ECCLESIA IN ASIA Jürgen Moltmann and China

The great German evangelical theologian – who died a few days ago at the age of 98 – also cultivated dialogue with the cultural Christians of Hong Kong and Beijing. He recognized dignity and sincerity in a theological path in China, however controversial, unusual and even contested by traditional circles.

Milan () – On June 3, Jürgen Moltmann, one of the greatest contemporary theologians, died in his native Germany. He was one of the most referenced authors in my theology studies: I remember reading and taking the exam Theology of Hope (1964) and The Crucified God (1972), which have become classics of contemporary theology. Texts that had an enormous impact on my faith thinking and my theological theses. Inspired by reading Moltmann, I have long adhered to the thinking of the Theology of the Cross and continue to reflect on the theological topic of human suffering.

Moltmann was one of the authors most committed to answering the question of how it is possible to “do theology after Auschwitz.” It was not just an intellectual concern: the tragedy of the war into which Germany had plunged had shaken him deeply. During the bombing of Hamburg, his hometown, the soldier next to him was killed by a bomb. Moltmann never stopped wondering why his partner had died and not him. The young soldier who survived then experienced the drama of imprisonment and it was then that, coming from a non-religious family, he began to reflect on the mystery of life until he became a Christian. He described this process with a lapidary and moving expression: “It was not I who found Christ, but Christ who found me.”

Moltmann covered many important theological themes of our time: hope and the future; the pain and death of the oppressed; liberation and politics; the contextuality of all theology; creation and ecology. He was one of the theologians who most closely linked the action of the Holy Spirit, the Kingdom of God and the mission of the Church, overcoming narrow and closed confessional visions of God’s action in the Church and in the world.

His theological discourse has always been ecumenical, that is, shareable by believers and thinkers of different confessions. Moltmann stated, with a wonderful summary of his theological itinerary, that “Protestantism is my origin, ecumenism my future.” That is why he was very loved and appreciated by theologians and believers of the different Christian confessions, although, at times, his openness to Catholicism was not appreciated. The Waldensian theologian Fulvio Ferrario attests to this in a beautiful portrait written these days. He says that in 1985, as a guest of the Waldensian faculty in Rome, Moltmann spoke of the ministry of unity in the Church, episkopé in Greek, emphasizing that it is exercised by an episkopos, that is, a bishop. “The ecumenical Church will also need a universal episkopos. Why not the bishop of Rome?” The reaction of those present was lukewarm.

Moltmann died, aged 98, in the city of Tübingen, where he had taught for many decades. Tübingen is a capital of contemporary Christian theology: Joseph Ratzinger and Hans Küng also taught there.

Küng and Moltmann were friends and both had a great interest in China. I met Küng in Beijing (I wrote about him on the occasion of his death) and Moltmann in Hong Kong. We were, in different positions, collaborators of the Institute of Sino-Christian Studies, a Lutheran center with a marked ecumenical vocation, which since the eighties has effectively promoted the revival of Christian studies in China and the phenomenon of cultural Christians.

Last year a book titled Moltmann and China: theological meetings from Hong Kong and Beijing. The volume presents the dialogues that the German theologian held between 2014 and 2018 with humanities scholars from various Chinese universities, from Hong Kong to Beijing. Among them are the most significant scholars of Christianity: Zhuo Xinping, He Guanghu and Yang Huilin (Beijing scholars with whom I also collaborated regularly); Jason Lam and Lai Pan-chiu from Hong Kong.

These scholars belong to the group of cultural Christians that I mentioned before, which have marked a promising spring for dialogue between the Christian faith and Chinese cultures. Liu Xiaofeng, the founder of this movement, was inspired by Simone Weil and her adherence to the Christian faith without belonging to the Church (I will not go into the merits of the baptism Weil received before her death, which I have written about elsewhere ). Chinese cultural Christians come to Christianity through their studies, not through the proclamation of the Church or spiritual search. Some cultural Christians come to adhere to Jesus by an act of faith, but avoid entering the ecclesial structures controlled by the religious policy of the political authorities. Now, unfortunately, in the context of nationalist politics called sinicization, this movement has reduced its possibilities of expression and dissemination.

Moltmann, together with his Catholic colleague Küng, recognized dignity and sincerity in a theological path in China, even though it was controversial, unusual and even contested by traditional circles. The latter consider cultural Christians too academic and intellectual and not very ecclesial and spiritual. Moltmann’s engagement in dialogue with scholars of Christianity in China was neither casual nor cosmetic. He sincerely accepted the complexity of this theological challenge and did not shy away from dialogue between the Christian faith and the cultures of the Chinese nation, in the context of contemporary times marked by the dictates of ideological and nationalist politics.

Becoming one of the most influential theologians for cultural and evangelical-inspired Christians, Moltmann had the courage and dedication to explore topics unknown outside of Hong Kong and China. And he has not shied away from showing, even in contexts ranging from Hong Kong to Beijing, the relevance of theological criticism, starting from its inspiring principles: the mission of the Church lives in the power of the Spirit at the service of the construction of the Kingdom of God.

Large photo: Moltmann with Daniel Yeung, director of the Hong Kong Institute of Sino-Christian Studies. Other photos: Moltmann in Beijing with Christian scholars and the Chinese translation of his book “The Crucified God.”

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