On 3 June 2024 Jürgen Moltmann died at the age of 98 in Tübingen where he had been Emeritus Professor of Theology.
He was a giant of modern theology – the most widely read Christian theologian of the post-war era according to the World Council of Churches, having produced 40 books over six decades.
Moltmann grew up in a secular family on the outskirts of Hamburg. At the age of 16, he and his classmates found themselves drafted into the German army. Less than a year later he was on the receiving end of Operation Gomorrah, one of the largest firestorms of WWII, and as thousands died around him he ‘cried out to God for the first time: Where are you?’
Subsequently given a New Testament and Psalms by an American chaplain whilst held as a prisoner of war in Scotland, Jesus’ cry of dereliction in the Gospel of Mark had such resonance that it became the basis for his most influential book, The Crucified God. For Moltmann, ‘without living theologically, there can be no theology’.
In 1957 he began to teach theology, and after several posts he joined the University of Tübingen where he remained until his retirement in 1994. As academics attempted to grapple the impact of WWII, many declared that there could surely be no God after Auschwitz. Moltmann instead asked – ‘In whom can we believe after Auschwitz if not God?’
While not always popular with evangelicals, his works have nonetheless influenced and inspired many of them. Philip Yancey described Moltmann as one of his heros. Professor Miroslav Volf once asked Moltmann how he should be a theologian. The reply was ‘Miroslav, take things that move people and shine the light of the gospel on them… always ensure that the light of the gospel is shining on something and giving life’..
