@article{aitken_responding_2026,
	title = {Responding to a {Crisis} of {Hope}: {Gregory} of {Nyssa} in {Dialogue} with {Contemporary} {Psychology}},
	volume = {17},
	copyright = {http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/},
	issn = {2077-1444},
	shorttitle = {Responding to a {Crisis} of {Hope}},
	url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/17/1/64},
	doi = {10.3390/rel17010064},
	abstract = {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.},
	language = {en},
	number = {1},
	urldate = {2026-01-10},
	journal = {Religions},
	publisher = {Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute},
	author = {Aitken, Leisa and Myers, Ben},
	year = {2026},
	keywords = {Modern Theology, Psychologie, Psychology, Reception, Réception, Théologie moderne},
	pages = {64},
}

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