Description: In this daring meditation, Jèurgen Moltmann interrogates dying, the nature of death, and the hope of eternal life. For Moltmann, the living soul that awakens to eternal life is not a ghost in a machine, but the Lebensgestalt, the shape and story of a life. Seasoned readers will find here a capstone to Moltmann's career of theological exploration, while those new to his thought will find a concise and elegant entry point into his work.
Brief description: Jürgen Moltmann is professor emeritus of systematic theology at the University of Tübingen (Germany). He is the author of over twenty books with Fortress Press, including The Crucified God (1973), Theology of Hope (1993), and The Spirit of Life (2001).
Review Quotes:
"Written after the loss of his beloved wife Elisabeth, this personal book brings together many lines of Moltmann's wonderfully rich and life-giving theology (and records a recent change of mind). Faced with death as we all are, he invites us here not to the art of dying but to the art of resurrection-living, to a life in the here and now as an echo of the true life in the world to come." -- Miroslav Volf, Yale Divinity School
"In this moving and deeply pastorally sensitive book, Moltmann demonstrates once again his ability to write on difficult and culturally relevant topics of enduring significance. The theological meaning of death, dying and bodily resurrection becomes transformed through imaginative dwelling with the witnesses in the biblical account, particularly women. This is a book that deserves to be read time and time again." --Celia Deane-Drummond, Director, Laudato Si' Research Institute, University of Oxford
"This moving testimony of hope beautifully knits together the personal, communal, and cosmic implications of God's loving work of resurrection and new life. In the face of ecocide, abiding injustice, and traumatized communities, the book is a timely reminder of why and how we can practice resurrection in the here and now." -- Nancy Elizabeth Bedford, Georgia Harkness Professor of Theology, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
"In this honest exploration of "everlasting liveliness" the great theologian of hope fine-tunes Christian hope for eternal life. Rich with poetry, with scripture, with experience, this meditation on the new creation opens a dimension of faith too often closed to modern and liberal Christianities. Moltmann is offering a great gift, wrapped lovingly in highly readable prose, to pastors and laity alike." -- -Catherine Keller, George T. Cobb Professor of Constructive Theology, Drew Theological School