Plantinga begins his work by writing about longing. He uses an observation by C.S. Lewis to explain human longing, “Lewis observes that when we have it, we are seeking union with something from which we are separated.” Plantinga then goes on to submit that our longings are unfulfillable because nothing on this earth can fully satisfy us. The reason for this is that our final joy lies “beyond the walls of this world,” as J.R.R. Tolkien puts it. According to Augustine, human beings want God because God has made humans that way because he made them for himself. However, humans often divert this longing toward other things.
Plantinga uses his discussion on longing as a springboard into a section on hope. He says that longing is an ingredient in hope. To hope for something you have to really want it or long for it. He goes on the submit that genuine hope always combines imagination, faith, and desire. He uses Martin Luther King’s speech before the Lincoln Memorial as an example of the synthesis of imagination, faith, and desire. He then goes on to say that the most eloquent addresses of human hope appeal to God because the peace of God transcends barriers.
He then talks about what Christians’ hope should be aimed towards. It should not be aimed only at ourselves with only our interests at heart. Our hope should be looking out toward the futures of others. This hope should be biblical. It will therefore spread out to cover all of humankind and the created order. Plantinga says, like the Hebrew prophets we should hope for shalom. In the Bible shalom means much more than simply peace. It means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight. Shalom is the way things should be and it is what Plantinga says Christians should aim their hope at.
I really enjoyed reading the first part of the chapter when Plantinga was writing about longing. It seems important to evaluate our longings because they play a large role our motivations. It is sobering to realize that nothing on this earth can fully satisfy us. It is sobering because the implications are that we have wasted much of our lives attempting to find fulfillment in things that are ultimately fruitless. I especially liked the C.S. Lewis quote in which he speaks about how our desires are too weak. We so often are “half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us.” We intended are far too easily pleased.
The next section was an interesting read because it described hope to such great lengths. It was quite abstract at parts, but there were a few practical points that can be taken away from it. I liked how Plantinga emphasized that Martin Luther King’s speech publicly appealed to the righteousness of God because it is the transcendent standard of right and wrong. Christians are put in a hard place in our current culture of political correctness and an appeal like this would not be taken well today. I believe that it is vitally important for Christians to say what they mean and do it with authority as long as they also do so with humility. Christians should not be afraid of being politically incorrect in order to speak truth.
Shalom is a word that gets constantly thrown around in reformed circles. It is almost taken as a given that Christians are to try to bring as much shalom as possible everywhere they go. This universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight seems to be a great idea. I often find myself questioning this position because of the words of Jesus in Luke 12:51-53. Jesus says:
Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.
I remain very conflicted with regard to this issue. I do believe Jesus came to bring both peace and the sword. Both of these have solid scriptural basis. In what scene he came to bring each of them I am still unsure.
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