Jurgen Moltmann, Der lebendige Gott und die Fulle des Lebens--The Living God and the Fullness of Life.

Robra, Martin

Jurgen Moltmann, Der lebendige Gott und die Fulle des Lebens--The Living God and the Fullness of Life. Gutersloher Verlagshaus, 2014, 232 pp.

Some people become cynical when they turn 88; others get depressive or anxious not so the German theologian Jurgen Moltmann: he is publishing a new book. Moltmann's The Tiring God and the Fullness of Life reflects the beauty and joy of the mystery of life given, sustained and loved by God like a brilliant cut gem glitters in the light of the sun. As the many facets of the brilliant let the light shine in many beams, the different chapters of the book offer glimpses of the fullness of life in the presence of the triune God.

The book presents a very personal and pastoral "summa" of Jurgen Moltmann's rich experience and insights. It was written not primarily for theologians, but for people yearning for a meaningful and liberating alternative to the reductionist and hopeless ways of life that characterize modernity and, in many ways, also the postmodern supermarket of ideas and ideologies. The subtitle of the book--Also a Contribution to the Debate on Atheism of Our Times--appears to be an attempt to reach out to this group. It is, however, partly misleading, because Moltmann is not entering into an elaborate and extensive debate with protagonists of atheism. Quoting Saint Athansius of Alexandria, "The risen Christ makes life a perpetual feast," he is rather demonstrating the joy of life rooted in the Easter celebration of Christ's resurrection as antidote. A-theism--as antithesis to theism--leaves us with indifference and the banality of evil when faith in God fades away (29). It is the indwelling presence of the triune God that gives depth and meaning to life, even in the midst of suffering.

Those who know Moltmann's work will recognize in this most recent publication many of the thoughts that he has developed and shared with the public in the decades since his Theology of Hope was published in 1964. This is true especially for his books The Spirit of Lfe: A Universal Affirmation (London: SCM Press, 1992) and The Source of Life: The Holy Spirit and the Theology of Lfe (London: SCM Press, 1997). Here now, he starts with a theology of the living God that anchors the book not in a concept of life but in a lived relationship of faith. He ends with a doxological chapter about life as perpetual feast which celebrates that the relationship with the living God is and will be the destiny and destination of all life. In between these two, Moltmann explores the meaning of life in community with God and all life on earth. He looks at life as space opened up by and filled with joy, at solidarity as practice of freedom, at open horizons of friendship as the experience of freedom, at mutual love and compassion as expressions of life combined with an embodied spirituality of all senses, and at reason as practice of hope.

Perhaps the most pastoral, comforting and inspiring chapter for the daily practice of people pursuing their life journeys as people of faith in Europe is the reflections on a spirituality of all senses (158 ff.). Joy Ann McDougall wrote about Moltmann in her book Pilgrimage of Love: Moltmann on the Trinity and Christian Life (Oxford University Press, 2005, 164):

   Moltmann's most significant contribution to contemporary
   theological debate lies, in my view, neither in his conceptual
   innovations to Christian doctrine nor in his emancipatory agenda
   for the Christian life. Rather, his lasting contribution lies in
   returning the Trinitarian God to the horizon of contemporary
   theology and in challenging the coming generation to pursue this
   divine pilgrimage of love in history. His contribution lies in
   opening a broad theological space in which the fellowship of the
   kingdom might be experienced anew. To the degree that his
   Trinitarian theology not just gives rise to thought and to action
   but awakens passion for the kingdom. Moltmann achieves the highest
   aim of theology--the true wisdom of drawing believers into the
   heart of Trinitarian fellowship.

In 1997, when Jurgen Moltmann published The Source of Lfe, the WCC had embarked on exploring a Theology of Life on the basis of the ten affirmations of the Seoul Convocation on Justice, Peace, and the Integrity of Creation in 1990. In the Theology of Life presentation of the 1997 German Kirchentag in Leipzig, Moltmann presented his thoughts in a lively and vital debate with the Dalit theologian and later WCC colleague Deenabandhu Manchala and George Tinker of the First Nations in the US. Moltmann's Der lebendige Gott und die Fiille des Lebens reads as a timely contribution to the present WCC programme emphasis on the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace.

The Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace puts the prayer of the theme of the 2013 WCC Busan assembly, "God of life, lead us to justice and peace," into action. Moltmann's book merits dialogue and debate with theologians of other contexts who find themselves together on the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace. Such inter-contextual dialogue is necessary to energize the pilgrimage and to experience it together as one of divine love for life that is promised, especially to those suffering and marginalized in today's conflicts and wars for power and wealth.

DOI: 10.1111/erev.12123

Martin Robra, World Council of Churches, Geneva