I first read Theology of Hope in April 1973, and I remember
that first reading as one of the most exciting theological experiences of my
life. I do not know many times I have reread it since, in the course of
teaching Moltmann’s theology and in preparing this book, but it has proved,
along with Moltmann’s later work, a source of constant stimulation and inspiration
for my own theological thinking. For this reason, as well as because of the
blindingly obvious fact that this book would not exist without his massive
contribution to contemporary theology, I owe Jürgen
Moltmann
himself a very considerable debt of gratitude, greater than prefaces usually
record.
I don’t fully understand Jürgen
Moltmann’s
theology in a lot of ways. But his theology does energize me to think
theologically and creatively and look forward to what is yet to come with
anticipation and possibility. Moltmann says, “It is through faith that man
finds the path of true life, but it is only hope that keeps him on that path” [Theology of Hope (Minneapolis: Fortress,
1993), p. 20]. How true this statement has been since I read it the first time
in the midst of my searching for direction in ministry. It is such hope that
has kept me believing and searching for new possibilities in the providential
care of God. He who began the good work will bring it on to completion (Phil.
1:6). My calling is bracketed by the beginning and end of God.
Moltmann’s theology excites me to a great extent
because he helps me see God in a new way. Nowadays, there is no excitement in Christian
discipleship because there is no excitement in knowing God, for God is a domesticated
deity, who could be anything but surprise. In our Christian thinking, there is
no newness in God. Isaiah’s theology almost disappears in our theological
vision: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive
it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” (43:19) How
desperate we are in need of Isaiah’s sense of newness in pursuing Christian
theology.
There is no clear path in the wilderness because wilderness
almost sounds like wildness. Wilderness is a wild place that can no way be
tamed. The good news is that when Jesus was with the wild animals in the wilderness
and being tempted by Satan, the angels were ministering to him (Mk. 1:12-13). The
word “ministering” (Gk. dihko,noun) is in the imperfect tense, suggesting that the angels
were ministering or serving Jesus in the whole process.[1]
The angels showed up during the forty days and forty nights. From the beginning
to the end, Jesus was not alone. The angels were with him in the midst of the
wild beasts. As James Edwards writes, “The way of the Son of God has the
Father’s blessing, and even in his trials by the archenemy Jesus is sustained
by the Father’s celestial attendants.”[2]
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