Jürgen Moltmann facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jürgen Moltmann
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Moltmann in 2016
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| Born | 8 April 1926 |
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| Died | 3 June 2024 (aged 98) Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
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| Alma mater | University of Göttingen | ||||
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Notable work
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| Doctoral advisor | Otto Weber | ||||
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Jürgen Moltmann (born April 8, 1926 – died June 3, 2024) was an important German theologian. He taught theology at the University of Tübingen for many years. Moltmann was famous for his books like Theology of Hope and The Crucified God. These books shared his unique ideas about God and faith.
He was married to Elisabeth Moltmann-Wendel, who was also a well-known theologian. Moltmann's ideas built upon the work of another famous theologian, Karl Barth. Moltmann received many special awards and honorary degrees from universities around the world, including Duke University and the University of Pretoria. He also won the Grawemeyer Award in Religion in 2000 for his book The Coming of God.
Moltmann developed a special kind of liberation theology. This idea suggests that God shares in human suffering. He also believed that God promises a better future through the hope of Jesus' resurrection. He called this idea a 'theology of hope'. Moltmann also became known for his ideas about the Trinity, which is the Christian belief in God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Contents
Life and Career
Early Life
Jürgen Moltmann was born in Hamburg, Germany, on April 8, 1926. He grew up in a family that was not very religious. When he was 16, he admired Albert Einstein and planned to study mathematics at university.
World War II Experiences
In 1943, at the age of 16, Moltmann was drafted into the German army during World War II. He worked in an anti-aircraft unit during the heavy bombing of his hometown, Hamburg. This attack caused great destruction and loss of life. In 1945, he became a prisoner of war (POW) and spent the next few years in different camps.
While in a camp in Belgium, Moltmann and other prisoners felt very sad and lost hope. They saw shocking pictures of terrible events that happened in places like Auschwitz. In the camp, Moltmann met some Christians. An American chaplain gave him a small copy of the New Testament and Psalms. He slowly found comfort and strength in the Christian faith. Moltmann later said, "I didn't find Christ, he found me."
He was then moved to a POW camp in Scotland. He was impressed by how kind the Scottish people were to the prisoners. Finally, he was transferred to Norton Camp in England, run by the YMCA. Here, he met many theology students and read his first theology book, The Nature and Destiny of Man by Reinhold Niebuhr. His time as a POW helped him understand how suffering and hope are connected. This experience greatly shaped his later theological ideas.
After the War
When Moltmann returned home at 22, much of Germany was in ruins. He wanted to create a theology that could help people who had survived such hardship. He hoped for new church structures, but many were disappointed to see old ways return.
In 1947, he attended a Christian conference in England. This experience deeply affected him. Moltmann then went to the University of Göttingen in Germany to study theology. His professors there were followers of Karl Barth and were involved with the "Confessing Church," a church that stood against the Nazi regime.
He earned his doctorate in 1952. From 1952 to 1957, Moltmann worked as a pastor. He then taught theology at an academy and later at the University of Bonn. In 1967, he became a Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Tübingen, where he taught until he retired in 1994. Moltmann passed away on June 3, 2024, at the age of 98.
Key Theological Ideas
Moltmann's early ideas are found in his three main books: Theology of Hope (1964), The Crucified God (1972), and The Church in the Power of the Spirit (1975).
- Theology of Hope: This book was influenced by the ideas of the philosopher Ernst Bloch. It focuses on the future and the hope that comes from God's promises.
- The Crucified God: This book explored the idea that God suffered on the cross. It raised questions about whether God can truly feel pain.
- The Church in the Power of the Spirit: This book looked at what these ideas meant for the church and its role in the world.
Later in his career, Moltmann took a less strict approach to theology. He wanted his ideas to make people think and discuss, rather than just create a fixed system of beliefs. He also believed that Christian theology should be developed by working with people from different Christian traditions and even other religions.
Moltmann was very passionate about the Kingdom of God. He believed it exists both in the future and in God's presence now. His theology is often called "Kingdom of God" Theology. It is built on the idea of eschatology, which is the study of the end times, and the hope found in Christ's resurrection.
Theology of Hope
Moltmann's "theology of hope" is based on the idea that the resurrection brings hope. Through faith, Christians are connected to Christ. This gives them hope in his resurrection and the knowledge that he will return. For Moltmann, Christian hope was centered on the resurrection of the crucified Christ. Hope and faith need each other to be real and meaningful. Together, they offer comfort in suffering and a protest against it.
Because of this hope, Christians may feel uneasy with a world that is full of problems. A Christian following the theology of hope should find hope in the future. But they should also feel a strong desire to change the world as it is now. Moltmann believed that everything should be seen from an eschatological perspective. This means looking forward to the time when Christ will make all things new.
He said that a proper theology should start with its future goal. This doesn't mean ignoring the present. Moltmann explained that this hope "is itself the happiness of the present." It brings future events into the here and now. This makes the hope of the future the hope of today. Hope strengthens faith and helps believers live a life of love. It guides them toward a new creation of all things.
Liberation Theology
Moltmann's liberation theology includes the idea that both the oppressed and the oppressor need to be reconciled. He believed that "oppression destroys humanity on both sides." The goal is for everyone to be set free. God's special care for the poor should not exclude the rich. This is because God also holds judgment over them.
Moltmann believed that human suffering is not a way to earn salvation. The purpose of the crucified Christ was to offer an alternative to human suffering. This doesn't mean that human suffering is unimportant to God. This "mutual liberation" means that oppressors must be freed from the wrong they do. Otherwise, there can be no new community based on justice and freedom.
However, the liberation of the oppressed comes first. They must free themselves from the limits of oppression to find their own humanity. Only then can they try to build a truly humane community with those who used to oppress them. This idea aims to prevent the oppressed from becoming dependent or their struggles being taken over by the oppressors.
Trinitarian Theology
Moltmann strongly emphasized the idea of perichoresis within the Trinity. This means he believed that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit live within each other. The three persons are different in their roles but are connected in their original relationship.
Moltmann wanted to challenge the idea of a single, absolute God that could be used to support political power. He believed that the doctrine of the Trinity should be understood as a "true theological doctrine of freedom." He suggested that we should "stop seeing God as the one, absolute subject, but instead see him in a trinitarian sense as the unity of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit."
He connected his views on the Trinity to three types of human freedom:
- The first type is political freedom as supremacy, which he rejected. He saw it as matching a God who rules over creation, which only exists to serve Him.
- The second type is social freedom as communion, which means a relationship between two individuals. This relationship aims for love and working together. It matches the close relationship between the Father and Son, and through the Son, humanity. Moltmann liked this idea.
- The third type is religious freedom as a passion for one's potential. This deals with the relationship between people and their shared future goals. Moltmann liked this idea the most. He connected it to how humans relate to God through the Holy Spirit. Here, the Spirit living within humans allows them to be friends with God.
Influences
When Moltmann returned to Germany in 1948, he began studying at Göttingen University. He was greatly influenced by Karl Barth's ideas. However, Moltmann later became critical of Barth for not focusing enough on the historical nature of reality. He then started studying Dietrich Bonhoeffer. This led him to care more about social ethics and the relationship between the church and society.
Moltmann also became interested in Martin Luther and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Luther's ideas about justification and the cross were very important to him. His doctoral supervisor, Otto Weber, helped him develop his view of the church's worldwide mission.
The main inspiration for his first major work, Theology of Hope, came from the Marxist philosopher Ernst Bloch's book The Principle of Hope. Bloch explored the idea of hope as a guiding principle. Moltmann's ideas in Theology of Hope were also a response to the theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg. Both Moltmann and Pannenberg wanted to keep the idea of history being meaningful and central to Christian discussions.
For his second major work, The Crucified God, Moltmann was influenced by existentialist philosophy and the Frankfurt School of thinkers like Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer. The title of this book came from Martin Luther. This showed Moltmann's renewed interest in Lutheran theology. Moltmann continued to see Christ as dying in support of movements for freedom. He believed God chose to die with those who were oppressed.
In 2004, Moltmann mentioned that Johann Blumhardt and Christoph Blumhardt were also major influences on his thinking.
See also
In Spanish: Jürgen Moltmann para niños
- Evangelical Church of Bremen
