Jürgen Moltmann (1926-2024): One of the most influential theologians of our times

The renowned German professor Jürgen Moltmann, who was praised for being both innovative and traditional, has died at the age of 98. The Principal of Moorlands College, Andy du Feu, considers his legacy 

Dr Jürgen Moltmann, the renowned German Reformed theologian and Emeritus Professor of Theology at the University of Tübingen, died on 3 June, aged 98.

His work has significantly influenced Christian theology and he leaves a legacy that evokes both admiration and criticism, bringing new language to our understanding of God, and our place in his world.

Any reflection on his life should not downplay the significance of the times he was born into. Growing up in 1930s Germany, he witnessed the Nazis take power and begin to impose their ideology in every area of life, including religion. Jürgen would later call the antisemitic theology he heard in church “complete nonsense”. He was a 16-year-old schoolboy when he was called up to serve in the German army. His time as a soldier was marked by the bombing of his home city, Hamburg, and the death of his close friend. As the Nazis faced defeat, Jürgen surrendered. It was the beginning of what he later referred to as a new life. As a disillusioned, broken prisoner of war, first in Belgium and then Scotland, he encountered the transformative power of God through reading a pocket New Testament, given him by a chaplain. Speaking of Jesus, he reflected, “Here was someone who understood me, who experienced what I experienced.”