A Thinking Reed

"Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed" – Blaise Pascal

The year of Moltmann

Okay, that title’s a bit grandiose, but I’ve decided to start delving into (some of) the works of German theologian Jürgen Moltmann, someone I’ve long thought I should be more familiar with. I recently read his Jesus Christ for Today’s World, which is a popular-level treatment of Christology, but now I want to move on to something more substantial. So I ordered a copy of The Trinity and the Kingdom, which, at least according to the book’s subtitle, sets forth a doctrine of God. I realize the more traditional place to begin would be Theology of Hope or The Crucified God, but I feel (maybe incorrectly) that I’ve absorbed many of the ideas in those works through other sources.

Moltmann intrigues me in part because he doesn’t seem to fall neatly into any particular camp or category and draws inspiration from a variety of theological sources (Lutheran, Reformed, Wesleyan, liberation, liberal, neo-orthodox, etc.). Any readers have thoughts on Moltmann, pro or con?

2 responses to “The year of Moltmann”

  1. I haven’t read much of him aside from the few articles by him from The Christian Century that are posted at Religion Online … http://www.religion-online.org/indexbyauthor.asp

  2. Here’s one take on the top 5 Moltmann books: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/tonyjones/2012/09/06/top-five-books-by-jurgen-moltmann/

    Having now read all of these, I would rank them like so:

    1. *The Crucified God*, now reading for the 3rd time…
    2. *The Coming of God*, eschatology
    3. *Trinity and the Kingdom*
    4. *Theology of Hope*
    5. *God in Creation*

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