Experiences in Theology

by Jürgen Moltmann, Margaret Kohl (Translator)

Theology always has been (and is for Moltmann) not an abstract or otherworldly endeavor, but one nourished by, and responsive to, experiences in, and with, life itself. In this volume, the final in his series of Beitrge (systematic "contributions" to theology), Moltmann revisits the landmarks of his own theological journey. He searches out those intersections of his own life with contemporary events that have kindled and impelled his theological thinking (part 1). The perspective of hope, the central moment in Moltmann's thought, is freshly explained, while other basic theological themes and concepts are developed and interrelated (part 2). But more than that, Moltmann uses these theological tinders to spark the flames of the chief directions in liberating theological thought todayblack, Latin American, Minjung, and feminist theologies(part 3) and the central motif of Trinity (part 4). This volume not only introduces Moltmann's theology, but it also utilizes the contemporary religious and political scene to incite the novice's own theological reflection.

Genres: Theology

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Jürgen 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.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published near the end of his professional career, this book summarizes "how" Moltmann went about the theological task. Rather than begin - as do most individual or series of theological works - with a lengthy "prolegomena," Moltmann wanted to leap immediately into the content of theology. Thus, it was only much later, at the end of a five-book series produced over 3 or 4 decades, that Moltmann was willing to reflect on what theology is and how it is done and by whom.

Readers looking for biographical and historical information on Moltmann will find a wealth of it here - more here than anywhere else. Experience, for Moltmann, is a test of theology's validity: the important thing is primarily whether or not theology connects to the lived experience of human beings, and only secondarily on whether or not it is strictly orthodox. In this way, Moltmann is profoundly pastoral, direct, and clear, even while also striving for precision in speaking about God.

Known for dialogue with a diverse array of theological traditions and approaches, each one is summarized in detail here - and each chapter begins with a biographical and/or historical account of Moltmann's initial and formative contact with each one. So, in some ways, it could be more helpful reading this book first, as an introduction to Moltmann and his thought. Yet, it is written and published last for a deliberate reason, and when read chronologically it is a fitting coda to the conversations he's had and the questions he's raised in prior publications.

[Steve Irby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished "Experiences in Theology," by Moltmann.

This, his very last* "contribution to theology," is his prolegomena, which is how a systematic theology usually begins.

*I just saw that he still has "Ethics of Hope" which I've yet to read. Ive got to buy that.

"I have been convinced of the common theology of all believers, and firmly believe that the remote and rarified plain of pure academic theology is a desert."

"Christian faith in God is not a naive basic trust. It is unfaith that has been overcome: "Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief."

His section on interfaith dialogue was very good. But for a reader embedded in the south where it is less about the Jew or Muslim in dialogue with the Christian and more about the Baptist in dialogue with the Pentecostal, for instance, this was very beneficial. Before it is the Buddhists and Christian speaking the Christian has to be external of his denominational walls and understand their brother. Only then, once their horizons are expanded can they seek to understand--not convince--the person who worships a different God. Not to throw off missions--that is still a priority. But we have to be able to say "I understand" before we can say "I disagree" and offer a better way.

In speaking about liberation theology Moltmann says: "Faith in the God who raised the assailed and crucified Christ from among the victims of violence must, of inner necessity, be an act of creative love. The hope for resurrection and the life of the world to come must, out of the same inner necessity, be active in creative expectation. Creative love and creative expectation are the source of the absolute negations of oppression, and the open vision

Moltmann uses a wonderful phrase--"After Babel"--when defending against the concept that liberation theology isnt for the first world, feminist theology isnt to be cared about by men, and African American theology has nothing to say for a Eurocentric crowd. Before Babel when all were of the same language, culture and context in all ways then one theologian and/or one theology could speak to that culture. But after Babel everything changes.

In his section titled hermeneutic of hope, Moltmann interestingly says that scripture is inerrant not because it is the repository of divine truth but because all of its prophecies come true. I would like to sit and pick his brain about this. Also, when speaking to prophecy he says that in German they do not use the word "fulfilled," rather they say "comes to pass." It is this coming to pass that makes scripture, and more so, God, special: something being fore spoke is not special; something being made to come to pass is. God is in this view the Crafter, not the "Seer." That makes me want to ask Moltmann what his view of time is.

"If interpretation is translation, in the literal sense--the transfer of a text from a context belonging to the past into a context belonging to the present--then of course the text and the thing it talks about will not be able to remain unchanged either. Hermeneutics does not merely interpret. It also transforms."

"Gods promises are understood best by those without hope. The poor understand Jesus' beatitudes, the sick experience Jesus' healings through the life-giving Spirit, the sad feel God's consolations, and sinners Gods saving righteousness."

"It is 'nativity' which gives life hope, not cynical morbidity. Whenever life is robbed, life is the premise. So then life is above death. We can only kill what was once born."

Interestingly Moltmann lays out his hermeneutical principles in eight points and they are based on "what furthers life" and "what is hostile to life."
1. Whatever ministers to the integrity of life in people and communities.
2. Whatever ministers to the integration of individual life into the community.
3. Whatever spreads reverence for life through the affirmation of life through the love for life.
4. Whatever heals broken relationships and liberates the oppressed.
5. Whatever leads to a new beginning of life in hope.
6. Whatever ministers to Gods covenant with life and whatever breaks the covenant of humans with death.
7. Whatever makes Christ present, Christ who is the resurrection and the life in person; for in and with Christ the Kingdom of eternal life is present, and this Kingdom overcomes the destructive powers of death.
8. Whatever recognizes the creative energies of the Spirit.

"A Christianity which is completely 'in line' with the state of the world and the rule of 'other lords' is a Christianity without remembrance of 'Christ crucified', and is therefore a Christianity without Christ."

I found Moltmann's section on Minjung (Korean liberation) theology very insightful. He said that exegeets rarely discover earth shaking texts, citing Luther's "discovery" of righteousness as an example. But in Minjung Ahn Bynug-Mu "discovered" how Mark speaks about the "ochlos," the people, the poor, as having a central role. The ochlos, from the beginning to the end of Jesus' ministry are the focal point seen as Jesus' family. Especially when one looks over to the sermon on the Mt. in Matthew it is obvious that these people, not the scholars, are who Jesus focused His ministry on.

"The kingdom of God which will complete everything begins in this world with the liberation of those who are bound, with calling the poor and children blessed, and with the new beginnings of life in hope."

Ending this book Moltmann covers his model of the trinity as the open trinity using perichoresis as the framework and then, once this model is established, and in good trinitarian fashion, he applies how a liberation theology can be formed in this open trinitarian way. It is open because love is ever flowing not just between the persons of the trinity, but also outward to us and back in. I take a bit this as an insinuation of theosis. I agree.

"When Jesus--probably at his baptism--discovered this intimate secret of the present God, he left his family and found his 'family's in the poor forsaken people of Galilee (ochlos).

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent summary and contextualization of Moltmann's theology. Perhaps a helpful starting point for getting into Moltmann's thought, and certainly a useful overview for Moltmann scholars, but not a substitute for reading his major works.

[Peter Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good primer on liberating theologies that may be indispensable to anyone studying the subject. This has to be read, though, with the lens of what can be readily accepted and what needs to be tested, but the breadth of knowledge shown here is quite useful.

[Daryl Grigsby]

love Moltmann