On Human Dignity: Political Theology and Ethics

by Jürgen Moltmann

Publisher:

Fortress Press

, 2007

Overview

“It is the duty of the Christian faith to stand for the dignity of human beings in their life with God and for God.” —Jürgen Moltmann

This collection of provocative essays by one of the world’s most distinguished theologians deals with diverse topics, covering the right to work, nuclear war, the Olympic Games, Lutheran and Reformed political thought, and the “common hope” of Judaism and Christianity—all within the framework of human rights. Jürgen Moltmann believes that the dignity of the human being is the source for all human rights; if this dignity is not acknowledged and exercised, human beings cannot fulfill their destiny of living as the image of God.

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Interested in more? Be sure to check out Jürgen Moltmann Collection (22 vols.).

Key Features

• Explores diverse topics within the framework of human rights
• Discusses the dignity of the human being as the source for human rights
• Provides insight on the destiny of living as the image of God

Contents

• “Introduction” by M. Douglas Meeks
• Ecumenical Dialoguee on Human Rights
• Christian Faith and Human Rights
• The Right to Meaningful Work
• Luther’s Doctrine of the Two Kingdoms and Its Use Today
• Barth’s Doctrine of the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the Experience of the Confessing Church
• Political Theology and Political Hermeneutic of the Gospel
• Discipleship of Christ in an Age of Nuclear War
• Religion and Culture in Europe
• America as Dream
• Olympism and Religion
• Messianic Atheism
• Church and Israel: A Common Way of Hope?

Praise for the Print Edition

Readers who know Moltmann’s earlier works . . . will welcome these essays for their clear and succinct application of his quite distinct theological perspective to a diverse and wide range of topics. He is not so much writing about the relation of social and political ethics to theology; rather, he is doing political theology in a lively and concrete way.

—Donald L. Berry, Harry Emerson Fosdick Professor of Philosophy and Religion Emeritus, Colgate University

Product Details

• Title: On Human Dignity: Political Theology and Ethics
• Author: Jürgen Moltmann
• Translator: M. Douglas Meeks
• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Publication Date: 2007
• Pages: 242
• Christian Group: Reformed
• Resource Type: Systematic Theologies
• Topic: Ethics

About Jürgen Moltmann

Jürgen Moltmann studied Christian theology in England and, after his return to Germany, in Göttingen. He served as a pastor from 1952 to1958 in Bremen. Since 1967 he has been Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Tübingen and retired there in 1994. Among his many influential and award-winning books are The Theology of Hope (1967), The Crucified God (1974), The Trinity and the Kingdom (1981), The Spirit of Life (1994), and The Coming of God (1996), winner of the Grawemeyer Award in 2000, all published by Fortress Press.

Contents

Top Highlights

“It is, I believe, completely wrong to want to divide the world as it is or human beings as they are into two parts—one which contradicts God and the other which corresponds to God.” (Page 67)

“Luther’s apocalyptic Christology has been replaced by a christological eschatology. Out of the constant battle between God and Satan comes God’s victory over Satan, which in Christ has been won for humanity once and for all. Therefore, the eschatological future brings only the public and universal unveiling of this already accomplished victory of Christ.” (Pages 84–85)

“Only the messianism that has the suffering of God at its heart remains a messianism that can nurture human dignity. In Christian terms this means that God is totally invested in the finality of the life and death of God’s creatures here and now. Thus the cross is the sign of God’s own commitment to human dignity.” (Page xiv)

“While German Lutherans used this theory to justify favorable neutrality in the Third Reich, the Norwegian Bishop Berggrav used it to provide the rationale for his resistance against the Nazi tyranny.” (Page 63)

“It is the duty of the Christian faith beyond human rights and duties to stand for the dignity of human beings in their life with God and for God.” (Page 20)

Product Details

• Title: On Human Dignity: Political Theology and Ethics
• Author: Jürgen Moltmann
• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Print Publication Date: 2007
• Logos Release Date: 2013
• Era: era:Contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Civil rights › Religious aspects--Christianity; Political theology; Religion and culture; Social ethics; Human rights › Religious aspects--Christianity
• Resource ID: LLS:HUMDIGNTYMOLTMANN
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-02-12T03:57:41Z

About Jürgen Moltmann

Jürgen Moltmann is a German Reformed theologian. He is professor emeritus of systematic theology at the University of Tübingen and the 2000 recipient of the Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Religion. He studied Christian theology in England and in Göttingen, and served as a pastor from 1952 to 1958 in Bremen. Among his many influential and award-winning books are The Theology of Hope, The Crucified God, The Trinity and the Kingdom, The Spirit of Life, and The Coming of God.