfectly but it must come from God because we are fallen, emotionally-charged creatures seeking to preserve ourselves/save ourselves from hell and are incapable of doing so without divine grace.

Lastly, he draws the link between fear and hope, concluding that the “natural” tendency to fear Nothingness and the hope that we will not face it is linked by the love that seeks God for Its own sake; “Fear of the Lord ensures the genuineness of hope”(87-88). Pieper drives home his Aquinas-synthesized point with a reference to Paschasius Radbert’s “Holy fear guards the summit of hope,” and Psalm 115:11, “They who fear the Lord trust in the Lord”(88).

I have designed this review to be as much a reference for the person requiring access to the text as it is my own summation and limited interpretation. I find this type of theologizing heavy-handed, and dare I say, presumptuous?! It presumes not only the truth in the universality of the western religious milieu but also the truth of Pieper (and Aquinas’s) assessments of the values and virtues mentioned above, and how they function in human spiritual life. There are nuances they miss and I suppose that makes this a work of theology and not true philosophy. I find this theology rather negative but true to the tenants of Catholicism in as much as it empowers human kind through disempowering us. Specifically, the notion that we can love God imperfectly naturally, but must receive true love of God from God Himself/Itself is an example of grace but altogether pessimistic to me personally. The idea that we must also walk a tightrope between despair and presumption is too dualistic for me as well, and some presumption about the mercy of God within this schema can also be called “confidence,” “trust,” or “faith” which are also cornerstones of Christian life. Perhaps Pieper would agree but would caution us to not “overdo it.” This might work theologically the Catholic Church and be acceptable for some Catholics and other Christians, but in an interfaith or secular philosophical realm, it may not fair so well.

[Luisa Ripoll-Alberola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me estoy leyendo Las virtudes fundamentales, pero empecé por la esperanza por ser la parte que más me apetecía leer. Como no sé si acabaré el libro o lo iré leyendo de un modo muy esporádico, quería hacer esta review para no olvidarme de lo que he pensado al acabarlo.

La descripción de la vida humana como status viatoris me parece muy chula (a favor de rescatar conceptos medievales). El estilo es precioso, muy bien escrito. Genera muchísimos lazos con el lector, más si es católico.

Pero aún así, hay cosas con las que no estoy del todo de acuerdo. No creo que las dos formas de aniquilar toda esperanza (desesperación y presumptio) estén al mismo nivel: esta "presunción" que se define suele estar más presente en la vida cotidiana que la desesperación, y hace menos daño con diferencia, a mi modo de ver. Y respecto a ello no hay análisis. También me pareció mientras leía que algunos conceptos y afirmaciones (creo que eran en la parte de la acedia pero no estoy segura) no eran universalizables: solo se comprendían en un contexto católico, bastante acomodado e incluso únicamente medieval.

En general, es un buen libro. Me ha hecho pensar, y eso siempre es bien.

[Zachary · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this short treatise on the virtue of hope, Josef Pieper, one of the foremost exponents of Thomism in the twentieth century, examines the many contours of Christian hope. As a Thomist, Pieper is heavily influenced by Thomas Aquinas and strives to render Thomistic claims sensible to a modern Christian audience. Like Thomas, he commences his discussion of hope from what one could plausibly call an existentialist perspective. That is, Pieper first examines the kinds of creatures human persons are and subsequently reflects on what it means to be that kind of creature. For example, Pieper observes that “the concept of the status viatoris [i.e. the state of being a traveler or pilgrim] is one of the basic concepts of every Christian rule of life.” To be a viator, as the human person is until she possesses beatitude, is to be “on the way” to a more complete and permanent state—the status comprehensoris. In other words, insofar as the human is a creature, she is not entirely at home in the world; she exists in time as a being whose ultimate end transcends time. That end, of course, is the beatific vision, for which, amidst her finite temporal existence, the human can only—but must—hope. The alternative to hope is despair, which consists in a perverse denial of the kind of creature the human really is. For while, as a creature, the human is created from nothingness, the human creature is not naturally oriented toward nothingness, but toward both her own being and that Divine Being upon whom her being depends. Consequently, as Pieper explains, “the only answer that corresponds to man’s actual existential situation is hope. The virtue of hope is preeminently the virtue of the status viatoris; it is the proper virtue of the ‘not yet.’” By hope, the human understands and affirms her creatureliness, which necessarily entails an affirmation of God as God.

Pieper was a German Catholic philosopher, and his familiarity with twentieth-century German existentialism—especially Heideggerian philosophy—is evident in the treatise. While Pieper ultimately rejects Heidegger’s analysis of human existence as set forth in Being and Time—since it denies the orientation of human existence toward its fulfillment beyond time—he clearly strives to situate his Thomistic reflections in relation to Heideggerian themes. The comparison, while subtle, is nevertheless instructive: for instance, Pieper embraces Heidegger’s claim that “man’s ‘way’ [i.e. Dasein’s being-in-the-world] is ‘temporality,’” yet insists that “anyone . . . who seeks to understand temporality without restriction as the necessary mark of human existence will find hidden from him not only the ‘life beyond’ time, but also the very meaning of life in time.” In another instance, Pieper compares Thomas’s discussion of acedia (which Pieper translates as “a sadness in view of the divine good in man” rather than the traditional “sloth”) and one of its “offspring,” evagatio mentis (“uneasy restlessness of mind”), with several concepts in Heidegger’s Dasein analytic: “‘being’s flight from itself,’ ‘loquaciousness,’ ‘curiosity’ as concern about the ‘possibility of abandoning oneself to the world,’ ‘importunity,’ ‘distraction,’ instability.’” These comparisons, while briefly stated, disclose the existential richness of Thomistic philosophy and its ability to speak to our everyday situation as creatures in time. They also open up fruitful discussions between Thomists and Heideggerians, and in this respect, Pieper seems to anticipate what some have called the theological turn in phenomenology.

While On Hope is short, Pieper packs into this treatise a full-blooded discussion of hope as a theological virtue, its antithesis in despair (that beatitude is unattainable, either for oneself or for humanity), and its fraudulent imitation in presumption (that beatitude has already been attained, or can be attained by virtue of our natural powers alone). He reminds us of the intrinsic connection between prayer and hope—”prayer and hope are naturally ordered to each other,” since “prayer is the expression and proclamation of hope”—and how Christ is both the foundation and fulfillment of Christian hope. He also offers a persuasive interpretation of what the fear of God really consists in—superficially, a fear of eternal damnation, but more deeply and more truly, a fear of sin itself, or “man’s natural fear of the diminution and annihilation of his being.” In sum, On Hope is a theologically and philosophically robust, yet acutely pastoral treatment of what, in my view, is the most mysterious theological virtue.

[Darrick Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone familiar with the work of Josef Pieper, the twentieth century German Thomist whose most famous work is "Leisure: the Basis of Culture," will likely enjoy this short treatise on Christian hope. In it, he examines the nature of hope as a theological virtue, starting with the idea that man is "status viatoris," in a state of being on the way, roughly, in which his greatest temptations are despair on the one hand, and presumption on the other. Christian hope presupposes that human life has a divinely ordained purpose, that, though we can never be totally certain of its attainment before death, can have a sure hope through faith that such hope will be fulfilled. As Pieper writes, "in the virtue of hope more than in any other, man understands and affirms that he is a creature, that he has been created by God." (21) Highly recommended.

[Fr. Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every time I read Pieper two things happen: 1) my mind is opened to truth 2) I must now pray about this. This succinct little book is packed with Thomas Aquinas with some dashes of the medieval theologian Radbertus. It is a systematic and thorough look at the understanding of the theological virtue of hope and its two enemies: despair and presumption.
This book is a necessary reading for us in the 21st Century because our culture fosters both despair and presumption. Our only hope is in Jesus Christ, not in man and his works.

[Catherine Dufton]

A fantastic exploration of what hope is and how integral it is to faith and love

[Hieronymus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Josef Pieper schreibt über die Hoffnung ausgehend von Thomas von Aquin in fünf Kapiteln, die eine immer tiefergehende Einführung in diese Tugend geben:

Erstes Kapitel
Bemerkungen über den Begriff des status viatoris

Zweites Kapitel
Hoffnung als Tugend

Drittes Kapitel
Die Vorwegnahme der Nicht-Erfüllung [Die Verzweiflung]

Viertes Kapitel
Die Vorwegnahme der Erfüllung [Die Vermesseneheit]

Fünftes Kapitel
Das Geschenk der Furcht

Pieper versteht es elegant den heutigen Leser in das Denken über die Tugend der Hoffnung in der klassischen Theologie einzuführen und zugleich praktische Hinweise zu geben, um die theologische Tugend der Hoffnung im eigenen Leben zu erlangen. Diese Synthese aus philosophisch-theologischer und asketischer Nutzbarmachung des Begriffes spes lässt mich über die Schönheit und Würde des menschlichen Seins staunen und hat mir die Würde und Berufung der Ausrichtung des Lebens auf Gott, dem höchsten Sein, neu und herrlich bewusst gemacht.

[Simona Sanduleac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant exposition of the origins of hope and of despair. If we ignore the little attack on the Reformation theology at the end (we can forgive the unfair roman-catholic interpretation of it), this little book shows what Christian hope is, leaning heavily on Aquinas and Augustine.
In it Pieper shows that true hope will always bring all of life under one goal: to make it a glorious offering to God. Despair, he affirms, is an expression of one of the seven deadly sins, namely sloth. Despair refuses to be alligned with reality, it refuses to rise to the calling that God has bestowed on His children. It flees from the sometimes terrifying task of being the Imago Dei, the image of the One who is perfect in virtue, and whose fullness of life we have received.
Above all, the greatest expression of hope is prayer. It is the bold and hopeful plea of earthly pilgrims, who are humble enough to voice their petitions, and yet magnanimous enough to know that God will hear and He will respond.

[Kenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd say, Peiper did remind me of the supernatural hope I am so prone to forgetting. In some ways, the hope of the restoration of all things, written by Paul, is one of the reasons I am a believer. You could say it's why I'm committed to the being "on the way"

It is a book I will read again to fully capture it's message especially the part in Fear of the Lord.

Nevertheless, it was a very good read.

[Michael Vidrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

An elegant précis of the scholastic insights into hope as a theological virtue. I thought that Pieper’s discussion on “fear of the Lord” was especially valuable, as this phrase is so widely misunderstood today. Still, I would have appreciated a more thorough exploration of the topic.

[Sarah Cain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know I'll read it again. An absolutely phenomenal book by Pieper, which can change the way you view your own status as a pilgrim in search of the home for which we are made. I wish I could commit the entire thing to memory. His explanation of the appropriate complimentary balance between humility and magnanimity was beautiful.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Pieper demonstrates how humility and magnanimity go together, and so do hope and fear. Really cute through all the noise that remains constantly prevelant

[K. P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The air we need to breath now, on our pilgrim way Home.

[Jon Sheets · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dense. Lots of Latin. Seems to revel in his musings and cherry pick definitions of words. Probably too harsh of a review. Some meat in there.

[Nik Korba · Rating 5 out of 5]

This explains a lot!!!!

[Cornelius Pulung · Rating 5 out of 5]

Josef Pieper is the first German Thomist I know. His writing style is quite different from other thomist such as Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange. His style is marked by its depth, clarity, brevity, and yet not so dry like Fr. Lagrange. This book explained the theological virtue of hope and its enemies--despair and praesumption--based on St. Thomas Aquinas' writing. I found it interesting that he explore the concept of "status viatoris", which is the state of existence that is on the way to everlasting life, and connected it to hope, thus he helped us to understand better the meaning of "pilgrim Church".

I gained many new insights after reading this short book, such as fear and acedia (it is not simply as people called it "laziness" or "sloth", in fact it is an enemy of spiritual joy, as Dom Nault OSB calls it). This book really worths your time.

[Erik]

Recommended by James Schall in Another Sort of Learning, Intro to Part Three, as one of Fourteen Books by Josef Pieper.

[Pater Edmund · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect book.