The Coming of God: Christian
Eschatology by Jurgen Moltmann
Gearing Up For The 21St Century
Winner of Grawemeyer Award In this remarkable and timely work - in
many ways the culmination of his systematic theology - world-renowned
theologian Jurgen Moltmann stands Christian eschatology on its head.
Moltmann rejects the traditional approach, which focuses on the End, an
apocalyptic finale, as a kind of Christian search for the final solution. He
centers instead on hope and Gods promise of new creation for all things.
Christian eschatology, he says, is the remembered hope of the raising of
the crucified Christ, so it talks about beginning afresh in the deadly end.
Yet Moltmanns novel framework, deeply informed by Jewish and
messianic thought, also fosters rich and creative insights into the
perennially nettling questions of eschatology: Are there eternal life and
personal identity after death? How is one to think of heaven, hell, and
purgatory? What are the historical and cosmological dimensions of
Christian hope? What are its social and political implications. In a
heartbreakingly fragile and fragment world, Moltmanns comprehensive

eschatology surveys the Christian vista, bravely envisioning our horizons
of expectation for personal, social, even cosmic transformation in God.
Personal Review: The Coming of God: Christian Eschatology by
Jurgen Moltmann
"Christian eschatology has nothing to do with apocalyptic `final solutions' ...
[o]n the contrary, what it is about is the new creation of all things"
(Moltmann 1996, xi). So begins Moltmann's book immediately in the
preface explaining the purpose of the book: this book is not about the
popular notion of eschatology defined as the last things: rather, the author
views the `end' as the beginning. Moltmann defines Christian eschatology
under for `horizons:' 1. It is hope in God for God's glory.
2. It is hope in God for the new creation of the world.
3. It is hope in God for the history of human beings with the earth.
4. It is the hope in God for the resurrection and eternal life of human
people. (Moltmann 1996, xvi).
The book is breathtaking in scope: Moltmann engages many different
areas of study throughout the book, interacting primarily with theology, but
often touching on history, philosophy, science, and sociology. He is clearly
interested in engaging people and ideas from the ground up: hardly a
chapter or section of the book is just him expounding on what he will; it's
always in response to or interaction with. There are five chapters in the
book looking at eschatology from five different viewpoints: eschatology
today, and then personal, historical, cosmic, and divine eschatology. The
first chapter discusses eschatology today, and really is a survey meant to
show what past and present thinkers have written in regards to how they
view the topic. Such authors as Albert Schweitzer, Karl Barth, Rudolf
Bultmann, Franz Rosenzweig and Walter Benjamin are discussed and
evaluated. Ultimately, Moltmann sees the "eschaton [as] neither the future
of time nor timeless eternity. It is God's coming and his arrival" (Moltmann
1996, 22). This is to say that God is continually coming into his creation:
it's not a matter of some set future time when he will `return.' In chapter
two, Moltmann looks at personal eschatology, looking at such subjects as
Life and Death (49ff), Immorality of the Soul or Resurrection of the Body
(58ff), Death as the Consequence of Sin or Life's Natural End (77ff), and
finally the question of Where are the Dead (96ff)? Having wrapped all of
these things together, Moltmann concludes that "[t]he crucified Christ
consoles us by bringing the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy
Spirit into the abysses of our suffering and the hell of our lostness...so we
can believe in victory of life over death (cf John 19.9)" (Moltmann 1996,
127).

Chapter three looks at the historical concepts of eschatology and covers
everything from political eschatology (131ff) to `Christ's descent into hell
and the restoration of all things' (250ff). Moltmann concludes having
looked at the historical perspectives that "[t]he eschatological doctrine
about the restoration of all things has these two sides: God's Judgment,
which puts things right, and God's kingdom, which awakens new life"
(Moltmann 1996, 255).
Chapter four examines cosmic eschatology and looks at the questions of
what will happen to creation. Is all of creation bound to be completely
destroyed, or is the idea more that everything will be restored and made
fresh? Again, many different movements are looked at and discussed,
with Moltmann ultimately discussing the earth as the dwelling place of
heaven (Rev. 22), and "[t]he presence of the divine life becomes the
inexhaustible source of creaturely life, which thereby becomes the life that
is eternal" (Moltmann 1996, 319).
Finally in chapter five, Moltmann evaluates divine eschatology in looking at
the very character of God in self-glorification and realization, as well as
God's interaction with humanity and the fullness of God in eternal joy. The
book concludes with a three words summary: Soli Deo Gloria (to God
alone be the glory).As the title for my review states, this is a very dense
read and will take a while to comprehend: this is not just a light, energetic
read. However, this book flips much of popular Christian Eschatalogical
presuppositions on it's head, and is well worth the read.
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