When the situation is dire, the world tells us to look into our hearts. To screw up our courage. To banish our fears. But Christian hope is different. It comes from outside ourselves. It’s a joy that pushes fear into its proper place and keeps it from becoming all-consuming.

Peter Kreeft has a new book out, a statement nearly always true no matter the month of the year. Nearing his 90th birthday, he remains one of the most prolific Christian writers alive today, rivaling the prodigious output of G. K. Chesterton and others. His latest book focuses on what he calls the two greatest novels ever written: The Lord of the Rings and The Brothers Karamazov.

As a longtime admirer of both works (I read Dostoevsky’s masterpiece again last year, for what I think was the sixth time), I can’t disagree with his selections. So I was curious to see what fresh insight he might draw from these novels, two books that continue to flow with wisdom long after the popularity of most others fades.

Ordinary Hope vs. Deep Hope

One chapter in particular is worth lingering over. Kreeft reflects on the nature of hope, contrasting ordinary hope with what he calls deep hope. Ordinary hope is often rooted in calculation. A bet on good odds. It’s the hope that arises when success is still a possibility, no matter how unlikely.

But deep hope is different. It’s the kind of hope that arises after ordinary hope dies. Hope against hope. The kind that Chesterton said “exists only in earthquake and eclipse.” It’s a confidence not grounded in statistics or circumstances but in the underlying order of things, in the conviction that life will ultimately triumph over death and that it’s good and right to desire and will the good.

Ordinary hope may come and go, depending on the circumstances or what we think the chances may be. But deep hope is heavy, so heavy it can make the heart light.

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