Toward a constructive eschatology: An appraisal of Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen's contributions

Faced with diverse cultural challenges to hope, a constructive eschatology should do justice to the entire reality and develop a robust future-oriented hope that helps to transform the present. In this regard Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen has made a significant contribution, especially in dialogue with natural sciences and other faith traditions, to retrieve the cosmic dimension of Christian hope, as well as to address liberationist and ecofeminist critiques of some distorted hopes. After recommending distinctive features of Kärkkäinen's constructive proposal, I suggest advancing it further by combining the phenomenological insight into the lived body with the concept of temporal holism.