The fourth book in Jurgen Moltmann’s systematic theology is a full-scale theology of the Spirit that also marks a personal religious quest. Moltmann, “the foremost Protestant theologian in the world” (Church Times), brings his characteristic audacity to this traditional topic and cuts to the heart of the matter with a simple identification: What we experience every day as the spirit of life is the spirit of God. Such considerations give Moltmann’s treatment of the different aspects of life in Spirit a verve and vitality that are concrete and existential: . “When I love God I love the beauty of bodies, the rhythm of movements, the shining of eyes, the embraces, the feelings, the scents, the sounds of all this protean creation . . . The experience of God deepens the experiences of life . . . It awakens the unconditional Yes to life.” Part One probes “Experiences of the Spirit” in daily life as well as in biblical and theological traditions. In Part Two Moltmann takes up the roles of the Spirit in the order of salvation under the aegis “Life in the Spirit.” And Part Three concludes the volume with discussions of “The Fellowship and Person of the Spirit.” Veteran readers of Moltmann will find here a rich and subtle extension of his trinitarian and christological works, even as he makes bold use of key insights from feminist and ecological theologies, from recent stress on embodiment, and from charismatic movements. Newer readers will find a fascinating entree into the heart of Moltmann’s work: the transformative potential of the future. In an age of planetary peril, in a culture often hostile to human, animal, and plant life, Moltmann’s emphatic insistence on the Spirit is a clear call toconscience: The one indispensable element for human survival, he asserts, is an “unconditional affirmation of life” quickened by the Spirit.
Essential reading for our times In The Spirit Of Life: A Universal Affirmation, Jurgen Moltmann (Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Tubingen, Germany) offers a rich and subtle extension of his trinitarian and christological thought, making bold use of key insights from feminist and ecological theologies, and from recent charismatic movements and a stress on embodiment. The Spirit Of Life is written for a readership that must currently exist in an age of planetary peril, in cultures often hostile to human,…
A Pneumatology That is Both Constructive and Faithful Moltmann has long been recognized as the premier current Christian theologian. This volume, the third in his systematic theology, adresses the important issues of pneumatology to the questions of our time. The Spirit as the Divine Energy of Life is the theme which dominates the discussion. Life prevails in the face of death and darkness. The activity of God’s Spirit is reviewed both within and outside of the realm of the Church. This stroke will appear dangerous to some and refreshing…