BOOKS

...For example, Robert G. Thobaben asks himself, "Can one be both a Marxist and a Christian...

...Moltmann asserts that when Christians focus exclusively on evangelization they lose their relevance, but when they focus exclusively on social activism they lose their identity...

...The new Moltmann, has shifted his theological concern...

...There is no comparable work...

...pie Christian notions of good works...

...For him, the meaning of death is to be found in the meaning of life, and it is the exhilaration of political struggle which gives life its meaning...

...Is it, perhaps, the product of white, Western history and culture...

...Furthermore, he seems to believe that change must always be preferred by Christians to the status qU0...

...He criticizes rightwing political theologies for idolizing the status quo...

...But they cannot agree on what is good in politics, simply because Christianity has never taught a political orthodoxy, and because good intentions in politics often do not translate into good policies...

...He acknowledges that his earlier writings were superficially optimistic and ran the danger of merely sprinkling holy water on secular progressivism...

...If this is the Christian hope, any Marxist would be justified in feeling smugly superior to his Christian partners in dialogue...

...The three Moltmann titles under review make it clear that there is a new Moltmann...

...In his speech (originally given at Wright State University), Ogletree, the Christian, says he accepts the Marxist hope for this world...

...This book, however, gives the impression that the Christians, at least, have simply decided to stop thinking very hard about what they are doing...

...But is monogamy necessarily the Christian view...

...Cloth $10.95 Clash of Titans by Edward W. Chester "To this reviewer's knowledge, this is the only book in English to survey AmericanAfrican foreign relations from America's beginning to the present...

...Ogletree seems to be talking about eschatology and life after death--which is what we would expect a Christian to emphasize...

...however, compared to the old Moltmann, his political position is quite routine and much less thought-provoking...

...Moltmann has not become a conservative, but he is less vivid, more patient, and perhaps something of a figure in transition...

...The book also contains an "old"-style dialogue between First Worldet~s, Thomas W. Ogletree and Herbert Aptheker...

...In the last chapter of The Crucified God and in his essay in Religion and Political Society, Moltmann clearly spells out the political implications of his new position...

...Therefore, we must not exclude the urfiquely Christian form of hope, a hope "that beyond our historical experience in its brokenness there is a possibility of participating in the fullness of God where all the evils of this world have been taken up and overcome...

...If one takes serioutly the truth claims of Marxism and Christianity, one simply cannot treat this question in a cavalier fashion...

...Paper $7.95, Cloth $15.00 African Traditional Religion by E. Bolaji Idowu "This importaqt book is the first to place the study of African religion in the larger context of religious studies...

...this one should be in any collection on African religion...

...Choice Cloth $6.95 Reaping the Green Revolution by Sudhir Sen This, the second part of the study which began in A Richer Harvest, deals with how to make the green revolution a complete success, and how, in addition to regulate it so as to provide food and jobs for all...

...Moltmann abandons his former stress on the God of the future and the autonomy of man...

...Here, Hillman sheds new light not only on the attitudes of the Christian Churches toward African polygamy, but on their current reassessment of the full meaning of human sexuality as well...

...Garland Dowhum, History Cloth $12.95 At your bookstore, or write: ORBIS BOOKS, Maryknoll, NY 10545 Commonweal: 537 M01tmann~against his own stated intenEons--in fact subordinates evangelization to social activism, theology to ethics...

...Harper & Row, $3.95 DALE VREE From Hope to Liberation points to the "new" arena in Marxist-Christian relations, namely, the Third World and especially Latin America, where Marxists and Christians eschew attempts at theoretical synthesis in order to concentrate on common political action...

...Christians can agree on what "good works" consist of--visiting the imprisoned, helping orphans, etc...

...But in Man, be reconciles himself to the present world and accuses those like Marcuse who preach "absolute refusal" of being gnostic...

...pologg in the Conflicts of the Present JUERGEN MOLTMANN Fortress, $3.25 The Crucified God: The Cross of Christ as the Foundation and Criticism of Christian Theology JUERGEN MOLTMANN Harper & Row, $10 Religion and Politcal Society JUERGEN MOLTMANN, et...

...The old Moltmann was so preoccupied with eschatology and the godforsakenness of the present world that he appeared to be a world-fleeing gnostic...

...The new Moltmann takes fewer risks, but as a result, what he says is less exciting...

...ponent of Christianity is to make a religion of one's politics---something which Moltmann himself says he opposes...

...Therefore, to insist, as does Moltmann, that political action is a necessary com...

...Moltmarm took God out of the dimension of the present and put him into the "future," where he would pull man toward him, and yet (incredibly) not interfere with man's autonomy...

...In the end, he exchanges rightist idols for leftist ones...

...however, he insists that "orthodoxy" (right belief) must be transformed into "orthopraxy" (right action...

...Although he says he wants to relativize politics and avoid baptizing left-wing politics, he virtually equates Christianity with democracy and socialism...

...However, when Ogletree is asked by a member of the audience how "you would react if you were confronted with your own death," he responds: " . . . I must say: not very well...

...If salvation is largely limited to Christian believers (as the New Testament, the early Church, and historic Christianity teach), then evangelization is imperative and social action is a secondary issue at best...

...One expects that this "new" dialogue will reflect an interest on the part of both Marxists and Christians to safeguard the uniqueness of their respective beliefsystems...

...It includes an index and notes...

...The book is well written...

...Likewise, can one call oneself a ChristianMarxist and still be a real Christian --or a real Marxist...

...however, liis new stance does not really succeed as a conservative stance although it does "succeed" as an equivocal stance...

...Moltmann denies that he wants to reduce theological orthodoxy to ethics...

...Indeed, Aptheker's answer to the question of death is more interest7 November 19"15:$36 ing...

...however, "no matter how successful we may be in realizing the noblest programs, we will still find that there is a great deal of ambiguity, a great deal of injustice, and a great deal of suffering which leaves us incomplete...

...He seems to criticize his earlier writings from a more conservative stance...

...Political morality cannot be deduced from sire...

...This "tension" is not the same as the tension between faith and good works---which seems to be a resolvable tension...

...Moltmann, who is probably the foremost living Protestant theologian in the world, ultimately failed, but in failing he certainly demonstrated his intellectual brilliance...

...He says the answer is obviously "yes," because clearly there are people who call themselves ChristianMarxists...

...By these facile standards, one can be both a Christian and a segregationist, or a Christian and just about anything...

...Sure, there are people who call themselves Christian segregationists, but the vital question is whether one can be both a Christian and a segregationist, and still he a real Christian...

...He goes on to say that "we may not regard this world either as a heaven of self-realization or as a hell of selfalienation . . . . This demands an acceptanc~ of the present situation in spite of its unacceptability . . . . " In his major new work, The Crucified God, Moltmann shifts his theological attention away from the resurrection and eschatology, and toward the crucifixion-especially toward questions of theodicy and Christology...

...Moltmann said--at the risk of self-contradiction--that the future is full of God and yet the future is open and undetermined...

...Moltmann wanted to say that Christianity gives man hope for this world, as well as freedom to act on a future which remains open to his creative praxls...

...How, then, can the "tension" ultimately be resolved...

...Rather, it is more of a contradiction...

...But if all will be saved (as Moltmann contends, although he is unclear about what salvation is), then evangelization loses its urgency and religious energy is easily channeled into social activism...

...The o/d Moltmann of the Theology o/ Hope and other writings was concerned to find a point of convergence with the Marxist thought of Ernst Bloch...

...Take just one case: Mercy is a Christian virtue, but that does not necessarily mean that President Ford's pardon of Nixon was a Christian act...

...He adds: "If you ask me how I respond to such a situation, I have to say: I have a hell of a time...

...He wants to resolve the "tension" between social activism and evangelization, but he does not tackle the big issue (rarely discussed by anyone anymore) hidden beneath this "tension" Mnamely, the question of universal salvation...

...Just published,the t t "maywr achievemem -Tim ~ $15 O0 cloth $2 50 paper at bookgtores Harper e~ Row |0 ~* 5~Frf ~.f, ~BW "T Gr 1~2 1877...

...Hence, w In this bold and important book, Hillman carefully traces the constantly developing theology of marriage in Western Christendom against the traditional place of polygamy in African tribal culture...