In a devastating criticism of The God Delusion, Nicholas Lash accuses Richard Dawkins of being theologically illiterate and ignoring two millennia of religious thought: ‘His understanding of the notion of “belief in God” is as crass and ill-informed as his understanding of what the word “God” means.’ If a group such as ours wants to be taken seriously in claiming that ‘religious faith is a human creation’ then it must make very sure that it is theologically literate and informed. And if members of SOF, in a bid to be more theologically literate, were allowed to read the works of only one theologian, they could do no better that read the works of Jürgen Moltmann. In an astonishing and successful career, Jűrgen Moltmann has travelled the world and engaged with every major theological movement of the twentieth century. His books, including The Crucified God, Theology of Hope and The Spirit of Life, have become best sellers across the world.
Karl Barth, Rudolf Bultmann and Dietrich Bonhoeffer were the dominant figures in German theology at the beginning of his career but soon he was assimilating the political theology emerging from the Christian/Marxist dialogue, the liberation theologies of Latin America and the civil rights movement. The Jewish/Christian dialogue, discussions with Orthodox theologies, travels in South Africa, India and China, also contributed to his thinking and writing. Moltmann describes his theological journey and the lessons he has had to learn with a self-effacing humility. This is touchingly illustrated in his description of the discussions and joint lectures with his wife Elisabeth Moltmann-Wendel, the feminist theologian. Moltmann tells his life story with a childlike simplicity. He describes with obvious delight his travelling and lecture tours and every page drips with the names of theologians he has met and conferred with. But behind the name-dropping one is aware of a determination to engage with the issues facing human beings worldwide.
His interest in theology began in Scotland when in his teens he was a prisoner of war in Kilmarnock. By 1945 Moltmann had experienced the horrors and lunacy of war both as a soldier in Hitler’s army and in the bombing raids on Hamburg. One bomb killed his friend who was standing right beside him, another reduced his home to rubble. Then news of the horrors of the concentration camps reached them.
That really choked one, and the weight of it has never left me to the present day. For me, two experiences raised me from depression to a new hope in life: the friendly encounter with those Scottish working men and their families, and a bible.
What will fascinate SOF readers and, I hope, convince them that there are allies to be found amongst contemporary theologians is the way his intense study of theology across the world cultures has led him to ‘a new theology of life’.
I laid more and more weight on a culture of life because I sensed the deadly dangers of the increasing nihilism.
After the mass murders in the Second World War, Albert Camus wrote, ‘It is Europe’s mystery that life is no longer loved.’ The twenty-first century began with the terror of Islamic suicide murderers. In Afghanistan Mullah Omar told Western journalists, ‘You love life – we love death.’ ... and so in The Source of Life ... I wanted to explain – without a plethora of references, footnotes, and learned discussions – why reverence of the life of all the living and why spirituality of the body and the earth had become important for me.
The reader cannot but be impressed by Moltmann’s appetite for work and travel. But the book has some irritating features. At times the translation has a literal and wooden feel that grates. Reading some of the sections concerned with his travels is as interesting as watching the neighbour’s holiday slides. But Moltmann’s ability to feel the pulse of the world in the twentieth century makes this book well worth reading.
Stephen Mitchell is theVicar of Gazeley and four other parishes and Rural Dean of Mildenhall,Suffolk.He is a former Chair of SOF trustees.
Stephen Mitchell reviews A Broad Place: An Autobiography by Jürgen Moltmann SCM Press (London 2007). Pbk. 400 pages. £29.99.
Reviewing A Broad Place: An Autobiography by Jürgen Moltmann, SCM Press (London 2007). Pbk. 400 pages. £29.99. ISBN: 9780334041276.