Responding to a Crisis of Hope: Gregory of Nyssa in Dialogue with Contemporary Psychology

This paper explores the potential of patristic theology to offer therapeutic resources for evangelical Christians who experience a crisis of hope: affirming hope doctrinally while struggling to feel hopeful in daily life. Drawing on recent psychological research, we use a tripartite model of hope—cognitive, agentic, and affective—to describe how hopeful experience can be sustained or undermined. We suggest that some theological frameworks, shaped by individualistic and goal-oriented assumptions, can unintentionally constrict believers’ capacity to experience hope. In dialogue with this psychological model, we read Gregory of Nyssa as a resource for each dimension of hope: his account of epektasis reframes the content of hope; his expansive understanding of divine agency widens the horizon of hope; and his use of imagery supports the affective experience of hope. The paper illustrates how patristic ressourcement can enrich theological imagination and can play a role in renewing believers’ capacity to hope.