A Borrowed Hope presents a vision of public theology fundamentally rooted in hope, especially the attempt to bring hope into lived realities where there is despair. The book uses the Carrier Pigeon Post, a nonprofit newspaper bringing humanities education to people in prison, as an example of public theology. Five theses about public theology emerge from the book: 1) Public theology gives without taking. 2) Public theology translates. 3) Public theology immerses. 4) Public theology improvises. 5) Public theology always goes to the extremities. The book includes a powerful call for others to take up the practice of public theology, not through words, but through actions that bring hope.