Theology Today. Two contributions towards making theology present

Written by Jürgen Moltmann Reviewed By Tony Lane

This slender volume contains two articles written originally for an Italian encyclopedia in 1984 and 1986. They were later published in German (1988) and have now been translated into English. They are of interest for two reasons: as works of Moltmann and as accounts of the state of modern theology.

The first article is on ‘The Course of Theology in the Twentieth Century’. In it Moltmann outlines the social, cultural and political context of theology first in the nineteenth and then in the twentieth centuries. He goes on to describe four different attempts to find a secular relevance for the Christian faith: demythologizing (especially Bultmann); theology of secularization (especially Bonhoeffer); theology of liberation; and ‘Christian theology of modernity’, which embraces the theologies of hope and freedom. Moltmann then considers the search for Christian identity after the collapse of Christendom. He rejects defensive, reactionary strategies which lead to a ghetto existence. Instead he urges a return to the origins of Christian faith. This he sees happening in the Catholic ‘discovery of the Bible as the origin and criterion of the church’s tradition’ and in the Protestant ‘discovery of Jesus as the origin and criterion of the New Testament traditions’ (p. 30). He then, in the light of this, discusses first the significance of the OT and secondly modern Christologies. Finally he considers the ecumenical dimension of theology today. ‘Theology today has become so much the common task of all Christian churches that it is often no longer possible to recognize the confessional origin of the different contributions’ (p. 41). He sees a movement from anathema to dialogue to cooperation, with the hope of an eventual common confession of faith. More controversially, he wants Christians to recognize Jews as part of the people of God and to enter into dialogue with the world religions, giving up absolute Christian claims.

The second article is on ‘Mediating Theology Today’. This describes a theology which ‘mediates the Christian message that has been handed down in such a way that it falls within the horizons of the understanding of the people of a particular time’ (p. 53). ‘Mediation between the Christian tradition and the culture of the present is the most important task of theology. Without a living relationship to the possibilities and problems of the man or woman of the present, Christian theology becomes sterile and irrelevant. But without reference to the Christian tradition Christian theology becomes opportunist and uncritical’ (p. 53). The reader will recognize that Moltmann’s ‘mediation’ of theology is what is more commonly called contextualization, which Moltmann in the first article calls the contextual method (p. 12). Four examples are given of mediating theology in the modern world: existentialist theology (Bultmann); transcendental theology (Rahner); cultural theology (Tillich); and political theology and imperfect modernity.

What has the volume to offer? Perhaps most valuable is the analysis of the social, cultural and political context of modern theology (pp. 1–12, 53–56). This is very helpful, though not necessarily accurate in every detail. Secondly, there is the exposition of modern theological movements which blends sympathetic and positive exposition with critique. For example, Bultmann is chided for, inter alia, absolutizing the nineteenth-century scientific world-view (pp. 14, 65f.) and for limiting the biblical message to the private inwardness of the believer (p. 66). But his positive role in challenging theology to face the hermeneutical task is also applauded. Tillich is also chided for ‘privatizing the Christian message’.

Thirdly, Moltmann’s own theology can be seen. There is much in his approach from which the evangelical can learn, though there are points where the ways will diverge. Moltmann’s attitude to other religions will be one of these. Moltmann’s concept of a ‘theology of freedom’ (pp. 24–26) owes a considerable amount to modern liberal philosophy and is not so obviously related to the biblical message. In the second article Moltmann argues that the ‘mediation’ of the gospel requires both adaptation and contradiction, relationship to the present context and fidelity to the Christian message, ‘therapeutic’ relevance to the modern situation and ‘apologetic’ defence of the Christian faith (pp. 54, 88, 94). This is certainly correct in that all good contextualization of the gospel will include these two elements. The challenge of the task lies precisely in knowing when to adapt and when to contradict. One person’s adaptation is another person’s syncretism. One person’s contradiction is another person’s reactionary conservatism. Moltmann’s own attempt at the balance will not satisfy all readers at every point, but all should be stimulated by this volume to think the issues through more carefully.


Tony Lane

London School of Theology