Jürgen Moltmann (; 8 April 1926 – 3 June 2024) was a German Reformed theologian who was a professor of systematic theology at the University of Tübingen and was known for his books such as the Theology of Hope, The Crucified God, God in Creation and other contributions to systematic theology. His works were translated into many languages.
Moltmann described his theology as an extension of Karl Barth's theological works, especially the Church Dogmatics, and he described his work as Post-Barthian. He developed a form of liberation theology predicated on the view that God suffers with humanity, while also promising humanity a better future through the hope of the Resurrection, which he labelled a 'theology of hope'. Much of Moltmann's work was to develop the implications of these ideas for various areas of theology. Moltmann became known for developing a form of social trinitarianism. He was awarded several international honorary doctorates.
Life and career Youth Moltmann was born in Hamburg on 8 April 1926. His father was a teacher; the family was not religious. His grandfather was a grand master of the Freemasons. As a teenager, Moltmann idolized Albert Einstein, and anticipated studying mathematics at university.
World War II Moltmann took his entrance exam to proceed with his education but instead was drafted into military service in 1943 at the age of 16, during World War II, serving as an Air Force auxiliary in the German Army. "The reading matter which he took with him into the miseries of war were Goethe's poems and the works of Nietzsche."C. Ellis Nelson, "How Faith Matures", Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky, 1989, p. 96 He worked in an anti-aircraft battery during the bombing of his hometown of Hamburg by the Royal Air Force, an attack that killed 40,000 people, including a friend standing next to him. Ordered to the Klever Reichswald, a German forest at the front lines, he surrendered in 1945 in the dark to the first British soldier he met. From 1945 to 1948, he was confined as a prisoner of war (POW) and moved from camp to camp.
He was first confined as a POW in Belgium, then Scotland, then England. In the camp at Belgium, the prisoners were given little to do. Moltmann and his fellow prisoners were tormented by "memories and gnawing thoughts". They had escaped death but had lost all hope and confidence. After Belgium, Moltmann was transferred to a camp in Kilmarnock, Scotland, where he worked with other Germans to rebuild areas damaged by bombing. The hospitality of the Scottish residents toward the prisoners left a great impression upon him. In Scotland, they also saw photographs, nailed up confrontationally in their huts, of Buchenwald and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps. The initial reaction of the prisoners was that these photos were propaganda, but gradually they began to see themselves through the eyes of the Nazis' victims. Moltmann was given a small copy of the New Testament and Psalms by an American chaplain and reading these gave him a new hope, as he recorded in his autobiography:
In July 1946, he was transferred for the last time to Norton Camp, a British prison located in the village of Cuckney near Nottingham, UK. The camp was operated by the YMCA and here Moltmann met many students of theology. At Norton Camp, he discovered Reinhold Niebuhr's The Nature and Destiny of Man. It was the first book of theology he had ever read, and Moltmann claimed it had a huge impact on his life. His experience as a POW gave him a great understanding of how suffering and hope reinforce each other, leaving a lasting impression on his theology. Moltmann later claimed, "I never decided for Christ, as is often demanded of us, but I am sure that, then and there, in the dark pit of my soul, he found me."
After the war Moltmann returned home at 22 years of age to find his hometown of Hamburg (in fact, much of his country) in ruins from Allied bombing in World War II. In 1947, he and four others were invited to attend the first postwar Student Christian Movement in Swanwick, a conference center near Derby, England. The conference affected him deeply. Moltmann returned to Germany to study at the University of Göttingen, an institution whose professors were followers of Karl Barth and theologians who were engaged with the Confessing Church in Germany. He received his doctorate, supervised by Otto Weber, in 1952. From 1952 to 1957, Moltmann was the pastor in Bremen-Wasserhorst, and also pastor for students. In 1958 Moltmann became a theology teacher at the that was operated by the Confessing Church and in 1963 he joined the theological faculty at the University of Bonn. He was appointed Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Tübingen in 1967 and remained there until his retirement in 1994. From 1963 to 1983, Moltmann was a member of the Faith and Order Committee of the World Council of Churches. From 1983 to 1993, Moltmann was the Robert W. Woodruff Distinguished Visiting Professor of Systematic Theology at Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He delivered the Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh in 1984–1985.Published as
Personal life Moltmann was married to Elisabeth Moltmann-Wendel, who studied with him and became a notable feminist theologian. They married in 1952 and had four daughters. His wife died in 2016.
Moltmann died in Tübingen on 3 June 2024, at the age of 98.Reformierte Medien, Theologe Jürgen Moltmann gestorben , published 4 June 2024, accessed 10 June 2024
Theological views The early Moltmann can be seen in his trilogy, Theology of Hope (1964), The Crucified God (1972), and The Church in the Power of the Spirit (1975): Theology of Hope was strongly influenced by the eschatological orientation of the Marxist philosopher Ernst Bloch's The Principle of Hope. The Crucified God posited that God died on the Cross, raising the question of the impassibility of God. The Church in the Power of the Spirit explores the implications of these explorations for the church in its own life and in the world.
The later Moltmann took a less systematic approach to theology, leading to what he called his "systematic contributions to theology"Moltmann, The Trinity and the Kingdom (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1981), xi. that sought to provoke and engage more than develop some kind of set Moltmannian theology.
Moltmann corroborated his ideas with those of Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Jews in an attempt to reach a greater understanding of Christian theology, which he believed should be developed ecumenically.
Moltmann had a passion for the Kingdom of God as it exists both in the future, and in the God of the present. His theology is often referred to as "Kingdom of God" Theology. His theology is built on eschatology, and the hope found in the resurrected Christ. This theology is most clearly explained in his book Theology of Hope..
Moltmann's theology is also seen as a theology of liberation, though not in the sense that the term is most understood. Moltmann not only viewed salvation as Christ's "preferential option for the poor," but also as offering the hope of reconciliation to the oppressors of the poor. If it were not as such, divine reconciliation would be insufficient.
Systematic contributions Jürgen Moltmann's most significant works consist of two sets of theological work: the first is his Contributions to Systematic Theology and the second is his Original Trinity.
Jürgen Moltmann's original trilogy Theology of Hope (1967); Theologie der Hoffnung (1964); The Crucified God (1974); Der gekreuzigte Gott (1972) The Church in the Power of the Spirit (1975); Kirche in der Kraft des Geistes (1975)
Jürgen Moltmann's systematic contributions The Trinity and the Kingdom: The Doctrine of God (1981); Trinität und Reich Gottes. Zur Gotteslehre (1980) God in Creation: An Ecological Doctrine of Creation (1985); Gott in der Schöpfung. Ökologische Schöpfungslehre (1985) The Way of Jesus Christ: Christology in Messianic Dimensions (1990); Der Weg Jesu Christi. Christologie in messianischen Dimensionen (1989) The Spirit of Life: A Universal Affirmation (1992); Der Geist des Lebens. Eine ganzheitliche Pneumatologie (1991) The Coming of God: Christian Eschatology (1996) Das Kommen Gottes. Christliche Eschatologie (1995) Experiences in Theology: Ways and Forms of Christian Theology (2000); Erfahrungen theologischen Denkens (2000) Ethics of Hope (2012); Ethik der Hoffnung (2010)
Eschatology: theology of hope 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 was 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".Moltmann, Theology of Hope, pg.21
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."Moltmann, Theology of Hope, pg. 23
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."Moltmann, Theology of Hope This does not, as many fear, 'remove happiness from the present' by focusing all ones attention toward the hope for Christ's return. Moltmann addressed 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."Moltmann, Theology of Hope, pg. 32 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" Moltmann, Theology of Hope, pg. 35 "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.