Moltmann Does It Again!

Moltmann, in The Way of Jesus Christ, to outline a "christology in the eschatological history of God" (70). But first he clarifies what he means by the "eschatological history of God."  He does this by setting the opposition of the history of progress, against eschatological history.

For Moltmann, this opposition (contradictions in his terms) are seen as the modern challenges to Christian theology.  Christian theology is challenged by three questions, using Bonhoeffer's formulation: Who really is Christ for us today? With underlying question of who are we today?  The first aspect of modern life which challenges theology is the development of the Third World.  And the rising inequities and injustices that come from the First and Third World divide.  The first question is then, Who really is Christ for the poor of the Third World? And: Who is the Christ for us, when we make use of their poverty for our own purposes? (65).  This gives way to the rise of nuclear power.  Moltmann points out the desire to be a world power and it connectedness with nuclear weapons.  For developing countries, nuclear weapons becomes the mark of "making it."  This, however, creates the fear of annihilation.  Therefore the second challenges is: Who really is Christ for us today, threatened as we are by the nuclear inferno?  The final aspect is the degradation of the natural world.  We have become more aware of our own immortality in the face of environmental challenges.  Thus, the final challenge: Who really is Christ for dying nature and ourselves today?

Moltmann's christology looks to the history of God, that is in opposition to the challenges faced in contemporary society, as seen in the questions of who Christ is for us today.  Challenging and insightful, once again I see great hope in the churches role in response to these challenges.