Marginal Christianity

“The crisis of the church in present-day society is not merely the critical choice between assimilation or retreat into the ghetto, but the crisis of its own existence as the church of the crucified Christ . . . for only by Christ is it possible to tell what is a Christian church and what is not. Whether or not Christianity, in an alienated, divided and oppressive society, itself becomes alienated, divided and an accomplice of oppression, is ultimately decided only by whether the crucified Christ is a stranger to it or the Lord who determines the form of its existence . . . As far as I am concerned, the Christian church and Christian theology become relevant to the problems of the modern world only when they reveal the 'hard core' of their identity in the crucified Christ and through it are called into question, together with the society in which they live . . . Faith, the church and theology must demonstrate what they really believe and hope about the man from Nazareth who...

“When the crucified Jesus is called "the image of the invisible God," the meaning is that THIS is God, and God is like THIS.” ― Jürgen Moltmann, The Crucified God: The Cross of Christ as the Foundation and Criticism of Christian Theology This is where so much “Christian” theology fails. We presume we know who, what, and how God is before we get to the human Jesus and then try to fit him into the mold of the God we already believe we know or else we separate the two saying God is one way, Jesus another. And when push comes to shove God trumps Jesus or they stand in tension or opposite one another. This latter dilemma arises in some atonement theology where God (the Father) stands on the side of justice while Jesus stands on the side of love and forgiveness. Jesus dies out of love to forgive humanity thus blocking the wrath of the Father who must have his offended justice satisfied before he can forgive. The Father and Jesus thus operate out of opposed motivations ...

This is among the most profound statements on Jesus’ resurrection of which I am aware (along with the statement from Barth I posted earlier). The message of the new righteousness which eschatological faith brings into the world says that in fact the executioners will not finally triumph over their victims. It also says that in the end the victims will not triumph over their executioners. The one will triumph who first died for the victims and then also for the executioners, and in so doing revealed a new righteousness which breaks through the vicious circles of hate and vengeance and which from the lost victims and executioners creates a new mankind with a new humanity. Only where righteousness becomes creative and creates right both for the lawless and for those outside the law, only where creative love changes what is hateful and deserving of hate, only where the new man is born who is neither oppressed nor oppresses others, can one speak of the true revolution of righteousness and ...