Hope and Longing

What I enjoyed most about Plantingas first chapter was his emphasis on hope. When we as Christians constantly find ourselves surrounded by this world of persecution, hardship, and temptation, the only thing that we can cling to and long for is hope. Hope in deliverance. Hope in a sanctification. Hope in a deliverance. Like Plantinga states sometimes we put hope in ourselves. The biggest problem with putting our hope in ourselves or in others is that we along with any other person are subject to failing. Even as dependable we think we are or our best friends are we and them are in fact imperfect. The only true hope that is never failing is the everlasting peace of Christ. Christ will never fail us, He is in essence the only truest branch we can hang from. He will never fail us, and even though we do not always understand his methods, but they always lead us to exactly what we need. Plantinga does a good job isolating this point in this first chapter, as well as relying on the wisdom of individuals like JRR Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Augustine.