Hope

Abstract

Hope (Haab--noun; haabe--verb) From the Old Norse hop, Middle Low German hope, corresponding to English "hope." Its lexical meaning in Danish is a feeling of expectation with respect to something in the future, usually an expectation of something good, right or fortunate. As a qualification of this sense it can mean a trusting confidence in the future, fate or God. It can also mean that to which one binds one's expectations. The most frequent occurrence of the word "hope" is in 'Works of Love', followed by 'Upbuilding Discourses in Various Spirits', then 'Christian Discourses'. There is also a sustained discussion of hope in 'For Self-Examination'. All these works were published under the name "Soren Kierkegaard" in 1847, 1848, and 1851 respectively. But the most sustained discussions of the concept of hope occur in discussions of expectancy ('Forventning'). These, too, are found most commonly in publications under Kierkegaard's own name, especially in the upbuilding discourses from 1843 and 1844. We find extended discussions of expectancy in "The Expectancy of Faith," "Patience in Expectancy," and "The Expectancy of an Eternal Salvation." Not all expectancy is hope, as Kierkegaard acknowledges by defining hope as expectancy of the good, and fear as expectancy of evil.