Theology of Hope (by Jürgen Moltmann)

Theology of Hope (By Jürgen Moltmann)
(Reviewed by Reggie Williams)

In Theology of Hope, Jurgen Moltmann claims that hope is foundational for the mission of the church. Faith depends on hope for its life, and the outlook of faith-in-Christ guides the mission of the church. Eschatology, in particular the coming of Christ, is the anatomy of Christian hope. But it must be distinguished from the modern concept of hope. We do not march progressively towards a fuller realization of a better world, all the while becoming smarter, faster, kinder people in a better way of being human. That is a utopian vision based on Enlightenment assumptions of human potential. Even progressive revelation of God, which corresponds with modernity’s utopian dream, is based on the utopian vision of historical progression. But Moltmann argues that hope in Christ is different. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and its meaning for history and human life forms the structure of Christian hope. It is an eschatological hope that starts from a definite, historical reality, Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, and announces the future of that reality (17). It is not a progress-of-human-history hope; it is a hope in the ex-nihilo of God, an all-or-nothing recreation that confronts us in history, and starts fresh with the resurrection.
We have this hope in the context of death and decay. The reality of the present, with its stories of sin, suffering, death and decay, stands in contradiction to hope. But hope does not overstep these realities. “Death is real, and decay is putrefying decay. Guilt remains guilt and suffering remains even for the believer…[faith] can overstep the bounds of life, with their closed wall of suffering, guilt and death, only at the point where they have in actual fact been broken through” (19). The crucifixion and resurrection together form that break point. There God breaks into history—the story of sin, suffering, evil and decay—to form a new reality ex-nihilo, with consolation in suffering, and promise of the end of suffering (21). Faith as a resurrection hope is not hope in the progress of history, but is directed towards the present reality as contradictions; righteousness opposed to sin, life opposed to death, glory opposed to suffering, peace opposed to dissension (18). We live in the midst of this present reality as a people of hope, a people of the future kingdom, opposed to the present ways, enlivened by the reality of the resurrection of Christ.
But, if faith depends on hope for its life, then unbelief is grounded in hopelessness. Moltmann argues that the original sin is described as humanity seeking to be like God. But the other sin that was and remains present , is hopelessness, and it can take two forms; presumption and despair. “Presumption is a premature, selfwilled anticipation of the fulfillment of what we hope for from God. Despair is the premature, arbitrary anticipation of the non-fulfillment of what we hope for from God. Both forms of hopelessness, by anticipating the fulfillment or by giving up hope, cancel the wayfaring character of hope” (22). But Christian hope is neither the utopian dream of a better tomorrow built on the would-be promethean vision of humanity, nor is it a different way of seeing the present, such that redefining “reality” would deflect despair. Christian hope alone is “realistic” for it alone takes seriously the possibilities with which it is fraught (25).
Christian hope is life based on reality of the resurrection of Christ. It cannot be contained in the reality that consists of sciences, history, and the modern comprehension of possibilities. It is the self revelation of God that obliterates history, and forms a new reality ex-nihilo. This new reality is the Kingdom of God come to us from the future, and making claims upon us now. Moltmann claims that the horizon of expectation within which a Christian doctrine of conduct must be developed is the eschatological horizon of expectation of the new creation…This horizon and expectation frees Christians to practice what Moltmann calls “creative discipleship” in which hope inspired love challenges, and sets about transforming the present based on anticipation of the future of God’s kingdom.
This is a long and condensed book that deserves much more attention, including some analysis of his claims to universal salvation based on the OT and resurrection hope. But it is clear, from his singularly detailed analysis, that God is a God of promises, and the resurrection correlates with the creation ex-nihilo, and God’s encounter with Abraham. All of which speak of new from nothing, and call for a type of moral life and outlook based on hope that God will do what God has demonstrated and promised.