Eternal Hope

by Emil Brunner

Book cover: Eternal Hope

Extent: 234 pages

Publisher: James Clarke & Co

Subjects: Religious Studies

Series: Emil Brunner Library

Language: English

Paperback (No longer our product)

(July 2023)

ISBN: 9780227179222

Price: $37.00

In stock

A systematic treatment of eschatology from one of the great reformed theologians of the twentieth century.


Describing his objective in writing Eternal Hope, Emil Brunner boldly claimed that ‘a church that has nothing to teach concerning the future and the life of the world to come is bankrupt’. Half a century later, such a challenge might still be levied. Against this backdrop, Brunner offers a way forward that is conscious never to stray far from scripture, yet nevertheless pastorally sensitive. Indeed, one of the central tenets of his approach is that the Gospel offers no comfort to the individual that is not at the same time a promise for the future of humanity as a whole. He proceeds systematically through the promises and mysteries that the Christian faith holds surrounding death, while holding the hope of eternity as a constant goal. A precursor to his more rigorous Dogmatics, and partly in preparation for the second assembly of the World Council of Churches in 1954, Eternal Hope was also written just a year after the tragic death of Brunner’s son. It is therefore no surprise that he combines the vulnerability of his personal encounter with death, and a theological outlook that has universal implications.

Emil Brunner (1889-1966) was one of the leading theologians of the twentieth century, and helped pave the course of modern Protestant theology. He was Professor of Systematic and Practical Theology at the University of Zurich and lectured around the world. His extensive writings published by James Clarke & Co. include Faith, Hope and Love and Dogmatics.

  • By (author) Emil Brunner