The marks of the church in South Africa today - In dialogue with Jürgen Moltmann on his 80th birthday

Abstract

In this celebration of Moltmann’ s 80th birthday, an ecclesiological reading of his well known trilogy, Theology of hope, The crucified God, and The church in the power of the Spirit is attempted. It is asserted that Moltmann’ s discussion of the marks of the church is a high point and summary of his early theological development. These insights are then applied to the situation of the church in South Africa today. The article closes with four contextual questions which are then “answered” in terms of the marks of the church.