Apart from impressive liturgical expressions every year in Advent and one stirring statement called ‘The Christian Hope, ‘ which concludes the Prayer Book Catechism, the Episcopal Church is not known for its formation and application of eschatology–the doctrine of last things. A Heart for the Future: Writings on the Christian Hope may change that. The distinguished and diverse contributing authors–including Robert M. Cooper, Robert D. Hughes, Harold T. Lewis, Fredrica Harris Thompsett, Paul F. M. Zahl, and Robert Boak Slocum (who is also the general editor)–differ widely in method, meaning, and approach.
They are very much alike, however, in the rigor with which they profess their faith in the Christian future, avoiding the simplistic eschatology that would cleave the Body of Christ in two by creating a false dichotomy between walking with God in this world and walking toward God in the next. The choice Christians must make is not between the now and the external; it is between being forward-looking and being backward-looking. Unless we look with eagerness and longing toward the future, we will stay stranded in the past. To live the Christian life today, we need A Heart for the Future.
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Robert Boak Slocum is the author, editor, or co-editor of fourteen books, including Fearful Times; Living Faith (ed. with Martyn Percy); The Anglican Imagination; Light in a Burning-Glass: A Systematic Presentation of Austin Farrer’s Theology; Seeing & Believing: Reflections for Faith; A Heart for the Future: Writings on the Christian Hope (ed.); and The Theology of William Porcher Du Bose: Life, Movement, and Being. He taught theology courses at Marquette University on Christ and culture, explorations in Christian theology, and quests for God. He later served at St. Catharine College in Kentucky as Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences and taught courses in religious studies and applied ethics. He was the President of the Society of Anglican and Lutheran Theologians, and Co-Convenor of the Society for the Study of Anglicanism. He served on the board of the Anglican Theological Review. He was the clergy in charge of congregations in the dioceses of Louisiana, Milwaukee, and Lexington. He was ecumenical officer of the Diocese of Lexington. He currently serves as the Narrative Medicine Program Coordinator at University of Kentucky Health Care, where he teaches an elective rotation for senior medical students on the narrative basis for patient care and resilient practice. He serves on the Hospital Ethics Committee. He lives in Danville, Kentucky, with his wife, Victoria. He has three grown children, Claire, Rebecca, and Jacob.