Does Christian hope really have a point or is it just "false" hope?

[Rozellelily]

Christianity and the Pope places alot of emphasis on hope but is this hope really just fruitless/false hope for certain people and situations?
Eg:while there may always be hope for spiritual/afterlife, for “current life” there is no hope for people with Dementias,Motor Neuron Disease,certain types of Schizophrenia and Despression,Paraplegia etc…

In essence,there’s no cures for certain conditions and appears no cures in imminent future as pharmaceutical companies have given up for some of these conditions.

So isn’t hope for these people really just false hope/not reality based?

Also,in some Christianity (but not so much Catholicism) I feel they pedal false hope by telling people quotes like “don’t tell god how big your problems are,tell your problems how big your God is etc”…

This is done with the assumption that God can or will relieve their problem/s but in reality I think there are things that God won’t help because he feels their sicknesses will “get them to heaven” (by remaining in prayer,church etc) or alternatively I genuinely believe God can’t fix certain illnesses such as paraplegia etc…

So hope is really just false hope?

 

[adamhovey1988]

This isn’t “false hope”.

Revelation 21:4 RSVCE - - Bible Gateway

the first time I read that verse, I cried. I’ve had depression my whole life, and that gives me something real and tangible to hold on to.

 

[VanitasVanitatum]

It’s only a false hope if they have bad understanding of Catholicism.

 

[Francis]

@Rozellelily

Christianity and the Pope places alot of emphasis on hope but is this hope really just fruitless/false hope for certain people and situations?

Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Eg:while there may always be hope for spiritual/afterlife, for “current life” there is no hope for people with Dementias,Motor Neuron Disease,certain types of Schizophrenia and Despression,Paraplegia etc…

In essence,there’s no cures for certain conditions and appears no cures in imminent future as pharmaceutical companies have given up for some of these conditions.

God wants to save our souls, which is eternal and he is yearns for our souls as in James 4:5 5 Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, “God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?

James 1:4 and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.

This is done with the assumption that God can or will relieve their problem/s but in reality I think there are things that God won’t help because he feels their sicknesses will “get them to heaven” (by remaining in prayer,church etc) or alternatively I genuinely believe God can’t fix certain illnesses such as paraplegia etc…

So hope is really just false hope?

2 Corinthians 4:16 So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. 17 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, 18 because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

Romans 8:28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

 

[Rozellelily]

I’m very sorry to hear that @adamhovey1988
By false hope I mean more as in “in this life” and not the afterlife.Eg-when people pray for incurable things in Church for others or charismatic healing nights etc.
While they are caring and well meaning are they also setting people up for a hope for something that willl realistically never happpen (as shown over the years?)

 

[Vico]

…
So hope is really just false hope?

Note the teaching of the Catholic church on the Annotating of the Sick.

Compendium of the Catechism

315. What is the attitude of the Church toward the sick?
1506-1513
1526-1527
Having received from the Lord the charge to heal the sick, the Church strives to carry it out by taking care of the sick and accompanying them with her prayer of intercession. Above all, the Church possesses a sacrament specifically intended for the benefit of the sick. This sacrament was instituted by Christ and is attested by Saint James: “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call in the presbyters of the Church and let them pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord” (James 5:14-15).

319. What are the effects of this sacrament?
1520-1523
1532
This sacrament confers a special grace which unites the sick person more intimately to the Passion of Christ for his good and for the good of all the Church. It gives comfort, peace, courage, and even the forgiveness of sins if the sick person is not able to make a confession. Sometimes, if it is the will of God, this sacrament even brings about the restoration of physical health. In any case this Anointing prepares the sick person for the journey to the Father’s House.

 

[Rozellelily]

In all honesty I think the reason God ‘doesn’t help’ these situations is two fold:
1.He decided those illnesses/situations are necessary to save the souls.
2.He literally can’t help those illnesses.

I don’t mean to sound disrespectful but this is how I genuinely feel.
I don’t think God really 'interfers" too much in earth life and it’s really up to science whether a person will be helped/cured.
It’s sort of like ‘potluck’ Ie:if they get a condition that has a cure/effective treatment then they are lucky but if they get a disease where the science isn’t anywhere near knowing the causes/pathologies let alone effectively treatment then they are the unlikely ones who hit the genetic or environmental back lucks.

God only really did ‘major miraculous impossible stuff’ in the Bible days-eg:stories like Jonah and the Whale but who even knows if even they are literal truth or more just allegorical stories.

 

[Rozellelily]

Thanks but realistically though,how many people have been cured of these illnesses?
So,to me,the sacrament of the sick may be good for the spiritual reasons but I don’t think it makes much difference for the physical health.

 

[Vico]

Thanks but realistically though,how many people have been cured of these illnesses?
So,to me,the sacrament of the sick may be good for the spiritual reasons but I don’t think it makes much difference for the physical health.

John 9 The Man Born Blind (excerpt)

29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this one is from.” 30 The man answered and said to them, “This is what is so amazing, that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him. 32 It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything.” 34 They answered and said to him, “You were born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?” Then they threw him out.

 

[Dan_Defender]

Hope for eternal life is the beginning and end of our faith. Even in the worst circumstances, we must never despair.

 

[Lea101]

Yeah, my mom raised me up by telling me to hope that God will take away a certain condition I have. Now that I’m older, I see what a waste of time that was.

Because of that, it’s still hard for me to accept this

there are things that God won’t help because he feels their sicknesses will “get them to heaven”

 

[BenYosef]

I’m Jewish.

As you likely gather from those two little words, Rosellelily, I don’t share the views and hope that Christians or more specifically Roman Catholics do, theologically speaking.

But do I think there is no hope for Christians? Do I think that what they believe in is not reality based?

Let me add another word to define the type of Jew that I am: I’m a Reconstructionist Jew.

That generally means that I don’t view God as a Supernatural Being or Spirit Person that performs miracles that defy reason or science.

So you might think now that I think that Christianity is a lot of foolishness and a false hope, right?

Wrong.

I know for certain that God is real. I may not believe in miracles that defy reason. I may not believe that God is some kind of Spirit Person in some mystical realm that grants wishes to God much in the way as a magic genie works (not saying this is the way that Catholics or other Christians necessarily do either). True, to some who do not adopt religion it may seem that way, but I know that even though I have different definitions of God and the miracles of Scripture, that the hope that Christians have in God is not misplaced.

Crack open any Catholic Bible and read the footnotes or study notes where a miracle occurs (which you will find in practically every Catholic Bible that has been approved by proper authority) and you will see what the meaning behind each and every account is as Catholics view it.

Read the Catholic Catechism on these subjects, study various official Vatican declarations on these things and you will see that these Christians do not define such things as magical or events beyond reason. Even the most “conservative” interpreter among Roman Catholics is highly critical in their reasoning compared to most in Christianity (and often to many in Judaism). While some Catholics may not have delved in as deeply as they should have and may give you an impression that their hope is simple and seems somewhat “magical” or “unrealistic,” I suggest you go to the source. If you want to know what an apple tastes like, don’t go and lick the leaves that have fallen from the tree. Take from the fruit of the tree. Read from the source.

You will find that the Church is very realistic about its hope it holds out for today, tomorrow, and in its trust in the God it worships now.

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

while there may always be hope for spiritual/afterlife, for “current life” there is no hope

Our orientation is to the spiritual and the next life.
If you’ve ever seen somebody who had a spiritual healing, you wouldnt pooh-pooh it. A person may have a disabled body but a spirit that soars.