Dr. Moltmann had a variety of influences, including the Swiss theologian Karl Barth and the Marxist philosopher and avowed atheist Ernst Bloch, whose three-volume work “The Principle of Hope” (1938-47) inspired his first education.
He married Elisabeth Wendel, a fellow student who also became an eminent theologian, in 1952, and the two remained together until her death in 2016. Along with his daughter Anne-Ruth, he leaves three more daughters, Susanne Moltmann-von Braunmühl. , Esther Moltmann and Friederike Moltmann; five grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
Dr. Moltmann has written more than 40 books, including a series of six on systematic theology, another branch of study that attempts to create a coherent and comprehensive set of doctrines that define the Christian faith.
Yet, throughout his career, he has returned to the point made in his early books: God chooses not to be a judge of humanity, but to be a fellow sufferer, and one day he will put an end to suffering for all, not just for a select few.
“I am convinced that God is with those who suffer violence and injustice and is on their side,” he said in a 2012 interview with British magazine Third Way. “He’s not the general manager of the theater, he’s in the show.”
