This lecture examines forgiveness, gratitude, and hope from multiple perspectives, drawing from literature in philosophy, theology, and psychology. Developments in the relatively new field of positive psychology have focused sustained attention on character strengths and virtues, including the three at the heart of this paper.

Positive psychology tends to foreground the individual in cultivating character strengths; however, virtues are cultivated and sustained in communion with others. This paper explores a key distinction between hoping-that and hoping-in. While the former describes the content of our hopes, the latter (which has its roots in Aquinas) focuses on how hope is kindled through other agents.

While psychology helps elucidate means through which people might be helped to forgive others through empirically validated interventions, there is a danger of psychological approaches to forgiveness being advocated purely for their salutary benefits to the forgiver. There has been far less attention to the psychological processes involved in accepting forgiveness, a balance far better acknowledged by theological approaches to forgiveness, grounded in recognition of the human tendency to fall short.

Gratitude has undoubtedly become one of the success stories of positive psychology, as it has been shown to be a reliable means of promoting happiness, well-being, and social connection (among other valuable goods). However, gratitude offers more than a means of ‘capitalising’ on and appreciating good things. Gratitude can be redemptive, enabling us to finally give thanks for difficult times and for experiences that may have been forged in the crucible of suffering.

Speaker:

Liz Gulliford is currently Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Northampton, UK. Liz's PhD (Queens' College, University of Cambridge, 2011) established a firm, critical foundation for interdisciplinary theoretical and practical work in positive psychology upon which she has progressively built an international reputation. Since completing her doctorate, she has carried out extensive conceptual and empirical work in positive psychology and moral education. She has a long-standing interest in research on character strengths and virtues, including gratitude, forgiveness, compassion, courage and hope, and her work has been published in a range of journals in psychology, education, and philosophy. Liz also studied for a BA (now MA) at Trinity College, Oxford (1998).

Respondent:

Steve Sandage completed his clinical internship at the Federal Corrections Institute (Petersburg, Virginia) where he did specialty rotations in HIV services and forensic assessment. Following the completion of his graduate degree, Steve joined the faculty in marriage and family therapy at Bethel Seminary and started a clinical practice. In 2013 and after sixteen years at Bethel, Steve accepted the Danielsen Chair position at Boston University School of Theology and the Danielsen Institute, where he also serves as Research Director and Senior Staff Psychologist. He holds a joint appointment at BU in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

*This lecture is made possible through the support of Grant 62632 from the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed by these presenters do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.