Hoping in Hope: Is Eschatology Central to the Gospel?

Approximately two months ago, I began the journey that was my first encounter with Jurgen Moltmann in his first major work, Theology of Hope. While I would say that I am relatively new to the study of theology proper, Moltmann, a self-professing disciple of Karl Barth, found his way into my bookshelf. And so I read.

As the title blatantly states, Moltmann's Theology of Hope is about just that: hope as it is found in the Christian proclamation and life. However, Moltmann's understanding of hope in the Christian sense is much broader than the common modern vernacular. While one may hope that their favorite sports team wins a game, or that they may acquire the latest gadget, or even that they may get a raise at work, this hope in which those within society so commonly speak of does great injustice to what Moltmann argues the Christian hope functions as.

To understand Moltmann's argument throughout this book, one needs to have a much broader understanding of eschatology than what is commonly preached in modern, evangelical churches. Depending on who is speaking, eschatology has many different definitions. According to Merriam-Webster, eschatology is "a branch of theology concerned with the final events in the history of the world or of humankind." Eschatology.com goes even with a much simpler definition, arguing that eschatology is simply "the study of last things." Unfortunately, these simplistic definitions of eschatology are the definitions that I was exposed to growing up, even into my first year of study at Briercrest College (no disrespect to Briercrest, I just think my first-year theology prof needs a broader understanding of eschatology). 

For Moltmann, such an understanding of eschatology will simply not do. As I stated in my previous blog post, Moltmann's theology comes out of a war-torn German society, one void of most--if not all--hope. This leads Moltmann to his understanding of eschatology, which he spends the entirety of a whole chapter unpacking (and his chapters are loooong). However, to attempt to sum up said chapter, Moltmann's understanding of eschatology could be understood much better as "the eschaton breaking transcendentally into history . . . [as] the promise which has stamped the language, the hope, and the experience of Israel" (39-41). For Moltmann, eschatology is not simply about future events, but, to be understood properly, must take into consideration all of history. 

Moltmann's argument spans the entirety of the Bible, beginning with the promise given to the Israelites, which "announces the coming of a reality that does not yet exist" while at the same time binding humanity to the future (103). To understand the promise of Yahweh, one must look at the situation into which the proclamation was given to the end goal of what the proclamation is all about. In the briefest of fashions, this is Moltmann's understanding of eschatology: a historical view that encompasses past and present, in an effort to look forward to the future into the reality in which we will dwell. 

So how does this understanding of eschatology fit into the Christian Gospel? For many evangelicals, the Gospel is presented as some form of Anselm of Canterbury's Penal Substitutionary Atonement, where there is a gap between humanity and God, and in his death and resurrection Christ has filled said gap in order that we may one day go to heaven when we die. If this is the gospel, and eschatology is the study of the last things, there is no need for eschatology to be mentioned in our understanding of the Gospel, because the two can coincide separately without ever needing to interact. However, this understanding of either the Gospel or eschatology will simply not do for Moltmann. 

In Moltmann's understanding, history must be viewed through the lens of the crucified and risen Christ; any attempt to understand Christianity without this lens is simply not Christianity. Because of this belief, Moltmann takes very seriously what the death and resurrection of Christ is purposed for. In the resurrection, Moltmann argues, God is reconciling humanity to himself, in order to bring forth his Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Therefore, when we come to Christ, either for the first time or the hundredth time, we need to understand him as the Christ who comes to reconcile, in order that we may one day all be reconciled (cf. Rev 21.3-4). In our Christian faith, we are to live into this hope, that we may not passively hope that Christ one day will come and set all things right, but rather that we are engaging with those around us, bringing the life of Christ to the poor, oppressed, and disadvantaged by society. It is because we can hope in the Christ to come that we can live out the Christ who came and do his work here on earth.

Hope is a powerful thing. It is a dangerous thing. Without hope in a future that would accept African-Americans as equals in society, Martin Luther King Jr. would never have gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. Without hope that she would be able to better the lives of the poor in Calcutta, Mother Teresa would never have devoted her life to serving those most in need of her care. Hope never accepts the status quo. Hope always envisions something better, something that can positively impact the lives of those around us. And that is precisely what the Christian Gospel is. It is the euangellion, the Good News!, that whatever situation we find ourselves in, whether we have lost our jobs, are battling mental illness, suffering from cancer, mourning the loss of a loved one, that life is not defined by the situation we currently find ourselves in. Rather, life is defined by the resurrection of the living Christ, who one day will come to reconcile us all to himself.

This is why eschatology is central to the Gospel. Without eschatology, we cannot understand God's promise to Israel, the branch which Christians are grafted into. Without eschatology we have no hope, and if we have no hope, what really do we have?