The Villager Voice
“Jürgen Moltmann, who drew on his searing experiences as a German soldier during World War II to construct transformative ideas about God, Jesus and salvation in a fallen world, making him one of the leading Protestant theologians of the 20th century, died on Monday at his home in Tübingen, in southwest Germany. He was 98.” (You can read the entire obituary here, it describes a fascinating, thoughtful life: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/08/books/jurgen-moltmann-dead.html)
Moltmann came to Princeton while I was a student. In the theological world of the 1960s and 70s, his was a fresh and compelling voice. One of his major works is titled The Theology of Hope, but it was a hope that grappled seriously the hard realities of sin and disaster and genocide. He insisted that humanity does not suffer alone, but that in times of peril, God suffers alongside us. Additionally, he was one of the first to suggest that salvation is intended by God, not for the few or the select, but for all humanity. A good friend of mine, a PTS alum and, for a few years, a colleague serving in the Upper Peninsula, wrote his doctoral thesis on Moltmann (and was able to interview him as part of his writing) and helped guide me through some of Motlmann’s denser work, and I’m glad I stuck with it – the results were rewarding.
At last year’s Christmas Fair, one of the items on offer for the silent auction was a sermon on the topic of the winner’s choice. Bob Luther was the highest bidder, so this Sunday’s topic will address an idea Bob asked me to consider: how can the church continue to support families in a day and age, particularly post-pandemic, when so much is already demanded of them? I hope to do it justice.
Links to Sunday’s bulletin and service are here: