The Hope of the Earth : The Ecological Future of Modern Theology

Abstract

As a tribute to the German theologian Jürgen Moltmann, who died on 3 June 2024 in Tübingen, Germany, this issue of The Ecumenical Review is publishing a chapter from his book Hope in These Troubled Times, launched during Moltmann's last visit to the World Council of Churches in 2019. This chapter offers a critique of a theological approach that puts the human being at the centre of the relationship toward nature, an approach that has become questionable because of the ecological crisis. Instead, this chapter argues for a paradigm shift from placing the human being at the centre of the world to a cosmic integration of humanity, from the arrogance of global dominion to cosmic humbleness, from a distinction between God and the world to a mutual participation of a “world in God” and “God in the world.”.