The Church in the Power of the Spirit

by Jürgen Moltmann

Shipped from UK, please allow 10 to 21 business days for arrival. A good, clean & sound copy.

Genres: Theology, Ecclesiology, Christianity, Church, Christian

432 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1977

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

[Tyler McQuilkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Especially liked his sections on the Lord’s Supper and baptism, as well as the final chapter on the marks of the church.

[Steve Irby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished "The Church in the Power of the Spirit," by Moltmann.

It was a good Pneumatological Ecclesiology, I guess for lack of a better phrase. His comments on the eucharist and baptism were good if not intriguing (but that is said not coming from a trans/consubstantial tradition). His comments on the charismata were good because they were present but still vague, in my opinion. Kudos on mentioning the charismata by name, points deducted for not quoting out of 1 Cor. and commenting in that context.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

His understanding of church as the locus of the spirit is both visionary and revitalizing.

[Austin Mathews · Rating 4 out of 5]

In many ways, this is the best of Moltmann’s early trilogy. In many ways, this convicts and answers the toughest questions of the church in the 70s and the church of today. In many ways, one can see how Moltmann is united to the Spirit of God and projects the future of the church by inspiring theologians and pastors with what the church is in relation to the present and coming kingdom in Christ. It’s a treasure trove of ideas and quotes and sharp ecclesiology.

It would also be really, really difficult for a non-seminarian to digest. Who is Moltmann’s audience? Still the elite, the academics, the smartest pastors, those in the field. That includes me. But it is difficult while agreeing with much of this book to correlate many of Moltmann’s convincing ecclesiological statements to practical application. That of course was never the full purpose of this work. Yet, the most eye-opening and sharpest summation of what the church is and should be (Marks of the Church) are presented without much support for the practitioner. For example, if the church of Christ is holy in poverty, how does Moltmann define poverty? What might this look like for a wealthy or middle class congregation? How can this be practically applied? Yet, these convicting statements seem to leave the future open to the church in the power of the Spirit. It’s with a begrudging thankfulness that I close the book, ready to figure out the work ahead with Moltmann’s educated discernment as a wise guide.

[Bob Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

Out of the first three books that Jurgen Moltmann wrote to explore theology: Theology of Hope, Crucified God, and The Church in the Power of the Spirit, it is the last of these that is perhaps the most accessible.

Each of these books highlights a different holiday: TOH = Easter, CG = Good Friday and TCIPOS = Pentecost.

For Moltmann, the Church is the physical manifestation of the body of Christ on earth. There is a great deal of crossover between his Christology and his Ecclesiology. Christians are those called to participate in the messianic community established by the crucified and risen Lord. Their mission is to bear witness to the coming future of the Lord.

What makes Moltmann so captivating is the way that his ecclesiology affects the modern world. For him, the church needs to be a place of equality, taking care of the disadvantaged and proclamation of the gospel. Reading his work, you can see how he influenced Liberation Theology even as Liberation Theology impacted him.

You do not have to agree with Moltmann to appreciate his work. His interaction with other theologians strengthen his insights, even as they may drive a wedge between him and other Christian denominations.

I highly recommend this book for pastors, theologians, and highly educated lay leaders.

Grade: A+

[Gino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the sections on the Lords Table and Baptism, as well as the marks of the church through the creed.

Really helped by the emphasis on the Holy Spirit. Some portions are stunningly brilliant to me and long sections are a little meandering. I lost my focus often and had to circle back to understand why or how we got to what was being discussed. This could be a me problem. But I think this book could be 60 pages shorter and improved. 3.5⭐️

[Jeremy Garber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Acclaimed theologian Jürgen Moltmann continues his thorough investigation of a theology stemming from the initial concept of hope in this study of ecclesiology. First published in 1975 after Crucified God and Theology of Hope, this volume argues for a reform from looking at the church as an institution that “looks after people” to a community that lives and connects in the midst of people. Moltmann urges theologians and church members to see the “crisis” in the way church has traditionally been done not as a failure but as an opportunity to return to its true roots in Jesus Christ and the hope that he brings from God for the future. The church lives in tension between its reality in a fallen world and the assurance of God’s triumph in a world to come. It lives into this tension by modeling God’s victory by providing a community and a mode of being that reinforces the power of the creative and the new – the power of the Holy Spirit. In a telling quote, he says, “[The church’s] new freedom is freedom in the spirit of the new creation of the world. It does not act out of freedoms or alternatives which are already implicit in a social system, and are conceded to the church; it proceeds from the freedom and the qualitative difference from ‘the form of this world’ which has been revealed to all things through the spirit of the new creation.” (105) Moltmann continually references scriptural texts and historical theology to flesh out how living in the present kingdom of God makes a difference in how we live and believe the church – in Christian relation to other denominations and other religions, in understanding of the sacraments, and most importantly in the church’s eschatological mission to the poor, the outcasts, and the unloved. A masterful thread of theological craftsmanship by a thinker of hope, peace, and justice.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Theology for the World"

For a long time this now classic exposition of messianic eschatology has influenced me; at the same time I keep wanting to understand it better!

Reformed theologian Moltmann continues moving beyond theology for the church to theology for the world, essentially proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus Christ [in the power of the Spirit] as the horizon of the fullness of God's future new creation inbreaking and also becoming fully realized amidst the present suffering of creation.

Over and against theology of the first article of the Creed, or theology of the essential goodness of creation, beyond what we recognize as the Reformers' second article theology of sinful depravity over and against grace made manifest in the cross of Calvary, third article theology of church and world in the sovereignty and power of the Holy Spirit interprets the Spirit encompassing all creation in the brokenness of the cross along with the triumph and the hope of resurrection.

Almost every paragraph is packed full of ideas to contemplate and consider; I'll conclude with a couple of quotes: [page 238] "In the power of the Holy Spirit baptism is entirely and exclusively related to the Christ event and must therefore be understood as the representation, witness, sign, and illumination of this event. It points away from itself and its own happening in the direction of Christ alone." And, [page 358] "What constitutes the apostolate are the appearance and the commission of the risen Christ, not merely the discipleship of the [359] earthly Jesus." The Church in the power of the Spirit for the world!

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I may be reading too much Moltmann all at once, but these books are very much starting to sound the same. Without question, the "theology of hope" with its emphasis on open-ness to the future, history as an open system capable of receiving the kingdom of God, runs throughout his work. Here, he brings it to bear on the church itself, its sacraments, its ministries, its people, and certainly its politics.

[Wesley Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Church in the Power of the Spirit is one of the great ecclesiological works of history. I would dare to call it a classic work in the history of theology. Though this work is often eclipsed by Theology of Hope and The Crucified God in Moltmann's corpus, it deserves its own attention in understanding Moltmann and missional theology.

[Paul Rack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moltmann's ecclesiology anticipates a lot of what would become the emerging church movement: emphasis on congregations, identification with the poor and suffering, elimination of hierarchies and bureaucracies, post-denominationalism, etc.