The Crucified God: The Cross of Christ as the Foundation and Criticism of Christian Theology

Moltmann provides an exemplary discussion and analysis of the event of the crucifixion. This book serves as an important building block in a theological education and in a strong Christian foundation. The writing is eloquent, readable, resourceful and pointedly provocative at times. The main theme is that Jesus Christ Crucified is the central self-revelation of the Trinity to man. It is the starting point for any person's relationship with God. It reveals the suffering love of God--the Trinity. It is not only the suffering, forsakenness and abandonment of God but is also the glory of God revealed. The message of the book is not a popular one in Christian culture or in any culture for that matter. It negates any theology of glory or any hope in humanism and rather shows the suffering and death of God as humanity's only hope for salvation and life. Moltmann trolls a vast array of sources to convey perspectives of the topics of the book. Some he disagrees with and others support his themes. The arguments he makes are cogent and lucid and often reference Scriptures and scholars. Moltman writes in the introduction, "Today the church and theology must turn to the crucified Christ in order to show the world the freedom he offers." This is as true today as when written. Only through the cross, as Moltmann explains, can the Christian church demonstrate or worship the Lord in Spirit and Truth. In this book, Moltmann shines a light on the path of orthodox Christian faith. The principles of the book are not abstract but solid measures that inform a life lived after the image of Christ. The Crucified God is a great help to loving the Lord and one's neighbor. There are two concluding chapters on psychological liberation and political liberation that I did not find helpful; however, they seem to appear more as addendums than continuations of the main themes of the book. The book would be complete without them. I also think Moltmann could have elaborated and clarified more on the Holy Spirit's presence in the suffering of Christ. He addresses the role of the Spirit but not in as much depth as I would have appreciated. Shakespeare On Spirituality: Life-Changing Wisdom from Shakespeare's Plays

This book is more than just good academic theology, it's also life changing. Moltmann's account of a God who suffers with His creation, even to the point of experiencing death itself, was the single most important thing that restored the excitement to my Christian faith and solidified my decision to dedicate myself to the study of theology. It's dense reading at times, but it's also poetic and magical; truly one of the deepest devotional works I've ever read.

Moltmann wrote the Crucified God (1974, English translation) in reaction to certain (specifically N. American) misunderstandings of his earlier work, Theology of Hope (1965). Moltmann's chief concern in The Crucified God was to rescue the hope of the resurrection from any confusion with the officially optimistic culture of modern capitalist society. He does this by reminding his audience that it is only the one who is "unsuccessful" and who suffers with the victims of so-called "success" and "power" that is raised by God at the end. Moltmann's treatment of the cross, therefore, is a plea for Christians to enter into the suffering that God has already entered into, and not remain passive or complacent as outside, "objective" (i.e., apathetic) observers of the human condition. If God does not remain above the plane of history dispassionately observing the suffering of the Son on the cross, but is radically "in Christ," involved in and affected by that suffering (God loses an only child!), then we too (as followers of God) must enter into the suffering of our victims (Holocaust, Third World poverty, etc.). In this respect, the cross becomes the critique ALL utopian dreams (socialist, capitalist, facist alike). Resurrection hope is hope for the hopeless, for the crucified ones of this world. Moltmann has not only boldly reformulated Luther's "Theology of the Cross," but has, in the process, also made an enduring contribution to Political and Liberation Theology.

THE CRUCIFIED GOD brings the question of "Who is God in the cross of Christ who is abandonned by God?" to the center of Christian theology in the 21st century. It is a complex exposition of historical interpretations of the Crucifixion and posits an active God who came into the world in man's historical time through the incarnation and continues to dwell with man and his sufferings in our present historical time. For Moltmann man's time is God's time and vice versa. Moltmann sees hope for the concern of mankind turning toward suffering man through a modern understanding of the Crucifixion and Resurrection taken as a reality of our contemporary lives. The communal shared remembrance of the Crucifixion gives way to communal shared hope of the Resurrection in the acknowledgement of personal responsability in the sufferings of mankind. Moltmann is sensitive to the need to recapture the Judaic background of Christianity in modern Christian theology and offers an interesting perspective on this subject.

This tour de force by Prof. Moltmann should be required reading for Protestant and Catholic students preparing for ministry or engaging in graduate theological studies. Moltmann's presentation of the cross as the center of Christian life is meant to complement his earlier work, Theology of Hope. Both books together help to bring into focus the relation of the cross to the resurrection and the cross as the symbol of resistance and hope in light of the resurrection. The social implications of the cross are presented in such a way that avoids ideological corruption of the cross. This book also drives home the his central thesis that any Christian theology that wants to be Christian must come to grips with the cross and the negative in life if resurrection is to be understood and suffering addressed in compassion and resistance. This is one of those rare books in theology that is both captivating and insightful. This should be on every educated Christian's bookshelf.