Theology of Hope: On the Ground and the Implications of a Christian Eschatology

Rating:
Summary: Groundbreaking Work in Theology
Review: Moltmann's Theology of Hope represents a groundbreaking work in theology.
The original German work was entitled Theologie der Hoffnung, and was
written in 1965 during the period of West German Reconstruction. In the
work, Moltmann attempts to articulate the Christian hope as a challenge to
both the desparation and the official optimism of a Reconstruction that
sought only to return to the glory days of the past rather than live in the
hope of a completely new future that comes from God, who lives not so much
above us but in front of us, drawing us into God's own future for the world.
Moltmann skillfully weaves together elements of Ernst Bloch's Prinzip der
Hoffnung (Principle of Hope), Hegel's 'Speculative Good Friday,' and the
'Death of God' theology to present the Christian hope to the post-war Europe
(and world). Thus, Moltmann's Theology of Hope has earned itself a place
among the greatest works of theology in the 20th century. The book created a
rush of interest in eschatology within theological circles, which soon took
the name 'Theology of Hope' in the later 1960's. Last year, Moltmann took up
the theme of eschatology once again in The Coming of God. It is quite
fitting that Moltmann should have returned, at the end of his theological
journey, to a theme with which he began some 35 years ago -- with the hope
of the coming God, who draws the cosmos to God's own end (purpose) for it.
We would all be well served to follow Moltmann's advice: it is not so
important to understand history from the perspective of the end, as it is to
transform it, as we live in hope (anticipation) of God's future for it.