For those who feel that the church overly focuses on sin at the expense of all other human tragedy and problems, here are some words from St. John of Karpathos (7th Century?) focusing on the essential nature of hope (the emphasis is mine and not in the original text). St. Peter is portrayed as a patron saint of hope in the text:
“It is more serious to lose hope than to sin. The traitor Judas was a defeatist, inexperienced in spiritual warfare; as a result he was reduced to despair by the enemy’s onslaught, and he went and hanged himself. Peter, on the other hand, was a firm rock: although brought down by a terrible fall, yet because of his experience in spiritual warfare he was not broken by despair, but leaping up he shed bitter tears from a contrite and humiliated heart. And as soon as our enemy saw them, he recoiled as if his eyes had been burnt by searing flames, and he took flight howling and lamenting.” (St. John of Karpathos in The Philokalia: Volume 1, pg. 318)
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