Theological Journal – May 18 Moltmann Monday: The Turn to the Jewish Jesus

“For a long time one of the important questions in modern christology was the transition from 'the Jesus of history' to 'the Christ of faith'. I discussed this question in the Theology of Hope (1964; ET1967) and The Crucified God (1972; ET1974). But since then I have come to find another question more important still, because it is more 'down to earth' - more 'embodied'. This question is the path leading from the Jewish Jesus to the Christian Jesus, and the rediscovery of the Jewish Jesus in the Christian Jesus.” (The Way of Jesus Christ, 1990, xvi)

Earlier than most of the rest of us Moltmann made the (re)turn to the Jewish Jesus. The turn from the Jewish Jesus ran out of gas with the existentialist Jesus of the post-war generation. New discoveries of Second Temple Judaism and its riches opened up fresh directions for research. The so-called Third Quest for the Historical Jesus is an expression of this (re)turn to the Jewish Jesus for historical reasons.

Moltmann’s path seems a bit different. He does not make this (re)turn because of the discovery of new historical source material. His concern was, as he puts it, for concerns of a Jesus “down to earth- more embodied.” He wants a Jesus who grows organically out of Jewish soil – one who shares the identity and vocation of his people and their God, who is connected with God’s work in the world, and the hope for the world that attends that work.  Nevertheless, The Way of Jesus Christ reads like at least a precursor to the view of Jesus the Third Questers discovered in their work. And his study contributes to the richness of that work.