Identity, Relevance and the Crucified God

The article begins by looking briefly at the identity-relevance dialectic in Moltmann'sThe CrucifiedGodand the theological context that produced it. It then considersour current situation, very different from forty years ago, of a multi-religious Australia within a desecularised world. The article poses the question: how are Christians to maintain both identity and relevance, in this new context? The author considers the contribution of a recentarticleby UlrikeLink-Wieczorek, and draws the conclusion that Moltmann's identification of trinitarian thinking with the theology of the cross continues to be valid, and further, that this trinitarian theology of the cross constitutes the "true Christian universalism". Both identity and relevance are best maintained by placing cross at the heart of our understanding of the Trinity, and the Trinity at the heart of what we say in conversations with adherents of other religious communities. Theacknowledgement of the crucified God is an indispensible elementin such conversations.