Pannenberg And The Church Analysis

The Church as a Messianic Fellowship for the World in Moltmann’s and Pannenberg’s Public Ecclesiology Jongseock Shin (Fuller Theological Seminary) I. Introduction The approaches of Wolfhart Pannenberg and Jürgen Moltmann to theology are similar, but, at the same time, they are discrepant. A notable similarity between the two theologians’ approaches is that both theologians bring the hope for the eschatological kingdom of God into the center of Christian life. They both stress in their theology the power of the future over the present. A significant difference between them is that whereas Moltmann wants theology to relate to the experiences of life, especially the problem of theodicy, Pannenberg seems to be more interested in producing a coherent and systematic theology. This seems to logically …show more content…
Dialogue between Moltmann and Pannenberg on the Meaning of the Messianic Fellowship
1. Commonality of Moltmann’s and Pannenberg’s Understanding of the Church for the World as a Messianic Community For both Pannenberg and Moltmann, in the tension between ‘already’ and ‘not yet’, the Church as a messianic fellowship is called to proclaim the future coming of the kingdom of God in the world. It appears obvious that, for both of Moltmann and Pannenberg, the coming of the eschatological kingdom of God is both apocalyptic and historical. That is, this world is not opposed to an invisible perfect world as is in the Neo-Platonic frame of reference. On the basis of the resurrection of Jesus, the core thrust that penetrates every part of Moltmann’s theology is that God faithfully fulfills in this world the universal reality of the resurrection as an eschatological reality that God promised in the resurrection of Jesus. Moltmann affirms that this hope is “the certainty about the future born from the trust that God will remain faithful to his