Jürgen Moltmann

A Theodicy of Hope

Kierston Kreider

Fuller Theological Seminary

MT535/Winter 2020

3-22-2020
 Table of Contents

1. Introduction………………………………………………….2

2. The Crucified God ...………………………………………...3

a. Jesus’ life

b. The Cross

c. The resurrection

3. Theology of Hope ...…………………………………………6

a. Eschatology

b. Human Flourishing

4. Conclusion……………...……………………………………9

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Introduction

In this paper I will be examining Jurgen Moltmann’s theologies of the Cross and of Hope and

Joy. Moltmann is a German theologian that has had enormous influence and impact on theologies

and theodicies around the world, like liberation theology and open-theist theodicy. I chose

Moltmann because of his balanced, Christocentric perspective of both suffering and joy. I really

appreciate Moltmann’s grasp of reality and how he faces the difficult topic of suffering with such

hope and expectation of God’s future.

Moltmann’s writings bring up many theological questions. The complexities of Christ’s nature

and that of His sufferings are immense, and beyond the scope of this paper. Though I don’t fully

agree with all his theology, I’ve attempted to do justice to Moltmann’s work as it pertains to the

topics of hope, suffering and joy.

Moltmann’s theology has influenced open-theism theodicy theologians. The understanding

that God is intimately connected to and interacts with creation is foundational of open-theism (Rice

2014, 92). The implications of this are that God fully feels and experiences reality as it happens,

and, therefore, He’s an active agent in the shaping of history. We can be assured of God’s presence

with us in our suffering because God fully experiences and feels what we experience (Rice 2014,

97). This can be most clearly seen in Moltmann’s theology of the Cross where God fully

experiences the pain and agony of Christ, who is our High Priest capable of sympathizing and

caring for us in our suffering.

The future, according to an open theist, is unknowable because it is indeterminate, hence, God

can’t know the future because it doesn’t exist yet. Consequently, omniscience in this theodicy

means that God knows every possible future based on the past and present (2014, 93). At the same

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time though, the hope of a better future in the new heaven and new earth (2 Peter 3:13). Moltmann

builds most of his theology on the eschatological hope we have based on God’s promises. Rather

than explaining why there is suffering they point to the hope that is beyond it.

Moltmann’s life gives his theology more depth and credibility. A key theme throughout all his

writings is hope. Moltmann gained much of his understanding of hope while a POW during World

War 2, where he experienced suffering and destruction all around him, as well as the immense

guilt his home country bore afterwards. It was the resurrection power of God that gave him the

hope and stamina to endure and trust God through it (Meeks 2018, x). This experience of his youth

deeply influenced his theology and faith by keeping them grounded in the reality of pain and

suffering.

This paper will begin by examining Christ’s suffering and death in view of His life and

teachings as the context of His protest his being forsaken by the Father. This is the basis of Christ’s

ability to identify with our suffering, and the hope and peace found in that fact. Then it will look

at the eschatological hope we have in the resurrection of Christ. It will end by looking at the feast

of life and how rejoicing in life glorifies God.

The Crucified God

The Cross is the cornerstone of Christianity, there is no Christianity without the Cross. Without

the cross there is no resurrection, and without the resurrection from the dead, as Paul says in 1

Corinthians 15:14, faith and preaching are useless and in vain. To understand the cross and the

resurrection, a correct historical and theological understanding of Christ is necessary. There must

also be consistency in the interpretation of the life and teachings of Jesus, His suffering and death,

and the resurrected Jesus. In other words, the historical crucifixion must be interpreted through the

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resurrection and His resurrection must be interpreted in light of His glorious Second Coming and

the resurrection of the dead at the end of times (Moltmann 2015, 230). It is this foundation of a

forward-looking hope that a theodicy of Christ’s presence and imminence with us in suffering can

be built.

The cross and Christ’s suffering must first be understood considering His life and teachings

which provide the context for their interpretation. Jesus spent His life and ministry proclaiming

the imminence of the Kingdom of God, as well as His intimacy with the Father. The primary

audience and focus of Jesus’ ministry were the poor, which included all people that were suffering

in any way. His message was that God was drawing all people to Himself, and that God would

judge the unjust and wicked, while the oppressed and poor would inherit the Kingdom of God

(Moltmann 1993, 100–101). Jesus’ message was that of healing for the sick, liberation for the

prisoners and reconciliation to the Father for those far off.

This message contradicted His experience on the cross of abandonment and rejection, not

just from the Romans, Pharisees, and His disciples, but from the Father Himself (Moltmann 2015,

217). This is the despair and pain that He experienced as He cried out on the cross. Jesus claimed

and preached that the Father and He were one (John 10:30), and so, God forsaking Jesus was also

God forsaking Himself (Mark 15:39) (2015, 220). This is the depth of the excruciating pain of

abandonment Jesus experienced on the cross.

This experience on the Cross is the context of the resurrection that recognizes the

contradiction and tension on the cross between God the Father and God the Son. The cross splits

God from God to the highest extent of hostility and separation. But through the resurrection, God

then reunites God with God in the most intimate way (Moltmann 2015, 222). This is the hope of

the resurrection that death and suffering never have the final say, instead the life and joy of the

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resurrection swallows them up. This experience of resurrection has been extended and promised

to all believers.

To truly understand Jesus’ life, the cross and the resurrection, Jesus’ motivation must first

be understood. John 3:16 is one of the clearest statements of what motivated Jesus, love. It was in

this love that Jesus rejoiced but also became vulnerable. Jesus often described life in the Kingdom

as a feast and celebration, and yet at the same time called His disciples to join Him in carrying

their crosses and suffering. Jesus demonstrated that the more one loves, the more alive and happy

one is, and simultaneously, the more vulnerable to suffering one becomes (Moltmann 2015, 14).

The hope that Jesus offers therefore, is not an absence of suffering but a love that gives hope and

protests evil and suffering.

Love and hope transform grief and sorrow from despairing emotions to “ardent longing for

life’s liberation to happiness and joy.” (Moltmann 2015, 14). If this wasn’t so, suffering would be

accepted as the fate of the world. But the presence of compassion and love of life in the world

protest the existence of evil and death. Therefore, rather than accusing God as being the cause of

suffering, Jesus protests the suffering (2015, 14). This is the invitation that Christ makes to all

believers, to love life and thus protest the evil in it.

Christ’s experience on the cross and the hope in the resurrection have been the anchor and

sources of strength for martyrs throughout history. Dietrich Bonhoeffer understood and

experienced that it is in suffering that joy is hidden and in death that life is found (Moltmann 1993,

202). This is reflected in his words to another prisoner as he was being lead to his execution, “This

is the end – for me the beginning of life.” (Moltmann 2015, 212). This is the demonstration of an

eschatological hope of the future resurrection of the dead and the new heavens and new earth that

Jesus promised.

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Theology of Hope

Eschatology is the doctrine of Christian hope for the future new heavens and new earth, where

there will be no more suffering or pain. Eschatology is the passionate suffering and the passionate

longing kindled by the Messiah (Moltmann 1991, 2). This doctrine is not solely a hope for the

future, but also a hope that transforms the present and past into the future, and therefore has a

vibrant role to play in the present expectations. These expectations constantly shape how the

present is experienced and how decisions are made. The millennium rule of Christ is hope for the

martyrs and should give believers a fervent hope rather than despair (Moltmann 2014). By placing

their hope in Christ’s eschatological rule and transformation of the world, believers can find peace

and joy in the present.

An eschatological hope cannot be just a future hope that is only to be felt in some distant future,

rather it must be a hope for the here and now that holds to Christ’s promises. The promises that

give hope must protest the reality of the present, because they are not products of past or present

experiences but rather speak to the possibilities of new ones (Moltmann 1991, 3). Therefore, God’s

promises must be understood as invitations to engage with the world around us as partners in God’s

creative processes, which is to share in His joy.

Eschatology doesn’t naively assume this world to be a utopia, full of joy and laughter, rather

it acknowledges that it is hell, full of pain and suffering (Moltmann 2015, 13). The difference

though is that eschatology refuses to accept reality as it is but gives hope of a future of joy through

Christ. This hope therefore protests the experience of suffering and extends compassion to those

that suffer. It holds the future hope in the present as that which supports all of Christian life,

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agreeing with the biblical witnesses of the new world transformed by Christ (Moltmann 1991, 5).

Consequently, the Christianity becomes a religion of a joy that protests suffering.

In his chapter “Christianity: A Religion of Joy”, Moltmann argues that Christianity is just that,

a religion of joy, where divine and human joy are in harmony with nature’s joy (Moltmann 2015).

This harmony becomes a feast where life here and now can be enjoyed and thus protest the

suffering. Even when this harmony is seemingly non-existent or invisible, the responsibility of the

believer is to work towards the realization of the objective of joy. To understand this better,

defining the terms is helpful.

The Webster dictionary defines joy as, “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good

fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires.” (“Definition of Joy” n.d.). Moltmann

defines joy as, “The power to live, to love and to have creative initiative.” (Moltmann 2015, 2).

Moltmann’s definition talks to the deeper purpose and function of joy in life. Joy goes beyond the

emotion of happiness occasioned by good and pleasant circumstances to a state of well-being and

flourishing in the presence of God.

The modern understanding of religion, which is strongly influenced by Karl Marx, is that

religion is a necessity for the suffering. This is based on the capitalist assumption that worth and

value are directly associated with usefulness and productivity. In other words, religion must serve

a purpose or produce something to be of any value. Hence, Marx’s conclusion was that religion is

simply the “opium of the suffer people” and that prayer is driven by necessity and pain (Moltmann

2015, 5). Moltmann’s understanding stands in direct contrast to this perspective. For Moltmann,

religion is the “Feast of Life”, completely useless but completely joyful, and prayers are praise for

no other reason than existence and life (2015, 4). Consequently, religion goes beyond the duty of

rituals to the delight of relationship with God, to receive the joy of His presence.

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 Complete, fulfilling joy is only available in the presence of the joyous God. In Psalm 16:11

David recognizes that it is only in God’s presence that he can find enduring joy. Therefore, God’s

promise throughout the Bible to always be with His people is a promise of enduring joy. Again,

this does not deny the very real experience of pain and suffering, nor does this promise suggest

running away from reality. Instead, faith in the hope of Christ means to “strain after the

future.”(Moltmann 1991, 5). Faith therefore means to tap into the power of creative energy (joy)

that God’s hope gives to transform the present. As Nehemiah 8:10 affirms, it is the joy of the Lord

that gives strength to enjoy and rejoice in this life.

Joy, therefore, is the result of two movements, God’s initiative and humanity’s response. God’s

first move is to reveal and extend His affectionate grace and presence. This is a turning from His

aversion of sin to His loving grace. The second movement is humanity’s response of turning from

sin to His loving grace, no longer separated from His presence (Moltmann 2015, 3–4). It is God’s

turning towards His people that causes joy. Therefore, repentance ought to be a joyous occasion

as well as a moment of mourning. Humanity mourns its sinfulness but rejoices in His graceful

presence (Ps. 30:11; 51:8,12). Consequently, though sin brings suffering to the world, God’s

presence, Emanuel (God with Us), brings great joy to it.

God’s presence grants Christians the freedom to rejoice in life and thus glorify God. Joy

glorifies God in its declaration of faith in God’s promises and presence. Rejoicing in creation and

existence is an acknowledgement and exaltation of the Creator. The Psalms and Prophets

understood the connection between a joyous God, the joy of the Earth, and the joy of the redeemed

people (Moltmann 2015, 4). This connection between them is a reciprocal relationship in which

each receives and gives joy to the others.

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 As the Body of Christ, the Church is called to be the embodiment of this relationship to the

world. By remaining hopeful amid suffering, the church protests it, and by celebrating life, the

church glorifies God. To do so, the church must be prepared to explain the hope it has in Christ (1

Peter 3:15). Being Christ’s witnesses in suffering is how the Church embraces it’s true identity

and calling as shareholders in His resurrection (Moltmann 1993, 7). It is in the resurrection of

Christ alone that there is eternal enduring hope for all that receive it.

Conclusion

In summary, Christ’s suffering and death upon the cross demonstrated that God is with us

in our suffering. His resurrection showed God’s care for humanity and His victory over evil and

death. The resurrection is also a promise to humanity of a future where death is no more. This is

the eschatological hope in which we are to live and rejoice always. Because of this hope, we can

participate in the feast of life. This is the abundant life that Christ came to give us, both here and

now and in the future. And this is the message to which we, the Church, are witnesses.

This paper is a timely paper as we are currently in an unprecedented global pandemic of

COVID-19. The implications of this paper in today’s context is clear, there is hope because God

has promised the renewal of the heavens and the earth in the resurrection. Therefore, as His Body,

we are to be lights of joy that protest the darkness that is spreading across the globe. By standing

in unity and peace, we stand in defiance of the desperation and suffering this virus is causing. We

agree that it is evil, and the suffering is unjust, but we don’t accept it as the final word in the matter.

We must stand firm as testimonies of Christ’s ambassadors here on Earth, always pointing to the

life that is beyond death, the joy that is beyond pain. We must be present, grieving the evil, but we

can’t be hopeless. Just as Christ’s death on the cross was not the end, so this pandemic is not the

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end of the world. The resurrection power of God that raised Christ from the dead is still at work in

the world today.

As the Church, this is a time for creative ministry. Many churches across the globe are

moving services online, which could reach more people than before. As people are being forced

into isolation and quarantine, members are finding many creative ways of being the Church outside

of the buildings. Groups on WhatsApp record audios of prayers, songs, and sermons. Families are

praying and fasting together and holding “family services”. Family members that have resisted the

gospel for years are now joining in the family services and finding hope in Christ. The testimony

of this epidemic is and will be unity in the body of Christ and the salvation of many souls.

One beautiful way the church responded here in Rio de Janeiro was by singing and

declaring God’s victory in the hymn “Because He lives”. Thousands of believers across the city

stood at their windows singing this song at the set day and time. Singing this song was a defiance

of the despair that is spreading across the globe. Because Jesus lives, we can face tomorrow, all

fear is gone, He holds our future, therefore life is worth living and even celebrating.

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 Works Cited

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webster.com/dictionary/joy.

Meeks, M. Douglas, ed. 2018. Jürgen Moltmann and the Work of Hope: The Future of Christian

Theology. Lanham: Fortress Academic.

Moltmann, Jürgen. 1991. Theology of Hope: On the Ground and the Implications of a Christian

Eschatology. San Francisco, CA: Harper San Francisco.

———. 1993. The Way of Jesus Christ: Christology in Messianic Dimensions. 1st Fortress Press

ed. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.

———. 2014. God’s Unfinished Future: Jurgen Moltmann Interview.

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———. 2015. “Christianity: A Religion of Joy.” In Joy and Human Flourishing: Essays on

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