Two Kinds of Hope . . . Or Three, Stephen Finlan
There are two kinds of hope that Christians frequently display, but rarely at the
same time. These are apocalyptic hope and reformist hope. The apocalyptic hope
believes that God’s judgment is coming soon; that all the ungodly will be swept away,
and God’s power will manifest itself. The reformist hope looks for the gradual progress
of spirituality and ethics in society.
The apocalyptist anticipates one huge and sudden victory of God. The reformist
works for many small and gradual victories of goodness. The apocalyptist emphasizes
truth and judgment; the reformist stresses goodness and service. Both desire justice. Yet
the two types of religion often despise each other, and reject each other’s view of how
God works. This probably is because they involve very different sociological strategies.
The apocalyptist is at odds with the broader society, the reformist seeks to find points
of contact and alliance with society.
Richard Niebuhr, in Christ and Culture, referred to these opposing strategies as
Christ Against Culture (the apocalyptist) and Christ Of Culture (reformist). He pointed
out that the healthy “center” of Christianity refused to be stuck in either position, but
believed in Christ Above Culture. This viewpoint recognizes the pervasiveness of sin,
the need for salvation, and the necessity of culture. It criticizes the apocalyptists for not
taking culture seriously enough, and criticizes reformists for not taking Christ seriously
enough (page 122). It sees Christ as superior to culture, but takes culture seriously. “It
is more concerned with the culture of Christians than with the Christianization of
culture” (128), realizing that the latter is not going to happen any time soon.
Niebuhr saw Roger Williams as the great example of the centrist view. Williams
rejected Anglican attempts to unite politics and the gospel, since both politics and
religion were corrupted by it, and he saw the Quaker attempt to found society solely on
spirituality as naïve and politically inadequate (183). We need to be idealistic without
being naïve, realistic without being cynical. We need both reason and revelation. We
must be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matt 10:16).