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

Jürgen Moltmann (born 1926) is a German Protestant theologian; this was his first book. He states in the Preface to this 1965 work, "The following efforts bear the title Theology of Hope, not because they set out once again to present eschatology as a separate doctrine ... Rather, their aim is to show how theology can set out from hope and begin to consider its theme in an eschatological light. For this reason they enquire into the ground of the hope of Christian faith and into the responsible exercise of this hope in thought and action in the world today." Moltmann writes, "Christianity is eschatology, is hope, forward looking and forward moving ... 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." "Christianity stands or falls with the reality of the raising of Jesus from the dead by God. In the New Testament there is no faith that does not start a priori with the resurrection of Jesus." Yet he later admits, "What actually happened during the experience of his crucifixion and burial and his Easter appearances, is left in the darkness of the still unknown and still hidden God." He states, "his resurrection must then be understood not as a mere return to life as such, but as a conquest of the deadliness of death---as a conquest of god-forsakenness, as a conquest of judgment and of the curse, as a beginning of the fulfillment of the promised life, and thus as a conquest of all that is dead in death, as a negation of the negative, as a negation of the negation of God." He concludes on the note, "As a result of this hope in God's future, this present world becomes free in believing eyes from all attempts at self-redemption or self-production through labour, and it becomes open for loving, ministering self-expenditure in the interests of a humanizing of conditions and in the interests of a the realization of justice in light of the coming justice of God. This means, however, that the hope of resurrection must bring about a new understanding of the world."

moltmann is one of the great theological thinkers of our time. This book explores the embodiment of hope in the christian proclamation. Superb example of the interdependence between orthodoxy and liberation theology. Strong biblical exegesis. insightful and stimulating. his book "the crucified God" is a double must read.

Moltmann is at his best in this book. Some critics have taken him to task on some of his theories, but I found the book a wonderfully rich and enjoyable analysis of hope, the differing views of hope and hope's result, and the root of the book--a theology of hope. The book is NOT for the casual reader. It is single space and packet with material, but every page was well worth the read. I can't say I agreed with every hypothesis presented, but a book of this strength, this thickness (thick in thinking), and wide in its exploration is like so many other books. It is like eating fish, you enjoy the majority of the fish, but there will be a few bones you may wish spit out. For a scholar, teacher, parent, and pastor who wishes to built a structure and philosophy that contains a context of hope. For anyone who wants to understand hope from a western view and eastern view (and even the more central German/Italian peoples who view context and objects as fairly equal in giving or taking away hope). I had heard of the title for years but never got around to reading it until I was doing a series on the subject of hope. Not only are Moltmann's words refreshing and powerful, but he does an excellent job sourcing and quoting from others. My only recommendation might be (this is what I did) to read a couple reviews of the book ahead of time to gain a "picture" of the overall theme and direction of the book ahead of time.

Moltmann's Theology of Hope represents a groundbreaking work in theology.The original German work was entitled Theologie der Hoffnung, and waswritten in 1965 during the period of West German Reconstruction. In thework, Moltmann attempts to articulate the Christian hope as a challenge toboth the desparation and the official optimism of a Reconstruction thatsought only to return to the glory days of the past rather than live in thehope of a completely new future that comes from God, who lives not so muchabove 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 derHoffnung (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 placeamong the greatest works of theology in the 20th century. The book created arush of interest in eschatology within theological circles, which soon tookthe name 'Theology of Hope' in the later 1960's. Last year, Moltmann took upthe theme of eschatology once again in The Coming of God. It is quitefitting that Moltmann should have returned, at the end of his theologicaljourney, to a theme with which he began some 35 years ago -- with the hopeof 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 soimportant to understand history from the perspective of the end, as it is totransform it, as we live in hope (anticipation) of God's future for it.