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Jesus Christ for Today's World
Jrgen Moltmann formulates necessary questions about the significance of Jesus the Christ for persons today. He offers a compelling portrait of the earthly Jesus as the divine brother in our distress and suffering and points to the risen Christ as the warrant for the "future in which God will restore everything . . . and gather everything into his kingdom." Urging that acknowledgment of Christ and discipleship are two sides of the same coin, Moltmann contends that the question of Jesus Christ for today is not just an intellectual one. Moltmann takes fresh approaches to a number of crucial Jesus and the kingdom of God, the passion of Christ and the pain of God, Jesus as brother of the tortured, and the resurrection of Christ as hope for the world, the cosmic Christ, Jesus in Jewish-Christian dialogue, the future of God, and others.
152 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
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About the author
Jürgen Moltmann
176 books195 followersJürgen Moltmann is a German Reformed theologian. He is the 2000 recipient of the Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Religion.
Moltmann's Theology of Hope is a theological perspective with an eschatological foundation and focuses on the hope that the resurrection brings. Through faith we are bound to Christ, and as such have the hope of the resurrected Christ ("Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3, NIV)), and knowledge of his return. For Moltmann, the hope of the Christian faith is hope in the resurrection of Christ crucified. Hope and faith depend on each other to remain true and substantial; and only with both may one find "not only a consolation in suffering, but also the protest of the divine promise against suffering."
However, because of this hope we hold, we may never exist harmoniously in a society such as ours which is based on sin. When following the Theology of Hope, a Christian should find hope in the future but also experience much discontentment with the way the world is now, corrupt and full of sin. Sin bases itself in hopelessness, which can take on two forms: presumption and despair. "Presumption is a premature, selfwilled anticipation of the fulfillment of what we hope for from God. Despair is the premature, arbitrary anticipation of the non-fulfillment of what we hope for from God."
In Moltmann's opinion, all should be seen from an eschatological perspective, looking toward the days when Christ will make all things new. "A proper theology would therefore have to be constructed in the light of its future goal. Eschatology should not be its end, but its beginning." This does not, as many fear, 'remove happiness from the present' by focusing all ones attention toward the hope for Christ's return. Moltmann addresses this concern as such: "Does this hope cheat man of the happiness of the present? How could it do so! For it is itself the happiness of the present." The importance of the current times is necessary for the Theology of Hope because it brings the future events to the here and now. This theological perspective of eschatology makes the hope of the future, the hope of today.
Hope strengthens faith and aids a believer into living a life of love, and directing them toward a new creation of all things. It creates in a believer a "passion for the possible" "For our knowledge and comprehension of reality, and our reflections on it, that means at least this: that in the medium of hope our theological concepts become not judgments which nail reality down to what it is, but anticipations which show reality its prospects and its future possibilities." This passion is one that is centered around the hope of the resurrected and the returning Christ, creating a change within a believer and drives the change that a believer seeks make on the world.
For Moltmann, creation and eschatology depend on one another. There exists an ongoing process of creation, continuing creation, alongside creation ex nihilo and the consummation of creation. The consummation of creation will consist of the eschatological transformation of this creation into the new creation. The apocalypse will include the purging of sin from our finite world so that a transformed humanity can participate in the new creation.
Moltmann's Theology of Hope is a theological perspective with an eschatological foundation and focuses on the hope that the resurrection brings. Through faith we are bound to Christ, and as such have the hope of the resurrected Christ ("Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3, NIV)), and knowledge of his return. For Moltmann, the hope of the Christian faith is hope in the resurrection of Christ crucified. Hope and faith depend on each other to remain true and substantial; and only with both may one find "not only a consolation in suffering, but also the protest of the divine promise against suffering."
However, because of this hope we hold, we may never exist harmoniously in a society such as ours which is based on sin. When following the Theology of Hope, a Christian should find hope in the future but also experience much discontentment with the way the world is now, corrupt and full of sin. Sin bases itself in hopelessness, which can take on two forms: presumption and despair. "Presumption is a premature, selfwilled anticipation of the fulfillment of what we hope for from God. Despair is the premature, arbitrary anticipation of the non-fulfillment of what we hope for from God."
In Moltmann's opinion, all should be seen from an eschatological perspective, looking toward the days when Christ will make all things new. "A proper theology would therefore have to be constructed in the light of its future goal. Eschatology should not be its end, but its beginning." This does not, as many fear, 'remove happiness from the present' by focusing all ones attention toward the hope for Christ's return. Moltmann addresses this concern as such: "Does this hope cheat man of the happiness of the present? How could it do so! For it is itself the happiness of the present." The importance of the current times is necessary for the Theology of Hope because it brings the future events to the here and now. This theological perspective of eschatology makes the hope of the future, the hope of today.
Hope strengthens faith and aids a believer into living a life of love, and directing them toward a new creation of all things. It creates in a believer a "passion for the possible" "For our knowledge and comprehension of reality, and our reflections on it, that means at least this: that in the medium of hope our theological concepts become not judgments which nail reality down to what it is, but anticipations which show reality its prospects and its future possibilities." This passion is one that is centered around the hope of the resurrected and the returning Christ, creating a change within a believer and drives the change that a believer seeks make on the world.
For Moltmann, creation and eschatology depend on one another. There exists an ongoing process of creation, continuing creation, alongside creation ex nihilo and the consummation of creation. The consummation of creation will consist of the eschatological transformation of this creation into the new creation. The apocalypse will include the purging of sin from our finite world so that a transformed humanity can participate in the new creation.
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February 4, 2018
I was curious about this book when a friend gave it to me not long ago. Curious--but not expecting a great deal from it. I was, however, very pleased and surpised at its depth and thought and relevance. It is not very long, and it is written in a very accessible style.
There are three sections of this book that really stood out for me. (1) The fourth chapter on the Torture of Christ is, I think, a brilliant consideration of the moral issue of torture in our time. You cannot read this and come away feeling good about the Dick Cheneys and the Donald Trumps of the world. Or anyone else who thinks torture is compatible with faith in Jesus. (2) The sixth chapter on the Cosmic Christ was also quite unexpected. Moltmann is theology grounded in the Reformation, which makes it more than astonishing that he takes quite seriously, though not uncritically, the cosmic evolutionary theology of Teilhard de Chardin. (3) The seventh and eighth chapters deal with the messianic nature of Judaism and Christianity and just what one might think about the conflict between the two religions on this subject. His final thoughts at the end of the book are well grounded and inspiring.
This book has made a distinct impression on my thinking about a number of central elements in my thinking about what faith in Jesus means. It does not deal with the teaching of Jesus very much, except for the proclamation of the Kingdom of God. But that weakness aside, I cannot recommend this book too highly.
There are three sections of this book that really stood out for me. (1) The fourth chapter on the Torture of Christ is, I think, a brilliant consideration of the moral issue of torture in our time. You cannot read this and come away feeling good about the Dick Cheneys and the Donald Trumps of the world. Or anyone else who thinks torture is compatible with faith in Jesus. (2) The sixth chapter on the Cosmic Christ was also quite unexpected. Moltmann is theology grounded in the Reformation, which makes it more than astonishing that he takes quite seriously, though not uncritically, the cosmic evolutionary theology of Teilhard de Chardin. (3) The seventh and eighth chapters deal with the messianic nature of Judaism and Christianity and just what one might think about the conflict between the two religions on this subject. His final thoughts at the end of the book are well grounded and inspiring.
This book has made a distinct impression on my thinking about a number of central elements in my thinking about what faith in Jesus means. It does not deal with the teaching of Jesus very much, except for the proclamation of the Kingdom of God. But that weakness aside, I cannot recommend this book too highly.
December 29, 2024
Came out swinging, and then tripped over its own two feet.
The central thesis of this book that "[a]cknowledgement of Christ and discipleship of Christ are two sides of the same thing... every christology is related to christopraxis". Moltmann emphasizes in the introduction that the earthly ministry of Jesus should be essential to our understanding of who Jesus is, and even goes as far as suggesting an addition to the ecumenical creeds. I knew that coming into the book, which is partially what raised my interest in it, but confusingly he spent almost the whole book talking about the practical implications of crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus (and a whole chapter on the cosmic Christ). Now normally, I'd be all ears for that, but how does the subsequent 145 pages of this book interact at all with the first 3? That really confused me.
The two strongest lines of thought in this book definitely are the chapter on torture and the "realized-eschatologizing" of the resurrection (my wording). In the chapter on torture, Moltmann sketches out how the doctrine that there is an eternal hell helps provide some of the theological backing behind the torture chambers of today. This was extremely powerful coming from someone who witnessed the Holocaust with his eyes and spent time in a prisoner of war camp. His theology of the tortured Christ being the brother of the tortured, and that Christ is objectively present in the tortured (even if they don't subjectively recognize that) is beyond moving. His insistence on God's suffering as an active choice to be in solidarity with us out of His Love in connection to this I also really loved. Below I am replicating a larger block of his text because I think it is worth reading in full.
On the resurrection, Moltmann shifts the conversation on its veracity from talking about a literal historical event that is shrouding in symbolic language to the lived out experience of the Church in history fighting to bring life and love to triumph over death in the here and now. For Moltmann, it seems that the "experience of life [that] springs from the resurrection hope" is of more interest than the proving of an event in the past (which he seems to think is impossible to do, W!). The demythologizing-ish of the resurrection in his text (as he still retains a hope of real bodily resurrection in the future) is super cool and I like it.
The problem for this book comes with most of the rest of it. The chapter on anxiety is forgettable, the one on how the cosmic Christ impacts our ecological theology seems to me to be completely outdated and spends almost its whole responding to Teilhard de Chardin (yawn), and the Christian-Jewish dialogue chapter feels really weak too which is really disappointing as I wanted more from this post-Holocaust German Christian theologian (but the central thesis of the Jewish inability to accept Jesus because the world is broken & the Christian acceptance of this is not bad).
I am also a little bit troubled by the final chapter's final statement on God's final action in the eschaton. Moltmann decides to be a bit coy with his "I myself am not a univeralist, but God may be one". In the chapter on torture, he comes out swinging with "for hell is nothing other than religion's torture chamber", and he comes to the conclusion that Christ is the tortured brother who descends into hell (and hence we ought not torture), and is the only one we can say ever entered into hell. But to leave the possibility of eternal conscious torment open right into the last page of the book is extremely concerning. Why would you do that if you also believe fervently that hell is religion's torture chamber (which is a bad thing!). How can he say that God is the suffering God who loves us and suffers in solidarity with us, is inviting all always and working for the restoration of all he has ever created, but leave open the door to the same God possibly being Supreme Hitler. The tension reminds me of my own wrestlings with the question that led me to a full-throated support of universalism.
Overall, the highs are extremely high, but the lows hit hard too.
The central thesis of this book that "[a]cknowledgement of Christ and discipleship of Christ are two sides of the same thing... every christology is related to christopraxis". Moltmann emphasizes in the introduction that the earthly ministry of Jesus should be essential to our understanding of who Jesus is, and even goes as far as suggesting an addition to the ecumenical creeds. I knew that coming into the book, which is partially what raised my interest in it, but confusingly he spent almost the whole book talking about the practical implications of crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus (and a whole chapter on the cosmic Christ). Now normally, I'd be all ears for that, but how does the subsequent 145 pages of this book interact at all with the first 3? That really confused me.
The two strongest lines of thought in this book definitely are the chapter on torture and the "realized-eschatologizing" of the resurrection (my wording). In the chapter on torture, Moltmann sketches out how the doctrine that there is an eternal hell helps provide some of the theological backing behind the torture chambers of today. This was extremely powerful coming from someone who witnessed the Holocaust with his eyes and spent time in a prisoner of war camp. His theology of the tortured Christ being the brother of the tortured, and that Christ is objectively present in the tortured (even if they don't subjectively recognize that) is beyond moving. His insistence on God's suffering as an active choice to be in solidarity with us out of His Love in connection to this I also really loved. Below I am replicating a larger block of his text because I think it is worth reading in full.
If this Christ is not just one human being among others - if he is the messiah, Israel's deliverer and the redeemer of men and women - then his history is first of all an expression of God's solidarity with the victims of violence of torture. Christ's cross stands between the countless crosses set up by the powerful and the violent throughout history, down to the present day. It stood in the concentration camps, and stands today in Latin America and in the Balkans [the book was written in 1995], and among those tortured by hunger in Africa. His suffering doesn't rob the suffering of these others of its dignity. He is among them as their brother, as a sign that God shares in our suffering and takes our pain on himself. Among all the un-numbered and un-named tortured men and women, that 'Suffering Servant of God' is always to be found. They are his companions in his suffering, because he has become their companion in theirs. The tortured Christ looks at us with the eyes of tortured men and women.
On the resurrection, Moltmann shifts the conversation on its veracity from talking about a literal historical event that is shrouding in symbolic language to the lived out experience of the Church in history fighting to bring life and love to triumph over death in the here and now. For Moltmann, it seems that the "experience of life [that] springs from the resurrection hope" is of more interest than the proving of an event in the past (which he seems to think is impossible to do, W!). The demythologizing-ish of the resurrection in his text (as he still retains a hope of real bodily resurrection in the future) is super cool and I like it.
The problem for this book comes with most of the rest of it. The chapter on anxiety is forgettable, the one on how the cosmic Christ impacts our ecological theology seems to me to be completely outdated and spends almost its whole responding to Teilhard de Chardin (yawn), and the Christian-Jewish dialogue chapter feels really weak too which is really disappointing as I wanted more from this post-Holocaust German Christian theologian (but the central thesis of the Jewish inability to accept Jesus because the world is broken & the Christian acceptance of this is not bad).
I am also a little bit troubled by the final chapter's final statement on God's final action in the eschaton. Moltmann decides to be a bit coy with his "I myself am not a univeralist, but God may be one". In the chapter on torture, he comes out swinging with "for hell is nothing other than religion's torture chamber", and he comes to the conclusion that Christ is the tortured brother who descends into hell (and hence we ought not torture), and is the only one we can say ever entered into hell. But to leave the possibility of eternal conscious torment open right into the last page of the book is extremely concerning. Why would you do that if you also believe fervently that hell is religion's torture chamber (which is a bad thing!). How can he say that God is the suffering God who loves us and suffers in solidarity with us, is inviting all always and working for the restoration of all he has ever created, but leave open the door to the same God possibly being Supreme Hitler. The tension reminds me of my own wrestlings with the question that led me to a full-throated support of universalism.
Overall, the highs are extremely high, but the lows hit hard too.
November 2, 2015
What a wonderful little book. Moltmann distills his Christology down to a very readable book that can be read quickly (at least for a Moltmann work). Very Good and I will read it again (which for me is the definition of a truly good book).
May 27, 2017
Moltmann is one of my theological heroes, and I think his ideas are truly inspiring. I find his theology about suffering, Hell etc very interesting. Truly inspiring short book which I would recommend to anyone with an interest in theology.
December 15, 2021
I just finished "Jesus Christ For Today's World," by Jurgen Moltmann.
This is one of Moltmanns popular books and I was glad to find it.
The Kingdom:
Christology and Christopraxis belong together; what we know and what we do belong together.
Big bites out the gate: if we want to learn about the Kingdome we have to look to Jesus and if we want to understand who Jesus really is we have to experience the Kingdom. Jesus doesn't define the Kingdom, rather He brought the Kingdom.
"It is one thing to learn a concept of happiness, and another to be Happy," p 9.
The Kingdom of God is God's joy at finding again the beings He created who had been lost. And Repentance is being found and returned.
The basic law of the Kingdom is the sermon on the Mt which reaches its climax in the Beatitudes.
The Kingdom is experienced today in the companionship with Jesus as a seed of hope for its future completion. It is also the reign of God that covers all of creation which finds its origins in God (not from/of this world) and on earth in Jesus.
"Everywhere God's Kingdom takes us beyond the frontiers of the church," p 22.
Moltmann makes a point to state that Kingdom work is important just as Kingdom celebration and rest is.
The Passion:
Moltmann restated the question of theodicy from "why did you let this happen" to "where are you?" Is he an apathetic, absentee god or is he cut to the heart in our pain; is He a co-sufferer? He finds his answer on the cross.
In the garden we see Jesus as anguished over what was to come. His friends slept rather than watch out for Him. His Father didn't let the cup pass and the cup was one of abandonment. Jesus' concern was less about His life and more over the perceived character of His Father and what this would mean for the Kingdom. This "eclipse of God" was Christ's struggle with this experience of God; the result was His self-surrender.
On the cross Christ cried out how His Father had abandoned Him. All His hope had been dashed.
"We shall never be able to get used to the fact that at the centre of the Christian Faith there is this cry of the God-forsaken Christ for God," p 35.
At the center of the passion is the God-forsaken Christ "for us." He joins all who feel abandoned by God. This leads one to say, "Christ, yes, but the Father, no." How is this synthesized with human suffering? We read in Paul that God delivered Christ "for us" but also that Christ gave Himself "for me." Moltmann then says that inasmuch as the Son suffered God-forsakenness the Father suffered the loss of His Son, a Son-forsakenness. Christ suffers death and the Father suffers loss. Finally if "God was in Christ...." then we have God suffering death and loss. The cross is a sign that God Himself participates in our suffering with us.
Christ in in His passion becomes a Brother with victims and one who atones for the guilty.
That is just a bit of the beginningbof this book. I believe itbis a good easier, intro to "The Crucified God" and "The Way of Jesus Christ." Moltmann is an awesome theologian and horrible political philosopher/economist.
#JurgenMoltmann #JesusChristForTodaysWorld #Moltmann #GermanTheologians #Christology
This is one of Moltmanns popular books and I was glad to find it.
The Kingdom:
Christology and Christopraxis belong together; what we know and what we do belong together.
Big bites out the gate: if we want to learn about the Kingdome we have to look to Jesus and if we want to understand who Jesus really is we have to experience the Kingdom. Jesus doesn't define the Kingdom, rather He brought the Kingdom.
"It is one thing to learn a concept of happiness, and another to be Happy," p 9.
The Kingdom of God is God's joy at finding again the beings He created who had been lost. And Repentance is being found and returned.
The basic law of the Kingdom is the sermon on the Mt which reaches its climax in the Beatitudes.
The Kingdom is experienced today in the companionship with Jesus as a seed of hope for its future completion. It is also the reign of God that covers all of creation which finds its origins in God (not from/of this world) and on earth in Jesus.
"Everywhere God's Kingdom takes us beyond the frontiers of the church," p 22.
Moltmann makes a point to state that Kingdom work is important just as Kingdom celebration and rest is.
The Passion:
Moltmann restated the question of theodicy from "why did you let this happen" to "where are you?" Is he an apathetic, absentee god or is he cut to the heart in our pain; is He a co-sufferer? He finds his answer on the cross.
In the garden we see Jesus as anguished over what was to come. His friends slept rather than watch out for Him. His Father didn't let the cup pass and the cup was one of abandonment. Jesus' concern was less about His life and more over the perceived character of His Father and what this would mean for the Kingdom. This "eclipse of God" was Christ's struggle with this experience of God; the result was His self-surrender.
On the cross Christ cried out how His Father had abandoned Him. All His hope had been dashed.
"We shall never be able to get used to the fact that at the centre of the Christian Faith there is this cry of the God-forsaken Christ for God," p 35.
At the center of the passion is the God-forsaken Christ "for us." He joins all who feel abandoned by God. This leads one to say, "Christ, yes, but the Father, no." How is this synthesized with human suffering? We read in Paul that God delivered Christ "for us" but also that Christ gave Himself "for me." Moltmann then says that inasmuch as the Son suffered God-forsakenness the Father suffered the loss of His Son, a Son-forsakenness. Christ suffers death and the Father suffers loss. Finally if "God was in Christ...." then we have God suffering death and loss. The cross is a sign that God Himself participates in our suffering with us.
Christ in in His passion becomes a Brother with victims and one who atones for the guilty.
That is just a bit of the beginningbof this book. I believe itbis a good easier, intro to "The Crucified God" and "The Way of Jesus Christ." Moltmann is an awesome theologian and horrible political philosopher/economist.
#JurgenMoltmann #JesusChristForTodaysWorld #Moltmann #GermanTheologians #Christology
November 17, 2019
Since this book is based off public lectures (as opposed to being assembled ex ante as a coherent whole), its quality varies substantially chapter-by-chapter. Some chapters, such as 'The Passion of Christ and the Pain of God', deliver extremely accessible and impactful theology; other chapters, such as 'The Tortured Christ', delve into very specific applications of Moltmann's theology and ethics; others, such as 'The Cosmic Christ', oscillate between discursion into the facts surrounding Chernobyl and rarefied academic theology. Moltmann is at his best when he is speaking directly of suffering, theodicy, and eschatology; he is not quite so strong as he proceeds into politics and hard facts, where the conciseness of the volume (and potentially the need for some interdisciplinary collaboration with the experts whose fields he discusses) quickly becomes apparent. That being said, the book functions as an accessible and short introduction to Moltmann (I got through it in under three hours, and I'm a slow reader who gets much slower the more technical the material)—it might just be worth skimming some of the weaker chapters.
November 4, 2022
Ein schöner Überblick darüber, was das Reich Gottes bedeutet. Wie wir Jesus in dem Zusammenhang verstehen.
Da die Kapitel aus Vorträgen entstanden sind, sind sie recht unabhängig voneinander und von unterschiedlicher Qualität. Das erste über das Reich Gottes hat mir besonders gut gefallen. An einigen Stellen, z.B. im Kapitel über die Juden und die Christen, gab es einige verwirrende unnötige Fremdwörter, die nicht definiert wurden und die ich übersprungen habe.
Aber in jedem Kapitel habe ich irgendwo gute neue Einsichten über den Christlichen Glauben gefunden.
Da die Kapitel aus Vorträgen entstanden sind, sind sie recht unabhängig voneinander und von unterschiedlicher Qualität. Das erste über das Reich Gottes hat mir besonders gut gefallen. An einigen Stellen, z.B. im Kapitel über die Juden und die Christen, gab es einige verwirrende unnötige Fremdwörter, die nicht definiert wurden und die ich übersprungen habe.
Aber in jedem Kapitel habe ich irgendwo gute neue Einsichten über den Christlichen Glauben gefunden.
April 3, 2019
Una cristología breve y a la vez precisa, que nos ayuda a pensar, como dice el título, en Cristo desde una perspectiva contemporánea sin dejar de ser totalmente bíblica. Como indica Rubén Aguilar Valenzuela "El texto es una reflexión culta, profunda e inteligente sobre la figura de Jesús y de su significado para los cristianos. Es una obra ecuménica escrita para los creyentes, pero que resulta interesante para todos los que quieren desentrañar el sentido de la vida".
January 28, 2024
Moltmann writes incredibly. He points to the beauty in theology in gentle words but passionate meaning. That is what this book is for me, personally. This book poetically attests to the beauty to which all are called to: I am left wanting more. Also, Moltmann's additions to the Creeds are phenomenal and I wish they can be added to them officially.
"Love never gives anyone or anything up for lost."
"Love never gives anyone or anything up for lost."
January 9, 2019
An accessible book on christology, addressing Jesus in light of such as fear, torture, and Chernobyl. Definitely something to read for those wanting to go beyond the Jesus-is-my-boyfriend popular Christian books and wrestle with what Jesus means for today's world. Note that chapter 7, as far as I can tell, is a reprint of chapter 1 in the earlier *The Way of Jesus Christ*.
October 26, 2019
A compact exposition of Moltmann's theology, particularly themes explored in his systematic contributions 'The Way of Jesus Christ' and 'The Coming of God'. There is something so warm, honest and human about Moltmann's writing that never fails to inspire and invigorate me. I would highly recommend this to someone who hasn't read any Moltmann before. It's a great gateway to his other work.
October 21, 2023
This was my first time reading Moltmann for myself. I enjoyed the first part of the book and found much of it brilliant. The second half totally lost me and I could barely follow what he was arguing. I enjoyed him more than I thought that I would. He seems more orthodox than I imagined. I will probably check out more of his work.
November 25, 2024
This book made a lot of interesting points about Christ. It seems Moltmann was given to liberation theology, which I do not totally agree with, but if you're able to get past those elements of the text, he does make quite a lot of interesting points in the book.
April 14, 2015
This week I finished reading Jesus Christ for Today’ World by Jürgen Moltmann. Moltmann is a German Reformed theologian who is Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at the University of Tubingen is known for his own form of liberation theology which is based on the view that God suffers with humanity while promising a future through the hope of Christ’s resurrection which points to God who will restore everything and gather everything into his future kingdom. In this book based which is based on Moltmann’s public lectures we are provided an accessible introduction to the Christology of one of Europe’s great theologians.
The overarching question of “who is Christ for us today?” is answered thematically in each of the eight chapters attempting to answer the key question posed. Then each chapter is divided into three sections where Moltmann first looks at the biblical text relating to the topic of that chapter. Secondly he then provides his theological reflection on the topic and then proceeds to provide some direction for this theology to be fleshed out in Christian practice. He attempts to share the thought that what we know about Christ does effect what we do as Christians. He states it this way in one part of this volume:
“Believing in the resurrection does not just mean assenting to a dogma and noting a historical fact. It means participating in this creative act of God’s … Resurrection is not a consoling opium, soothing us with the promise of a better world in the hereafter. It is the energy for a rebirth of this life. The hope doesn’t point to another world. It is focused on the redemption of this one.” ― Jürgen Moltmann, Jesus Christ for Today's World
While this book serves as only as a general introduction to Moltmann’s theological thought surrounding Christ may lead readers to delve deeper into Moltmann’s other more exhaustive academic books which address these questions in deeper larger detail. I find this book a great primer to Moltmann’s Christology and great addition to anyone’s library.
The overarching question of “who is Christ for us today?” is answered thematically in each of the eight chapters attempting to answer the key question posed. Then each chapter is divided into three sections where Moltmann first looks at the biblical text relating to the topic of that chapter. Secondly he then provides his theological reflection on the topic and then proceeds to provide some direction for this theology to be fleshed out in Christian practice. He attempts to share the thought that what we know about Christ does effect what we do as Christians. He states it this way in one part of this volume:
“Believing in the resurrection does not just mean assenting to a dogma and noting a historical fact. It means participating in this creative act of God’s … Resurrection is not a consoling opium, soothing us with the promise of a better world in the hereafter. It is the energy for a rebirth of this life. The hope doesn’t point to another world. It is focused on the redemption of this one.” ― Jürgen Moltmann, Jesus Christ for Today's World
While this book serves as only as a general introduction to Moltmann’s theological thought surrounding Christ may lead readers to delve deeper into Moltmann’s other more exhaustive academic books which address these questions in deeper larger detail. I find this book a great primer to Moltmann’s Christology and great addition to anyone’s library.
January 26, 2016
This is a series of essays on the relevance of Christ for today which were remarkably orthodox and traditional in their orientation. I had expected this great theologian of hope to provide me with a new way to look at the challenges facing people of faith in the world today. While he acknowledges his connection to liberation theology, the last chapter on the future offered nothing of any real substance for hope within history only hope beyond history. His chapter on Jewish- Christian relations lifts up the idea (these are my words) that the 2nd coming of Jesus for Christians will be the coming of Messiah for Jews. Written in the aftermath of the Holocaust and the shadow of Chernobyl, I would have expected greater insights on how to live as people of faith in a world of ISIS, global warming and growing disparity in the world. Not so
January 14, 2013
This is a brief introduction to some of the major themes of Moltmann's theology, with a specific focus on Christology (i.e., the doctrine of the the meaning of Jesus Christ). Because this is a short book aimed at a general audience, the arguments aren't generally fully developed enough to win over a skeptic. Someone committed to a more traditional form of theism, for instance, likely wouldn't be convinced by Moltmann's revisionist stance on the suffering of God. But since I'm already somewhat sympathetic to Moltmann's general approach, I found the application of his theology to practical issues to be illuminating. I'd say the chapters "The Tortured Christ" and "Jesus Between Jews and Christians" were the most successful in this respect.
September 7, 2009
I've been enamored with Jurgen Moltmann's theology ever since I discovered him six or seven years during my seminary coursework, but had not read any of his work directly. This book is my first direct exposure to his writing and theological ideas, and I have found this particular work very readable and his ideas to be very accessible.
May 2, 2014
Moltmann is one of the most important theologians of our day. He should be read and talked about more because he really gives us a positive language of hope to use when most people today just want to get lost in controversy after controversy. Moltmann moves us forward. Even if I don't always I understand him, I am always grateful after reading his works.
February 2, 2016
Good book
When I first started reading this book it didn't keep my attention. I had to force myself to keep going. But the more I read, the more I enjoyed the author's style and appreciated the perspective of this book.
When I first started reading this book it didn't keep my attention. I had to force myself to keep going. But the more I read, the more I enjoyed the author's style and appreciated the perspective of this book.
April 24, 2016
Moltmann Focuses on the Future
This is a wonderful reminder of the real meaning of evangelization. It is an invitation to a future in a restored world where God says "behold, I am making all things New."
This is a wonderful reminder of the real meaning of evangelization. It is an invitation to a future in a restored world where God says "behold, I am making all things New."
Want to read
October 15, 2007i saw this on a reading list for a class i thought sounded great. i've enjoyed other books by jm but haven't heard much on this one. I love the title/concept of the book.
Read
September 4, 2008Don't give up on the world for the world is worth it.
September 24, 2014
Engaging, interesting theology in light of WWII and modern suffering.
November 15, 2014
This is an excellent book and serves as a basic introduction to some of Moltmann's most important contributions to theology.
Read
January 18, 2016Reading this book feels like homework. But that's probably me. A more connected-to-real-life theology than some, but still hard to relate to the everyday world around me.
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