Hoping

Scripture

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Revelation 21:4 KJV

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Big idea

Summary

Keller opens by claiming that the loss of hope, more than pain itself, is what makes suffering truly unbearable, then turns to the book of Revelation, written to Christians facing brutal persecution under the Roman emperor Domitian, whose vision of a new heaven and earth gave those believers the courage to endure. He illustrates the practical power of hope with a story of two imprisoned men facing similar circumstances, one crushed by despair and one sustained by a hopeful outlook, and with historian Howard Thurman’s account of how African-American spirituals sustained enslaved people by insisting, literally and not merely symbolically, on a coming justice and a real heaven.

Keller insists this hope must be taken literally rather than treated as a comforting symbol, since a merely symbolic hope cannot bear the weight real suffering places on it; because Jesus bore the full penalty of death, death now casts only a shadow over believers rather than a final verdict. He closes with his own experience receiving a cancer diagnosis, describing how a hope-shaped perspective, informed by C. S. Lewis’s reflections on present pain and future glory, turned his own anxiety into an unexpected peace as he faced surgery — ending the book, fittingly, not with an argument won but with a hope held.

Key points

• The loss of hope, Keller argues, is what makes suffering unbearable — more than the suffering itself.
• Revelation was written to early Christians under brutal Roman persecution, and its vision of a renewed creation gave them courage to endure.
• A story of two imprisoned men shows how a hopeful outlook, more than circumstances alone, shapes someone’s ability to endure.
• Historian Howard Thurman’s work on African-American spirituals shows how a literal, not merely symbolic, hope in heaven and justice sustained enslaved people through suffering.
• Because Jesus bore death fully, death is described as casting only a “shadow,” not a final verdict, over believers.
• Keller closes with his own cancer diagnosis, describing how hope, informed by C. S. Lewis’s reflections on glory, reframed his anxiety into peace.

Illustrations & stories

• The book of Revelation’s original audience: Christians under persecution by the Roman emperor Domitian.
• A story contrasting two imprisoned men, one who despaired and one who was sustained by hope.
• Historian Howard Thurman’s account of hope in African-American spirituals during slavery.
• Keller’s own account of receiving a cancer diagnosis and facing surgery.
• C. S. Lewis’s reflections on longing for glory amid present pain.

Notable line

Human beings are hope-shaped creatures.

Timothy Keller, Walking with God through Pain and Suffering, ch. 16

For reflection and discussion

1. Do you agree that loss of hope, more than pain itself, is what makes suffering unbearable?
2. What does Howard Thurman’s account of hope in the spirituals suggest about the difference between literal and merely symbolic hope?
3. How does the image of death as a “shadow” rather than a final verdict change how you think about your own mortality?
4. Keller closes with his own cancer diagnosis. What role has hope played in your hardest medical, financial, or relational seasons?
5. Having read all sixteen chapters, how would you now answer someone who asks you, “why does God allow suffering?”