The Coming of God: Christian EschatologyWinner of Grawemeyer Award In this remarkable and timely work - in many ways the culmination of his systematic theology - world-renowned theologian Jurgen Moltmann stands Christian eschatology on its head. Moltmann rejects the traditional approach, which focuses on the End, an apocalyptic finale, as a kind of Christian search for the "final solution." He centers instead on hope and God's promise of new creation for all things. "Christian eschatology," he says, "is the remembered hope of the raising of the crucified Christ, so it talks about beginning afresh in the deadly end." Yet Moltmann's novel framework, deeply informed by Jewish and messianic thought, also fosters rich and creative insights into the perennially nettling questions of eschatology: Are there eternal life and personal identity after death? How is one to think of heaven, hell, and purgatory? What are the historical and cosmological dimensions of Christian hope? What are its social and political implications. In a heartbreakingly fragile and fragment world, Moltmann's comprehensive eschatology surveys the Christian vista, bravely envisioning our "horizons of expectation" for personal, social, even cosmic transformation in God. |
Contents
The Coming God Eschatology Today | 3 |
1 THE TRANSPOSITION OF ESCHATOLOGY INTO TIME | 6 |
1 Prophetic Theology | 7 |
3 Oscar Cullmann | 10 |
2 THE TRANSPOSITION OF ESCHATOLOGY INTO ETERNITY | 13 |
2 Paul Althaus | 16 |
3 Rudolf Bultmann | 19 |
3 THE ESCHATOLOGY OF THE COMING GOD | 22 |
THE REDEEMER NATION | 168 |
1 The Chosen People | 170 |
2 The Rebirth of the Nation out of Sacrificial Death | 171 |
3 The Manifest Destiny | 172 |
4 The Great Experiment | 175 |
THE MOTHER AND PRECEPTRESS OF THE NATIONS | 178 |
2 Societas perfecta | 181 |
3 Ruling with Christ | 182 |
1 The Coming God | 23 |
2 Future or Advent? | 25 |
3 The Category Novum | 27 |
4 THE REBIRTH OF MESSIANIC THINKING IN JUDAISM | 29 |
The Spirit of Utopia 1918 | 30 |
The Star of Redemption 1921 | 33 |
The Messianic Idea in Judaism 1959 | 36 |
Theses on the Philosophy of History 1940 | 38 |
Western Eschatology 1947 A Theological Continuation or an Ecological Farewell? | 41 |
6 The Redemption of the Future from the Power of History | 44 |
Eternal Life Personal Eschatology | 47 |
Eternal Life Personal Eschatology | 49 |
2 Was this life all there is? | 52 |
3 Suppressed Death Reduced Life | 54 |
2 THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL OR THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY? | 58 |
b The soul as transcendental subject | 61 |
c The soul as the kernel of existence | 63 |
2 The Raising of the Body and the Life Everlasting | 65 |
3 The Immortality of the Lived Life | 71 |
3 IS DEATH THE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN OR LIFES NATURAL END? | 77 |
1 Biblical Experiences | 78 |
2 The Churchs Doctrine about the Death of the Sinner | 85 |
3 The Modern Notion about a Natural Death | 87 |
4 The Mortality of Temporal Creation | 90 |
5 Violent Death | 93 |
4 WHERE ARE THE DEAD? | 96 |
2 The Doctrine of the Souls Sleep | 101 |
3 Is there a Resurrection at Death? | 102 |
4 The Fellowship of Christ with the Living and the Dead | 104 |
a Do the dead have time in the fellowship of Christ? | 105 |
b Do the dead have space in the fellowship of Christ? | 106 |
c The community with the dead | 107 |
5 Do we Live on Earth only once? | 110 |
Some Personal Thoughts | 116 |
5 DEATH MOURNING AND CONSOLATION | 119 |
A Discussion with Sigmund Freud | 122 |
3 The Rebirth to Life | 126 |
The Kingdom of God Historical Eschatology | 129 |
The Kingdom of God Historical Eschatology | 131 |
2 Apocalyptic Eschatology | 134 |
3 Eschatological Orders of Time in History | 141 |
THE THOUSAND YEARS EMPIRE | 146 |
1 Premillenarianism and Jewish Messianism | 147 |
2 Christian Millenarianism | 150 |
3 The PostReformation Rebirth of Messianic Eschatology | 156 |
THE HOLY EMPIRE | 159 |
The Holy Empire | 161 |
3 Millenarian Christianity and its Mission of Violence | 165 |
THE BIRTH OF MODERN TIMES OUT OF THE SPIRIT OF MESSIANIC HOPE | 184 |
7 IS MILLENARIAN ESCHATOLOGY NECESSARY? | 192 |
2 The Sufferings and Future of Christ | 194 |
3 Hope for Israel | 196 |
4 What is Timely Today? | 199 |
EXTERMINISM | 202 |
Methods of Mass Extermination | 204 |
The Destruction of the Earth | 208 |
The Impoverishment of the Third World | 211 |
4 Is Exterminism Apocalyptic? | 216 |
POSTHISTORIC PROPHETS | 218 |
10 IS APOCALYPTIC ESCHATOLOGY NECESSARY? | 226 |
11 THE RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS | 235 |
2 The Return of the Doctrine of Universal Salvation | 237 |
Pro and Contra Universalism | 240 |
4 The Theological Argument about Universal Salvation or the Double Outcome of Judgment | 243 |
5 Double Predestination or Gods Universal Election? | 246 |
6 Christs Descent into Hell and the Restoration of All Things | 250 |
New Heaven New Earth Cosmic Eschatology | 257 |
New Heaven New Earth Cosmic Eschatology | 259 |
1 THE FUTURE OF CREATIONSABBATH AND SHEKINAH | 261 |
2 THE ANNIHILATION OF THE WORLD OR ITS CONSUMMATION? | 267 |
1 The Annihilation of the World | 268 |
2 Transformation of the World | 270 |
3 The Deification of the World | 272 |
Ecofeminism | 275 |
Eschatological Ecology | 277 |
3 THE END OF TIME IN THE ETERNITY OF GOD | 279 |
1 The Time of Creation | 280 |
2 The Times of History | 284 |
3 The Fulfilment of Time | 292 |
4 THE END OF SPACE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD | 296 |
2 Historical Spaces of Gods Indwellings | 302 |
3 The Fulfilment of Space in the Presence of God | 306 |
THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM | 308 |
2 Jerusalem and BabylonRome | 311 |
Crystal Temple and Garden City | 313 |
4 The Peoples of God | 315 |
5 Gods Cosmic Shekinah | 317 |
Glory Divine Eschatology | 321 |
Glory Divine Eschatology | 323 |
1 THE SELFGLORIFICATION OF GOD | 324 |
2 THE SELFREALIZATION OF GOD | 326 |
3 INTERACTIONS BETWEEN DIVINE AND HUMAN ACTIVITY | 330 |
4 THE FULNESS OF GOD AND THE FEAST OF ETERNAL JOY | 336 |
NOTES | 341 |
385 | |
Common terms and phrases
A. N. Whitehead According already Althaus American annihilation apocalyptic apocalypticism Barth become beginning believers biblical Bloch body called catastrophe chiliasm Christian eschatology christology church coming community of Christ concept Consequently cosmic covenant created creation dead death divine doctrine double outcome earth earthly ecological empire end of history End-time Ernst Bloch eternal everything existence expectation experience faith fellowship final Frankfurt fulfilled future G. W. F. Hegel glory God's godless gospel grace heaven Hegel hell Holy hope human Ibid idea immortal indwelling interpretation Israel Jerusalem Jesus Jewish Karl Barth Last Judgment living London longer Löwith Luther means messianic millenarian Moltmann moral mourning nations nature nuclear parousia past Paul person political present prophetic purgatory raising redeemed redemption religion religious resurrection Revelation Rosenzweig sabbath salvation Scholem sense Shekinah soul space Spirit suffering talk temporal Testament theology things thinking trans transformation transience Tübingen universal whole world history