From its English publication in 1973, Jrgen Moltmanns
The Crucified God
garnered much attention, and it has become one of the seminal texts of twentieth-century theology. Following up on his groundbreaking
Theology of Hope
,
established the cross as the foundation for Christian hope. Moltmanns dramatic innovation was to see the cross not as a problem of theodicy but instead as an act of ultimate solidarity between God and humanity. In this, he drew on liberation theology, and he was among the first to bring third-world theologies into a first-world context.
Moltmann proposes that suffering is not a problem to be solved but instead that suffering is an aspect of Gods very being: God is love, and love invariably involves suffering. In this view, the crucifixion of Jesus is an event that affects the entirety of the Trinity, showing that
is more than an arresting titleit is a theological breakthrough.