Jürgen Moltmann’s God in Creation is the fruit of the Gifford Lecture series of 1984–85 as well as earlier work. It marks the second volume in Moltmann’s ongoing systematic series developing a messianic and eschatologically driven theology that flows from his social Trinitarian position outlined in The Trinity and the Kingdom of God. Moltmann’s God in Creation wrestles with a wide variety of interlocutors, from Marxism and environmentalism, to Jewish kabbalistic traditions and feminist theologies, scientific voices and more traditional Christian theology. The scope of the task is vast but this does not prevent Moltmann from strongly presenting his own constructive proposal. Moltmann’s “ecological doctrine” (chapter 1) first explicitly addresses the contemporary “ecological crisis” (chapter 2) and then the reformed theological concern for knowledge of God by addressing the reciprocal “knowledge of creation” (chapter 3). This clears the way for the engine which drives Moltmann’s theological construction, his Trinitarian theology, “God the Creator” (chapter 4). God’s Trinitarian indwelling structures Moltmann’s description of God’s zimsum “ceding room” for creation in himself in a panentheistic theology. “God is the dwelling place of the world created by him… this world remains eternal because it finds space in him and is permitted to partake in his eternal life” (149-150). Moltmann aims for a Trinitarian doctrine of creation that steers between deism and pantheism. By the spirit, divine and cosmic, the eschatological promise proclaimed in the messianic kingdom drives creation forward. Within God creation moves to the final Shekinah of sabbath rest, the feast of creation (chapter 11). The future of creation is the kingdom of God and, according to Moltmann, this is also God’s own future. Moltmann’s familiar motifs of trinity and hope thus guide the discussion of time (chapter 5), space (chapter 6), heaven and earth (chapter 7), evolution (chapter 8), God’s image (chapter 9), and embodiment (chapter 10). In this way Moltmann seeks to bring Scriptural witness of creation to bear on contemporary theology and practice, motivating a value of human individuals, community, and the environment. The strong integration and scope of Moltmann’s thought mean that challenges to his doctrine of creation must confront his conception of trinity and the kingdom of God on which this doctrine is based, as well as provide alternative answers to contemporary scientific and ethical concerns. This is not easily done. God in Creation remains a significant theological work on this topic.
God in Creation: A Theology of Creation and the Spirit of God
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