Abstract Even in the face of apparently intractable scenarios of cruelty and destruction such as we find currently in the United States, the article argues that if we resist the allure of hopelessness and respond to what Jürgen Moltmann described as God’s call to hope, we can discover signs of hope and resistance in unexpected places. Three such signs are the singing resistance movement, the awakening of white mainline Protestant clergy, and localized instances of congregational solidarity with the vulnerable. Such signs of hope may seem weak in the face of immense structural pressures, but as in the case of the small mustard seeds in the parable of Jesus, they can grow into large plants that affect an entire ecosystem. Hopelessness may lead some to heroic actions in the face of despair, but as followers of Jesus it is hope in the power of the Spirit that sustains us.
Abstract Before his death Jürgen Moltmann left a hand-written note on his desk with the request that I – as his former assistent and as a friend – may clear up his study and to sort out those manuscripts which might be suitable to be published. In my contribution I try to communicate my discoveries during my research and investigations in the atmosphere of his workspace, he has never left behind. I try to share my fascination concerning the essential depth on the surface area of this location: completely different documents, papers, personal notes and all kinds of other items.
Abstract Against the backdrop of contemporary crises, this article develops a perspective on religious education grounded in Jürgen Moltmann’s theology of hope. Hope is understood as a transformative force that shapes present thought and action rather than being confined to future fulfillment. In dialogue with the concept of heterotopia, the article outlines an approach to religious education that opens spaces for alternative interpretations and new forms of action. Thus, religious education is framed as a practice of hope within the challenges of the post-digital present.
Abstract This article explores the profound global influence of Jürgen Moltmann’s »Theology of Hope.« It moves beyond an eschatological focus on events of the »end times« and develops a new, inspiring form of theology. Hope becomes the driving force and medium of theological thought and ethical living. At the same time, this theology preserves a powerful Christological and biblical-theological focus alongside an interdisciplinary openness to dialogue. Unfortunately, these important impulses are weakened in Moltmann’s late theology by a naturalistic romanticized focus on a »spirit of life.«
Abstract The article describes Jürgen Moltmann’s strong involvement in the ecumenical movement. This involvement is expressed by an enormous number of doctoral students from all regions of the world and from various church traditions. His »Theology of Hope« had a clear inspirational effect on the development of various forms of liberation theologies worldwide. His book on the »crucified God« showed that hope must always be closely related to the experience of human suffering. Moltmann’s ecumenical legacy is also expressed in his life-long involvement in the work of the World Council of Churches, where he strongly pleaded for courageous steps toward the unity of the churches. Up to now his theology encourages faith based movements worldwide struggling for the dignity of every human being.
Abstract This article explores the contemporary rediscovery of Simone Weil and asks why her thought speaks so powerfully to the present. It shows that Weil was long received in fragmented ways – as mystic, saint-like figure, or spiritual outsider – while the political and theological depth of her work remained underappreciated. Recent editions, translations, and new debates on attention, rootedness, violence, and decreation have brought her back into focus. From a theological perspective, Weil proves to be a challenging but fruitful interlocutor: her thought opens important insights for contemporary theology, even as her radical asceticism, biblical criticism, and distance from the church require careful critical assessment.
Abstract The fundamental aim of academic biblical interpretation is generally understood to be the reconstruction of the intentio auctoris , that is, the historical intention of the author. Ecclesiastical biblical interpretation, by contrast, is largely oriented toward the contemporary reader and his or her lifeworld. Both approaches can be justified hermeneutically: the former with reference to Spinoza and Schleiermacher, the latter with reference to Barthes and Foucault. Yet if the two approaches are not to be entirely decoupled from one another, a hermeneutical model capable of mediating between them is required. Drawing on Gadamer’s hermeneutics, this article seeks to demonstrate the fundamental compatibility of reader-oriented biblical interpretation and historical thinking.
Abstract This article examines the relationship between Easy Language, biblical texts, and liturgical practice in Protestant worship. Taking the Words of Institution of the Lord’s Supper in Easy Language at the 2025 German Protestant Kirchentag as a case study, it reflects on the collective recitation of these liturgical words in Easy Language and their performative realization within worship. The analysis of the speech act is related to questions of materiality and spatial theory in order to explore how language, bodily enactment, and liturgical space interact in the constitution of religious meaning. By focusing on the textual and material use of the Bible in Protestant liturgy, the article brings the discourses on Easy Language, biblical usage, liturgy, and performativity into conversation with one another.
Abstract For a practical theologian, engaging in dialogue with Judaism seems to be a given under today’s conditions of plausibility. From a historical perspective, however, this has not always been the case. With an eye toward the central concern of this theological discipline - namely, to respond to the challenges of the present historical and social context - this article, following in the footsteps of Friedrich Schleiermacher and in dialogue with Emil L. Fackenheim, develops the basic principles of a theology in the face of Judaism.
Abstract The article argues that in our times academic theology is of special importance - for our society and for university. In the face of growing authoritarian totalitarisms, academic theology reminds people of God as the highest instance of human responsibility. As a prophetic voice it calls to respecting the dignity of every human being for everybody is created in the image of God. Academic Theology as critical reflection of religious practice helps against fundamentalism. With its high hermeneutic sensibility for different perspectives, academic theology reminds other academic disciplines of their own perspectivity. Finally, academic theology prevents other academic disciplines from confusing their methodic atheism with an atheistic worldview.
Abstract Jürgen Moltmann’s theology is grounded in two fundamental experiences, the »death immersion« in the »Operation Gomorrha« that destroyed large parts of his home city Hamburg and killed the friend next to him. And the »life immersion« in Norton Camp as the young prisoner of war discovers Jesus as »the brother who understands«. This life-saving experience is the basis of Moltmann’s unrelenting companionship with people in search of liberation and the fullness of life. This is elaborated first in his four programmatic works, especially in the »Theology of Hope« and »The Crucified God«. The second great circle encompasses the classical topoi of the Christian faith. The article focusses on Moltmann’s »Coming of God« and raises questions concerning the relationship between Christian eschatology and the human-made apocalypse that marks life in the Anthropocene.
Abstract This article examines Jürgen Moltmann’s response to the 1999 Lutheran-Catholic »Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification.« In a lecture delivered to the Society for Protestant Theology (Gesellschaft für Evangelische Theologie) in 2001, he explained his scepticism toward this declaration. He argued that it was still significantly shaped by medieval penitential theology. As an alternative concept, he moves away from the theology of the atoning sacrifice and understands God’s justification more broadly as solidarity and God’s healing presence with the victims of sin. It also operates in the sanctification of God’s name through believers. A contemporary theology of reconciliation can build upon this. However, it also rediscovers elements of classical penitential theology as stages in the interpersonal process of acknowledging perpetrators and victims.
Abstract This article offers a contextual theological engagement with Jürgen Moltmann from a Zambian/African perspective. Proceeding from »critical affinity,« it identifies convergences between Moltmann’s relational pneumatology and Zambian communal ontology, while advancing critiques rooted in lived cosmology, decolonial epistemology, and embodied history. Zambian theology deepens Moltmann’s framework by grounding relationality in the »community of life,« reconfiguring solidarity as ontological interdependence, and articulating a cosmological pneumatology through vital force. The article contributes to polycentric, globally attentive theological discourse.
Dis/ability Studies have found their way into Bible Studies in recent years. In particular, the cultural model of Dis/ability has proven to be instrumental in the analysis of biblical texts. After giving an overview over the most relevant terms, this paper considers the metaphorical uses as well as selected theological implications of dis/abilities within the Old and New Testament. Finally, it stresses the relevance of dis/ability hermeneutics both for an open dialogue between dis/ability in modernity and in biblical (con-)texts.
This article explores inclusive and ableism-critical perspectives in homiletics and religious education by analyzing the method of Bibliolog. While worship services and religious instruction often claim to be inclusive spaces, their practices and traditions remain shaped by ableist assumptions. The Bibliolog offers significant potential for inclusive learning processes, empowering diverse contributions beyond cognitive or denominational boundaries. At the same time, it risks reproducing ableist stereotypes, especially in relation to biblical healing stories and normative expectations of the leader’s body. The study highlights criteria for adapting the method in ways that promote participation and foster a theology and pedagogy that critically reflect on ableist traditions while valuing diverse perspectives.
A number of systematic theologians draw from the concept of affordances from design theory and ecological theory to evaluate the way doctrines, theological forms, and method provide either creative opportunities or noxious hindrances to the flourishing of the one encountering the theology. This article introduces the concept of disability affordance to the discussion as a way to consider the dynamic possibility of the affordance for theological construction hospitable to a range of embodiments and life experience. The article concludes with examples from disability theology to illustrate how affordance and disaffordance have functioned within the discipline.
The article reinterprets the Pauline image of the »body of Christ« through the lens of Disability Theology. Beginning from the wounded and risen Christ, it argues that fragility, dependency, and difference are constitutive dimensions of ecclesial life rather than deficits to be overcome. Christologically grounded in the unio hypostatica and communicatio idiomatum, divine presence is revealed in wounded embodiment. Ecclesiologically, the church appears as a communio vulnerata – a vulnerable, relational body sustained by mutual gift and recognition. Ecumenically, this perspective envisions unity through shared brokenness, where holiness is manifest not despite but through human limitation.
