ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the social perspective that has governed the development of Moltmann's public theology. Central to Moltmann's political theology is a dialectical understanding of Christianity's relation to its social setting. This dialectic moves between a moment of social criticism and a moment of transformative involvement. Political theology as Moltmann and his Catholic co-founder J. B. Metz the approach to political theology taken by Metz was deeply rooted in the Roman Catholic theological tradition, and in particular the theology of Karl Rahner. The approach that governed the development of Moltmann's political theology, particularly in its early form, was a political hermeneutic grounded in Christian hope, expectation, and praxis. Moltmann's approach to political hermeneutics leads him to a consideration of the social dynamics of the cross and the resurrection. The recognition that the hope of the kingdom is rooted in the raising of the crucified one is the foundation of Moltmann's understanding of the cross as 'critical social theory'.
