“The Church in the Power of the Spirit”

2 Timothy 1:1-14; Lk. 17:5-10[1]

Most of you know that my favorite reformed theologian is a man named Jürgen Moltmann. You may or may not know that my favorite book by Prof. Moltmann is called The Church in the Power of the Spirit. I first read it over 20 years ago for a class in Seminary, but I began to really use it when I started preaching again more regularly about 10 years ago. It is well-used by now; in fact, it has become like a second “bible” to me, in a manner of speaking.

The title “The Church in the Power of the Spirit” might seem strange to you. “Power” is not something we associate with either church or spirit. “Power” is what the high and mighty wield to make themselves “higher” and “mightier.” We tend to associate “power” with the “movers and shakers”; it’s what they use to increase their wealth and extend their influence. “Power” is something we are suspicious of—as in “all power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely.”[2]

It’s certainly not something we would expect an old Jewish preacher named Paul to talk about at the end of a career that he himself described as “the dregs of all things” (1 Corinthians 4:13)! Yet there he was, sitting in chains, inviting Timothy to join in his work “relying on the power of God” (2 Timothy 1:8)! From the outside looking in, it doesn’t seem that the “power of God” had done Paul much good! Why would anyone think that an obscure Jewish Christian evangelist like Paul would know anything about power?

The answer is that the kind of power Paul spoke of is different from what we call power. The kind of power Paul was talking about is the power of faith, and hope, and love.[3] The kind of power Paul was talking about is the power of a promise that opens the door to new life—the promise of Jesus, his gospel, his death, and his resurrection. It is the power of hope, joy, and enthusiasm that comes from the vision, “I am making everything new” (Rev. 21:5).[4] It is the freedom and power of knowing that we are loved, and giving ourselves away in service, and compassion, and community with others. It is, simply put, the power of the Spirit.

I think Paul knew something of this kind of power—the power of the Spirit. He himself was a personal witness to the power of new life through the resurrection of the crucified Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth (Philippians 3:7-10; 2 Corinthians 5:17). Paul himself had seen new life springing up over and over again through all his hardships, humiliations, and sacrificial service on behalf of others (2 Corinthians 4:7-12).

Prof. Moltmann describes it this way: “The Spirit of God makes the impossible possible; he creates faith where there is nothing left to believe in; he creates love where there is nothing lovable; he creates hope where there is nothing to hope for. … He makes enslaved creation live and fills everything with the powers of the new creation.”[5]

Church in the power of the Spirit is the sacrament of God’s presence, God’s life, and God’s grace in this world.[6] It is the one, holy, universal, and apostolic church that is out there every day, striving for the oneness of all humankind, striving for the justice of God that makes all life holy, striving for the universal peace of God that embraces victims and perpetrators in God’s love, striving to proclaim the apostolic truth that sets all creation free from the chains of death.[7]

That is, at least, the ideal of the church in Scripture and in the thinking of my favorite reformed theologian, Jürgen Moltmann. In real life, the church can have a very different look and feel. Personal agendas, personality clashes, tedious meetings, the monotony of continuing to do and say the same things over and over again, when it seems that nobody is listening. In real life, the church can seem more like a relic of an ancient past that lost all power to influence or transform or inspire long ago.

I daresay, however, that when we get stuck in that rut, perhaps we’re thinking about power from the wrong perspective. Jesus reminded the apostles that the role they were called to was a humble one, not a lofty one. I think it would not be unfair to the holy Apostles, the founders of and foundation for the church, to say that they still cherished some faulty notions of “power” when it came to their perspective on the Kingdom of God. But Jesus brought them back “down to earth.” He reminded them that the task he called them to consisted of things like “plowing” and “keeping sheep” and “serving meals”; in other places it consists of “fishing.” None of which qualify for the terms “power” or “prestige.”

In a very real sense, the “Church in the power of the Spirit” is the church that serves no matter what the cost. It is the church that embraces all, even the unlovable, even the “enemy.”[8] It is the church that bears witness to new life in every sphere of life.[9]

And yet, despite the humble character of that kind of life, one of the things that Jesus and the apostles, including Paul, demonstrated so clearly over and over again, is the power that faith, hope, and love hold in store to “make everything new” right here and right now.

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[1] A sermon preached by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 10/7/07 at First Presbyterian Church, Dickinson, TX.

[2] Lord John Dalberg-Acton, Letter to Mandell Creighton (April [3? or 5?], 1887), referring to the declaration by Pope Pius IX of the Roman Catholic dogma of papal infallibility; accessed at http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lord_Acton.

[3] Jürgen Moltmann, The Church in the Power of the Spirit, 307-314; see Jürgen Moltmann, The Spirit of Life: A Universal Affirmation, 115-119.

[4] Moltmann, Church in the Power, 91, 294-95; cf. Moltmann, Spirit of Life, 66, 84, 146.

[5] Moltmann, The Church in the Power of the Spirit, 191; cf. also Moltmann, Spirit of Life, 35, where he discusses Calvin’s view of the Spirit as the fons vitae, or the “wellspring of life.” See further Spirit of Life, 57, 82, 84, 95, 177, 212.

[6] Moltmann, Church in the Power, 205; cf. Moltmann, Spirit of Life, 279: the presence of the Holy Spirit is “the experience of the life-affirming, life-giving love of God.”

[7] Moltmann, Church in the Power, 340-361; see also Moltmann, Spirit of Life, 54, 123, 141, 143, 154, 271-72.

[8] Moltmann, Church in the Power, 342

[9] Moltmann, Church in the Power, 295, 299, 316, 332, 334, 340; cf. Moltmann, Spirit of Life, 143.

“Ready to Share?”

Amos 6:1, 4-7; 1 Timothy 6:6-19; Luke 16:19-31[1]

I can think of no better illustration of the principle that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tim. 6:10) than the 2002 film “Changing Lanes.” The film depicts a story between two men due in court. Doyle Gipson is a recovering alcoholic who’s working hard to get his life back on track and is on his way to court to try to persuade his ex-wife not to move across the country with their two boys. Gavin Banek is a successful young Wall Street lawyer who is going to court for a probate dispute involving a $100 million foundation that he convinced a confused elderly tycoon to sign over control to the firm, which of course made them millions.

While he is changing lanes, Banek crashes his car into Gipson’s. In his haste, he tries to simply write a check for the damages. He ignores Gipson’s plea that “it is important that we do this right” and drives away shouting, “Better luck next time.” But in his haste, he leaves the crucial document “proving” their claim that the elderly millionaire turned over control of his foundation to them. He also leaves Gipson stranded on the side of the road—which means Gipson misses his court appointment, and fails to persuade his wife to stay. Thus begins the morality play between the two men. As they each try to outdo each other at revenge, their day goes from bad to worse to catastrophic!

Throughout the day, instead of simply owning up to his mistake, Banek keeps trying to cut corners to get what he wants. At one point, as Banek is beginning to have an attack of conscience, his wife (who is the boss’s daughter) asks him to come to lunch. She asks him, “Did you know my father had a mistress for 20 years?” He says no at first, but then adds, “Well, I didn't know it was for 20 years.” Her mother knew all along, she says, “but she decided it would be hypocritical to leave a man for cheating at home, when the expensive life she enjoyed so much was paid for by a man whose job was based on finding ways to cheat.” The point is that she wants Banek to do whatever it takes to maintain their expensive life. Later her father takes over and also tries to get Banek back “on board.” The ultimate justification for his dishonesty is, “At the end of the day I do more good than harm. What other standard have I got?”

Yes, the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil! By his own confession, Banek had left the scene of an accident, paid a computer hacker to bankrupt Gipson, lied to his bosses, had been party to defrauding a charity, and was considering filing a forged document to the court. Dishonesty, embezzlement, infidelity, and so on. It’s all there in “Changing Lanes.” But all of that and more have always been around, haven’t they?

The prophets of old repeatedly warned against the dangers of wealth. In the Gospels Jesus echoes again and again the warning that wealth has a seductive way of taking over one’s heart.[2] In the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Jesus rebuked the Jewish leaders because they “loved money” and “justified” themselves for it (cf. Lk. 16:14–15)[3]—just like Gavin Banek’s father-in-law! The rich man in the parable was not condemned because he was rich. He was condemned because he loved his money so much that he couldn’t be compassionate toward a starving man at his very own gate![4]

The heart and soul of what God wants from us according to the Bible is to practice mercy, compassion, and generosity to others.[5] And here is this rich man, probably a respected “pillar” of his synagogue, who not only doesn’t show compassion, he probably didn’t even notice Lazarus at all! To some extent, one could say his “hell” was self-imposed by the isolation that wealth creates.[6]

It’s so easy to justify being wealthy—and make no mistake about it: in comparison with most of the 6 billion people on this planet we are for the most part wealthy. If you’re not sure about that, just look around at which groups of people do which kinds of work in our communities. And what does that mean for their children’s chances of going to college or for their prospects of retirement? When faced with reality, our justifications sound a bit like addicts coming up with all kinds of rationalizations to reassure ourselves that “It’s not a problem, I’ve got it under control.”[7] But when we say that, you can bet that our possessions have begun to possess us.[8] Although we may joke that we know it’s risky for us to be wealthy but we’d like to give it a try for a while, the stark reality is that the things of this world tend to enslave, destroy, and distort humanity—both ours and others’.[9]

Throughout the history of the church, the saints and heroes of our faith have consistently taught us that the only way to keep ourselves free from the love of money is to give as much of it away as we possibly can! That’s why Paul tells Timothy to instruct the wealthy Christians of their day to be “ready to share” and rich in good deeds. But, of course, that notion can also be a question—are we ready to share? That’s not a question regarding our financial commitment to this church. It’s a question regarding our life! So how about it? Are we ready to share?

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[1] A sermon preached by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 9/30/07 at First Presbyterian Church, Dickinson, TX.

[2] R. Schnackenburg, Jesus in the Gospels, 194-95. Among the dangers listed in Luke, he notes greed (12:15; 16:14); self-indulgence (8:14; 12:19; 16:19; 21:34); vanity (14:7-10); neglect of the poor (16:20-21), and arrogance (cf. 14:16-20). See also Richard Foster, Freedom of Simplicity, 40-43; Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, 196.

[3]D. Bock, “The Rich Man and Lazarus and the Ethics of Jesus,” Southwestern Journal of Theology 40 (Fall, 1997): 70-71.

[4] Cf. 1 John 3:17: “But if anyone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help how can God's love be in that person?” (NLT).

[5] See Isa. 1:17; Mic. 6:8; Jas. 1:26–27. Time and again Israel was commanded to care for the poor and destitute (cf. Exod. 22:22; 23:11; Lev. 25:25; Deut. 14:29; 15:7; 24:12, 17; 26:12) because this emulates God’s care for the poor (cf. Deut. 10:18–19; cf. 1 Sam. 2:8; Ps. 10:14; 12:5; 35:10; 140:12; Eccl. 5:8; Isa. 11:4; 25:4; Jer. 20:13; Lk. 16:22).

[6] Frank G. Honeycutt, “Hellish Indifference” in Journal for Preachers (2005):40-42; cf. Jürgen Moltmann, The Church in the Power of the Spirit, 175; Jürgen Moltmann, The Way of Jesus Christ, 268-69.

[7]Kenneth L. Carder, “The Perils of Riches,” The Christian Century (Sept. 24-Oct. 1, 1997): 831. He says, “Wealth becomes addictive. Luxuries become necessities. ... Yet in terms of the world’s population, such luxuries-turned-necessities are available to only an affluent few. Satisfying our appetite for more has devastating consequences for those who have less.” See also Hans Küng, On Being a Christian, 595; Moltmann, Church in the Power, 172, 186-87.

[8] John Sheila Galligan, “The Tension between Poverty and Possessions in the Gospel of Luke,” Spirituality Today 37 (Spring 1985): 4-12. She warns against “the seductive lure of the power, pleasure, and security that are the by-products of being wealthy.” Cf. also Joel Green, Theology of the Gospel of Luke, 148: “Wealth becomes a master if it is not mastered.”

[9]J. Moltmann, “Political Theology” Theology Today, 21.: “Only the poor really know the oppression of wealth’s exclusiveness. Only the hated know the misery which hate causes. The rich, the oppressor, the hater are always a bit oblivious to the misery they cause, even if they are well-intentioned.” See also J. Moltmann, The Crucified God, 330; Moltmann, Way of Jesus Christ, 268-69; Moltmann, Church in the Power, 175; Bonhoeffer, Cost of Discipleship, 194; Foster, Freedom of Simplicity, 177-78; Küng, On Being a Christian, 597.

“No Exceptions”

1 Timothy 2:1-7; Luke 19:1-10[1]

It seems that the church has been divided over the issue of salvation from the very beginning. Not over the question of Jesus as the Savior, but over the question of how far his saving reach embraces.

From the very beginning there have been those who like the Apostle John believed that salvation was only for those who are presently walking in the light and saw anyone who deviated as heretical “antichrists.” And from the beginning there have been those who like Luke the Evangelist believed that salvation extended through Jesus the Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham, and the son of Adam, to all humankind.

There were early leaders like Tertullian who declared “extra ecclesiam nulla salus est”—“outside the church there is no salvation”—and insisted it meant that no one finds salvation outside Christian faith.[2] And there were others who like Clement of Alexandria insisted that Jesus Christ as the divine Logos is the one who inspires truth everywhere—whether Jewish scriptures or Greek philosophy.

Our New Testament text for today from Paul’s letter to Timothy has been at the crux of this argument for centuries. Paul says clearly that God “desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4).

Augustine, like many since his day, argued that God’s desire for “all people to be saved” only applies to those whom God has predestined to salvation, and excludes all others, even infants who die without being baptized![3] Since that time, what seems to be a simple statement of God’s purpose of universal redemption has been twisted and turned to accommodate a view of salvation that excludes all those who either refuse or dismiss or ignore or simply are unaware of the Christian faith.

Those who adhere to a more exclusive version of salvation say they believe that “God desires all people to be saved,” except “all people” equals all kinds of people, but not all people.[4] Or they say they believe that “God desires all people to be saved” except “all people” equals all those whom God has predestined to salvation! Or they say they believe that “God desires all people to be saved” except “all people” equals all those whom God knows in advance will actually believe if they have the opportunity to hear the Gospel! [5] The conclusion seems unavoidable that what they are really saying is that “God does not desire everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”![6]

I can accept and endorse the fact that there are different interpretations of the Christian faith. There always have been, and there always will be. But I never have and never will embrace a view of God that excludes the vast majority of humanity from the blessings of life and joy and freedom through Christ.[7] I choose to take the Apostle Paul at his word when he says, “God desires all people to be saved”! And I believe it is valid both biblically and theologically to hope for and believe in God’s eventual redemption of all people. No exceptions![8]

But perhaps more importantly, Paul urges us to respond to this marvelous good news by making “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings … for everyone.” Well that might sound rather anticlimactic after centuries of debate! But I think Paul has something more in mind that simply praying, “Lord, save all the heathen.” I think he had something more in mind like the prayer for mission that Charles Henry Brent, Anglican Bishop of the Philippines, wrote:

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen.[9]

That kind of praying means that we have to do something about it! And that’s exactly what Brent did. When he was in the Philippines, he organized efforts to stem the flow of Opium. Later he organized the first World Conference on Faith and Order, the forerunner of the World Council of Churches. He not only “prayed” for the salvation of all people, he devoted his life to that end.

When we see the church as “the beginning of liberation for the whole of enslaved creation for its consummation in glory,”[10] we can do nothing other than work for the redemption of all humanity.

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[1] A Sermon preached by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 9/23/07 at First Presbyterian Church, Dickinson, TX.

[2] Others, including Pope Benedict XVI, affirm this principle in terms of the necessity of the church as an instrument of God’s redemptive purpose in the world. See Congregation For The Doctrine Of The Faith, “Responses To Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects Of The Doctrine On The Church,” June 29, 2007; accessed at http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_ 20070629_responsa-quaestiones_en.html, which does not state that all non-Catholics go to hell, as was falsely reported!

[3] Augustine, On Rebuke and Grace, 14.44; On the Predestination of the Saints, 18.36; Enchiridion, 27, 103; cf. Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradition I:321; Johannes Quasten, Patrology IV:443. On infants, see Augustine, On the Soul and its Origin, 4.11.16; cf. Pelikan, Christian Tradition I:297-98.

[4] Augustine, The City of God, 21.13; cf. Pelikan, Christian Tradition V:115; cf. also

[5] Douglas R. Geivett and W. Gary Phillips, in Four Views on Salvation in a Pluralistic World, ed. by S. Gundry, et. al, actually say it this way: “anyone who dies without hearing the good news is a person who would not have believed had he heard.”

[6] See John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion 3.24.15-16 (pp. 983-84).

[7] Cf. H. S. Reimarus, Apology: “My own salvation gets lost amid the piteous cries of millions of souls condemned to unending torture”; cf. Pelikan, Christian Tradition V:114; Cf. also M. Tindal, Christianity as Old as Creation, (1730), 250, where he asks how Christ can be viewed as the “Savior of mankind” if he in actual fact shuts heaven’s gates against all those who never come to Christian faith; cf. Pelikan, V:114. See further John Hick and Clark Pinnock in their respective contributions to Four Views on Salvation.

[8] Many throughout the history of the church have endorsed this view, beginning with Origen of Caesarea. See J. Pelikan, The Christian Tradition, I: 151-52; V:116-17, 224; J. Quasten, Patrology II:87-91, quoting Origen, Contra Celsus 8,72: “stronger than all evils in the soul is the Word, and the healing power that dwells in him; and this healing he applies, according to the will of God, to every man.” Cf. also Gregory of Nyssa, Catechetical Orations, 26, who claimed that even the “inventor of evil” would eventually be healed by God’s grace. See Quasten, Patrology, III:289-90. On this theme in Greek Patristic Theology, see John R. Sachs, S. J., “Apocatastasis in Patristic Theology,” Theological Studies 54 (1993):617-640; See further Julian of Norwich, who received the “revelation” in her visions that “all will be well.” Cf. F. C. Bauerschmidt, “Julian of Norwich—Incorporated,” Modem Theology 13:1 (January 1997):75-100. Cf. also Jürgen Moltmann, The Trinity and the Kingdom, 39-40: “our hope is directed towards that divine future in which God will have all his creatures beside him to all eternity. That is to say, our hope is for the day when all things will be restored and gathered in a new, eternal order.” It is the hope that “God’s radiant glory will illumine everything, and all created being will participate in God’s being and his eternal life” (Jürgen Moltmann, In the End—The Beginning, 145). See further Hans Küng, Eternal Life, 212, where he grants that salvation for all is not guaranteed, but nevertheless affirms that “Not even in ‘hell’ are there any limits set to the grace of God”!

[9] The Book of Common Prayer, 101; cf. a similar sentiment by Cyril of Jerusalem in the 4^th Century: “On the cross, God stretched out his hands to embrace the ends of the earth.” Cf. Jürgen Moltmann, The Crucified God, 207.

[10] Jürgen Moltmann, The Church in the Power of the Spirit, 83.

“Blasphemy!”

1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-10[1]

The Apostle Paul was a man of contrasts. By his own confession, he had been a zealous Pharisee, devoted to obeying every rule in Judaism in every possible application. As a result, when confronted with the gospel, Paul’s initial response was violent hatred. He tells us in the book of Acts that he was relentless in his pursuit of Christians, dragging them before the Jewish authorities, compelling them to recant their faith, even taking part in their execution. Yes, Paul helped execute Christians.

What makes a person who professes such devotion to God turn into a hateful murderer? The “new Atheists” would say that it’s built into the nature of faith itself. At least that’s what Richard Dawkins, professor of Biology at Oxford University, claims in his TV show entitled “Religion is the Root of All Evil”! As Will Durant, the famed historian of civilization, puts it, “certainty is murderous.”[2] When we’re absolutely certain that we’re right and our enemies are wrong, we’re much more likely to kill in God’s name.

Though religion’s newly famous critics have touched on some grains of truth, I’m afraid they’re guilty of throwing the baby out with the bath water! Another Oxford professor, Keith Ward, says that while religion can be turned to evil (like any other facet of human culture), the roots of this problem are in the capacity for hatred and self-deception within us![3] If you doubt that we all have the capacity for hatred, just take a look around the next time you’re trying to find a parking place in a busy parking lot!

There is a very real sense in which religion can turn into neurosis: what a person has repressed—self-hatred, excessive pride, unbridled desires—becomes what they see around them in others. Of course, however, this is all an elaborate if unconscious ploy to avoid having to face the ugly truth within themselves![4] This repression one’s own guilt inevitably leads to a rigid set of rules and authoritarian beliefs that are considered absolute precisely because they protect the guilty from having to face their own shame.[5] Anyone or anything that opposes, challenges, questions, or simply departs from their self-made “idol” becomes the target of vicious hatred and violent attacks, whether verbal or actual.

But the truth is that their “faith” is not motivated by the gospel, or by grace, or by love, but by hatred. It’s no wonder such a “faith” is toxic, violent, and vicious![6] When you start with that kind of hatred, it’s no wonder that people kill others in the name of God, just like Paul did.

Jesus proclaimed a gospel that turned the obsessive Phariseeism of a man like Paul upside down. Instead of calling for strict obedience to rules and promising rewards only to those who succeed while threatening punishment for those who don’t, Jesus offered grace and mercy to those who had failed to keep all the rules. Jesus’ whole life, from birth to death, from the manger to the cross, was one of a shepherd searching the hills for the lost sheep, bringing “liberating grace to those who were cursed” according to the religion of the day.[7] His gospel was that “the outcasts are accepted, the unrighteous are made righteous, and justice is secured for those without rights” who had been denied justice by repressive religion.[8]

What made Jesus’ gospel an outrageous blasphemy to someone like Paul was the fact that it implied a completely different view of God. Instead of the stern and impassive judge who doles out rewards and punishment in strict conformity to obedience and sin, Jesus’ gospel presents a God who loves everyone so much that he goes out searching for those who have lost their way![9] That was an intolerable upheaval in faith and in the image of God for Jewish zealots like Paul. It was outright blasphemy!

But something happened to Paul. He came face-to-face with the risen and exalted Christ, who loved Paul enough to die for him, who gave his life for Paul that Paul might have peace with God, freedom from the burden of guilt, and new life of grace and mercy and love. In First Timothy, Paul says that the reason he experienced such mercy was to show that there is no one who is beyond the grace and mercy and love of God. If he, one who blasphemed God and viciously attacked Christians, could receive mercy, there was no one in Paul’s mind who could not. This was such a revolution in Paul’s life that he came to the conclusion that it was not the Christians who were guilty of blasphemy, but it was his hate-filled attack in the name of his faith that was the real blasphemy!

What an ironical twist—to say that a “religious” person like Paul who obsessively follows a set of rigid rules and authoritative beliefs is actually lost in his own guilt and self-hatred (see Romans 7!). But more than that, when people project their self-hatred onto God and create a religion of condemnation, they actually blaspheme the God and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ just like Paul did! In the face of the gospel of grace and mercy and love and life, any religion that claims to represent God’s purposes through violence or hatred must be seen for what it is—an absolute contradiction of the truth that God is love.

The only appropriate response for those who have been found by the shepherd of grace and mercy is to give their lives to others out of that grace and mercy, instead of living out of guilt and hatred.

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[1] A sermon preached by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 9/16/07 at First Presbyterian Church, Dickinson, TX.

[2] Will Durant, The Age of Faith, 784; cf. Sam Harris, The End of Faith, 85.

[3] Keith Ward, Is Religion Dangerous?, 25-41.

[4] Cf. Paul Tillich, “The Yoke of Religion,” in The Shaking of the Foundations, 93-103; Emil Brunner, Revelation and Reason, 258-273; Karl Barth, The Epistle to the Romans, 236.

[5] Jürgen Moltman, The Crucified God, 300-302.

[6] Moltmann, The Crucified God, 296-297.

[7] Jürgen Moltmann, The Church in the Power of the Spirit, 82, 87; cf. Moltmann, Crucified God, 129, 131, 176.

[8] Moltmann, Church in the Power, 88.

[9] Moltmann, Crucified God, 142.