Jürgen Moltmann burst onto the theological scene with his 1964 Theology of Hope. This book led him toward the centre of Christian hope: the crucifixion. The Crucified God (1972) is Moltmann’s second book, the work that grounded the next twenty years of theological inquiry.

The Crucified God is a legendary book. The genius of it lies is the way that Moltmann relates Christology and Trinitarian theology. What does it mean that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself?

The Son suffers dying, the Father suffers the death of the Son. The grief of the Father here is just as important as the death of the Son. The Fatherlessness of the Son is matched by the Sonlessness of the Father, and if God has constituted himself as the Father of Jesus Christ, then he also suffers the death of his Fatherhood in the death of the Son. Unless this were so, the doctrine of the Trinity would still have a monotheistic background. (359)

Liberation Theology and Moltmann go hand-in-hand, and the final two chapters on psychological and political liberation do not disappoint. It turns out that a rich Trinitarian theology of the crucifixion has much to say to the oppressed in our world. I was encouraged by Moltmann’s discussion of the ecological crisis as a factor in political oppression.

Mindless faith in progress has irreparably destroyed the balance of nature by industrialization. It is possible to calculate the ‘limits of growth’. If no wise balance of progress and social equality is achieved, then ecological death is more than to be feared. (483)

Remember, Moltmann wrote that in the early 1970s. In this area (among others), he was ahead of his time.

The Crucified God can be a dense book to read at times, but the payoff in theological insight and practical implication is well worth the struggle. This book is full of deep and informed reflection in biblical and historical perspective.

Moltmann, Jürgen. The Crucified God. 40th Anniversary Ed. Fortress, 2015.