The Church in the Power of the Spirit:
A Contribution to Messianic
Ecclesiology by Jurgen Moltmann
Questioin On Editor
This book, which in my opinion is Moltmanns best, can be recommended
on the basis that it contains challenging and creative insights that can be
used by the discriminating reader in the service of church renewal…
Moltmann represents the theology of liberation at its best, and those who
wish to know more about this theology would do well to study this creative
and searching theologian. --Donald G. Bloesch Christianity Today
Moltmann is perhaps unsurpassed among his contemporaries in keenness
of insight and rhetorical power. --Daniel L. Migliore, Theology Today
Moltmann presents a stirring vision which every Christian community could
well ponder…With a missionary emphasis, he seeks to help the reader
face the question of the churchs identity in the light of the contemporary
political, economic, and social scene. --Religious Education

Personal Review: The Church in the Power of the Spirit: A
Contribution to Messianic Ecclesiology by Jurgen Moltmann
It has been one of the distinct pleasures of my academic life to read the
works of Jürgen Moltmann. Each text I pick up I find myself enjoying more,
and can measure the growth of my own theological development by how
much better I am understanding Moltmann. It is, I am finding, impossible
to read any of Moltmann?s texts just once and fully understand it. All the
books interact and inform each other in a dynamic way. The Church in the
Power of the Spirit is Moltmann's "contribution to messianic ecclesiology",
an exploration into what the Church is and why the Church exists. This
book expounds on the idea of there being an intimate connection between
Christ and the Church. The Church is not only believing in and pointing
towards the risen Christ, the Church has Christ as the foundation of its
entire being. Moltmann writes, "Every statement about the church will be a
statement about Christ. Every statement about Christ also implies a
statement about the church." Any theological discussion about the
Church, he suggests, must then entail an accompanying discussion of the
person and work of Jesus. It is also the case that the Church is not an
isolated entity, but rather is a community of those who have been called to
be light to this world, spreading the reality of the kingdom through multiple
ways, reflecting the presence of God to this world. Because of this aspect,
a proper ecclesiology cannot just look at the inner aspects of the church?s
being, but must be in continual conversation with how the Church is indeed
relating to the world as a whole. With this comes this understanding that
the Church as filled with the One Spirit is also One, prompting the
continual development of understanding not only how the Church is One,
but actively engaging in conversation to discover how the Church could
once again practically actually be united. Because God is not only active
in "religious" arenas, but is seeking to save the whole world, Moltmann
argues for a political dimension which is required of the Church, engaging
it in not only the proclamation of future rewards but also the active work
towards a present transformation of society. These four dimensions
are then framed within what can be called a Trinitarian outline. Moltmann
begins by looking at the work and influence of Jesus, seeking to
understand how Jesus did live, expounding on his emphases, and
reflecting on the shape that his ministry took. Rather than seeking to
simply let the proclamation be about Jesus, Moltmann argues that the
proclamation should be that of Jesus. He follows this with a section
exploring the kingdom of God, showing the work of God prior to, and even
outside of, the Christian church, showing that the Church is not
representing the fullness of the kingdom, but is in fact a participant, a living
piece which is part of God?s whole plan to save this whole world. He
then has two sections which connect the Church to the Holy Spirit, first
focusing on how the Church is in the presence of the Holy Spirit, then
showing how the Church is in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit
that animates, leads, expands, and matures the Church, giving content to
our worship and power to our plans. Only at the end, in a last brief
session, does Moltmann discuss the actual marks of the Church, showing
how the prior sections reflect in an actual existence, taking up, as did

Kung, the idea of unity, catholicity, holiness, and apostolicity. One of
Moltmann?s distinctive emphases as a theologian is his attraction to a
political theology. For him, the power of the Spirit in the life of the Church
is not limited to the confines of the Church, but is active in redemption
throughout various structures, demanding that we act in a way which
reflects this redemption of what is usually called the secular.While there is
much to be agreed and disagreed with, this text is one anyone interested
in the study of the Church simply must wrestle with.
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