The central argument surrounding Jurgen Moltmanns book ‘the crucified God’ is twofold. However it is important to mention the personal base from which Moltmann is working. So too it is important to make clear the exact issue Moltmann is struggling with. Following on from the heinous genocides, two world wars and impending atomic destruction of the 20th century, the question of evil surfaced as foremost in the minds of many. At the supposedly most advanced stage of mankind’s development the greatest evil seemed to have appeared. For Christians in particular this idea that evil would win out over good was clearly unacceptable. For if evil were to win then what was to be gained through the salvation offered by God through Jesus Christ.
It had
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Finding much theology easily goes over the heads of the average reader, Moltmann instead deals directly with issues faced in all human lives. To provide a genuine and accessible, for any Church goer at least, theological response to the question of God’s suffering.
Moltmann begins this response by focusing on the drastic nature of the incarnation. All through the Crucified God, Moltmann often makes the point that the focus point for understanding who Jesus was must be the incarnation. Rather than just focusing on the cross, as Martin Luther would have said to do. The doggedness Moltmann shows on this point is intended to make clear how important Moltmann sees God working in humanity’s history of redemption.
Now whilst it may seem as though Moltmann is heading into modalist territory with such a focus on Jesus and redemption. Never fear. Moltmann follows that if the redemption of humanity is through Jesus Christ then it must be about Jesus’s relationship to humanity. If so then we must speak of God and relationships as intrinsically linked. So then God is relational and should be correctly spoken about both personally and, as a logical follow on, as
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According to Moltmann, a God who cannot suffer is also one who cannot love because love presumes relational participation. Relational participation, by definition and as mentioned briefly before, rejects any notion of unconcerned insensitivity toward the other. In fact, an impassable God is ‘so completely insensitive, he cannot be affected or shaken by anything. He cannot weep, for he has no tears’ . In the end we are faced with the prospect that if the God of the Bible is to be identified with the impassable God of metaphysics, the cross is then necessarily evacuated of any notions of deity because God suffer and dies
It is perhaps the most difficult intellectual challenge to a Christian how God and evil can both exist. Many of the greatest minds of the Christian church and intellects such as Augustine and Thomas Aquinas spent their entire lives trying to solve this problem, and were unsuccessful (Erickson, 2009, p.439). However, this dilemma is not only an intellectual challenge, but it is emotional. Man feels it, lives it. Failing to identify the religious form of the problem of evil will appear insensitive; failure to address the theological form will seem intellectually insulting. This conundrum will never be completely met during our earthly life, but there are many biblical and philosophical resources that help mitigate it.
An Analysis of Peter van Inwagen’s The Magnitude, Duration, and Distribution of Evil: a Theodicy
Carus, Paul. "The Philosophical Problem of Good and Evil." The History of the Devil: With 350
Gerhard Lohfink, in his book, “Jesus of Nazareth” believes that Jesus’ person and ministry are intertwined, or actually one and of the same. After Lohfink clarifies the difference between the "reign of God" as distinct from the “Kingdom of God,” he asserts that in Jesus, there is this active, ongoing reign which is not only revealed, but is manifested in all He says and does. Lohfink states, that Jesus is “not just preaching about the reign of God, but He is announcing it,” going on to indicating that Jesus is manifesting this reign in His own self disclosure and the actions of His ministry. Jesus ways of teaching and interactions with others, is shown as compassionate, gentle, direct and personal, as well as definitive and bold. As we also find in Ch. 3, “All that is happening before everyone’s eyes. The reign of God is breaking forth in the midst of the world and not only within people.” (51) And for Lohfink, this is taking place in the actual preaching, actions and life of Jesus Christ. Simply, we are personally and collectively and actively a part of establishing this “reign” right here, right now. A “reign” of mercy, compassion, forgiveness, self-giving, sacrificial love, as well as of justice and peace.
What a fascinating adjustment in perspectives, motive, and determination from the once deeply connected to God the unprofessed theologian. The man who we admired for his crafty dexterity to be a Christian Apologetic emerges to be torn from the foundations of his faith and experiences of how to respond to the unspecified. This book is openly troubling for the believer because all too often we know that this is a very real situation that our author is experiencing. However, while it may appear that a staunch believer has lost his way were hastily reminded that this not the case at all. In the book "A Grief Observed" by C. S. Lewis we see, what I call, a defining mature Christian transition, disruption to the norm, or bump in the road all Christians
The problem of evil arguably the most personal and haunting question in apologetics. No heart is untouched by the sting of another’s words and the ultimate display of evil, death. For some, like Elie Wiesel in his autobiography Night, the full scope of human evil is unbearably clear as they are faced with the full measure of human evil. This reality of evil often leads to two responses: “since there is evil, there cannot be a god” or “if there is a god, he cannot be loving or powerful, or worse, he enjoys evil.” By exploring the nature of evil, developing loving, Christian responses, and historical evils like the persecution of the Jews, the problem of evil and the hope depicted in scripture comes into focus.
A common topic of artwork throughout history has been the crucifixion of Christ. Since it is such a common topic, it makes it very easy to see how artwork changed and developed from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. The painting on the left, The Crucifixion by Pietro Lorenzetti, shows the usual characteristics of a painting from the Middle Ages. The facial expressions are not varied or very in depth, Jesus and the other saints have the typical halo that is used very often, and the colors are mostly all bright, making nothing in particular stand out. The second painting, on the right, is by Caravaggio and is titled The Flagellation of Christ. There is an obvious shift from one painting to the next. Caravaggio’s piece is much more realistic.
... of the Christian faith front and center by uniting two camps of believers in one reading; a starting point. As illustrated by the authors, “Though we have not, of course, reached agreement, we are satisfied that we have eliminated misunderstandings, that is, that neither of us has misrepresented the other. We offer the result to the reader as a celebration of shared friendship, faith, and scholarship” (xi).
Christianity falls under the category of Theism, which is the belief in only one personal god. Christian worldview believes that God sent humanity His only son so that we can learn about God and how He wants us to act. Jesus is crucified later in His life on a cross, which relieved us from losing a relationship with God due to our sins. When analyzing the Christian worldview, we learn that God came to earth in human form as Jesus Christ to experience life with humanity and restore earth back to harmony. In this paper I will discuss God, Jesus, and humanity individually, how restoration will occur, and finally, analyze and reflect on the Christian worldview.
Inc. Doctrine of the Person of Christ. Volume II. 1970. The. Gruden, Wayne. Systematic Theology.
The Christian worldview is centered on the Gospel and places their beliefs in the essential teachings of the Trinity, the deity of Jesus Christ, and Jesus’ resurrection from the dead (DiVincenzo, 2015). This paper will explain who God is and what he created, what our purpose and nature is as humans, who Jesus was and what he did while on earth, how God plans to bring his people back into the right relationship with himself, and as a Christian how one is to live their life with an analysis of the Christian worldview.
"EXPLORING THEOLOGY 1 & 2." EXPLORING THEOLOGY 1 2. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2014.
The book Under the Feet of Jesus by Helena Maria Viramontes shows you the story of Estrella and her family and the struggles they face as migrant workers. Among all the symbolism in the book the one that stand out the most is Petra’s statue of Christ, which symbolizes the failure of religion and the oppressive nature of the Christian religion especially in minorities. Throughout the book, Estrella’s mother, Petra relies on superstitions and religion to get her through the hardships in life. In tough times, she turns to the statue and prays for guidance. Her thirteen-year-old daughter Estrella is the first of her family to realize that she needs to stop relying on religion and take control of her life. This brings in a wave of self-empowerment, not only for Estrella but eventually for all the characters as well. In the book, you’re able to see how religion exemplifies the failures of religion in minorities and how it hinders the growth of the characters while helping some of them.
The concept of suffering plays an important role in Christianity, regarding such matters as moral conduct, spiritual advancement and ultimate destiny. Indeed an emphasis on suffering pervades the Gospel of Mark where, it can be argued, we are shown how to "journey through suffering" (Ditzel 2001) in the image of the "Suffering Son of Man" (Mark 8:32), Jesus Christ. Although theologians have suggested that Mark was written to strengthen the resolve of the early Christian community (Halpern 2002, Mayerfeld 2005), the underlying moral is not lost on a modern reader grappling with multifarious challenges regarding faith in the face of suffering. In his article "A Christian Response to Suffering", William Marravee (1987) describes suffering as an "experience over which we men and women continue to stumble and fall". The way we view God is crucial to the way we view suffering according to Marravee, who delineates the disparity between a view of God as an ‘outsider’ and the biblical image of God – where God is an ‘insider’ who suffers with us in our struggle. This essay seeks to explain the Christian view of suffering and the purpose suffering can have in our lives.
His book presents three main perspectives on Christology (biblical, historical, and contemporary). He attempts to combine classical views and contextual views of Christology.