Apocalyptic Hope and the Crisis of Twenty-first Century Healthcare Systems

Abstract

Modern healthcare systems are struggling with rising costs, large health disparities, and a general frustration among patients, clinicians, and administrators. The structural causes of our troubled systems leave individuals with little sense of agency and little expectation for meaningful change. This article explores the importance of cultivating hope as an emotion (and not only as a practice or virtue) in such a context. Emotions are critical for the moral life and can motivate and sustain moral action when achieving the good is difficult. This article argues that the emotion of hope shaped by an apocalyptic theology can be a significant resource for addressing injustices. It highlights four features of apocalyptic theologies that are relevant to hope: they arise amidst a crisis, they reveal lordless forces, they stress divine action as grounds for hope, and they galvanize the struggle for justice. The article considers the relevance and significance of the four features of apocalyptic theologies for a theology of hope amidst the challenges of contemporary healthcare systems. Apocalyptic hope cultivated in communities of resistance can sustain the struggle against these powers for a more equitable and humanizing medicine.