Jürgen Moltmann suggests that we not to go on distinguishing between God and the world, so as then to surrender the world, as godless, to its scientific 'disenchantment' and its technical exploitation by human beings, but instead to discover God in all the beings he has created and to find his life-giving Spirit in the community of creation that they share.

This view—which has also been called panentheistic (in contrast to pantheistic)—requires us to bring reverence for the life of every living thing into the adoration of God. And this means expanding the worship and service of God to include service for God's creation.

Endorsements

"Moltmann at his best ... challenging and provocative. For evangelicals interested in contemporary theology, it is must reading.
— Stanley J. Grenz, Christianity Today

Table of Contents

Preface to the Paperback Edition

Preface

Abbreviations

God in Creation

Some Guiding Ideas for an Ecological Doctrine of Creation

Knowledge of nature as God's creation is participating knowledge

Creation for glory

The sabbath of creation

The messianic preparation of creation to be the kingdom

Creation in the Spirit

God's immanence in the world

The principal of mutual interpenetration

The cosmic spirit and human consciousness

In the Ecological Crisis

The Crisis of Domination

On the Way to an Ecological Theology of Nature

The Alienation and Liberation of Nature

The Knowledge of Creation

Covenant, Creation and the Kingdom of God

'Natural theology'?

The World as Promise and Anticipation

Messianic Knowledge of the World

The Eucharistic Community of Creation

God the Creator

'In the beginning God Created the Heavens and the Earth'

God's Determination of Himself to be Creator

Creation out of Nothing

The Trinitarian Doctrine of Creation

The Cosmic Spirit

The Time of Creation

Time as the Repetition of Eternity

Time as the Eternal Present

The Time of Creation

Experiences of Time in the History of God

The Interlaced Times of History

The Space of Creation

The Ecological Concept of Space

The Concept of Homogeneous Space

The Creation of Spaces and the Space of Creation

The Problem of Absolute Space

Heaven and Earth

Why is Creation a Dual World?

The Heaven of Nature

The Heaven of Jesus Christ

The Modern 'Criticism of Heaven'

God's Glory 'in Heaven as it is on Earth'

The Evolution of Creation

The Human Being—a Creature in the History of Creation

Evolution or Creation? False Confrontations—Genuine Problems

Evolutionary Processes in Nature

Continuous Creation

God's Image in Creation: Human Beings

The Original Designation of Human Beings: Imago Dei

The Messianic Calling of Human Beings: Imago Christi

The Eschatological Glorification of Human Beings: Gloria Dei

At Once God's Image and a Sinner

Social Likeness to God

'Embodiment is the End of All God's Works'

The Primacy of the Soul

Soul and Body

Life in Health and Sickness

The Sabbath: The Feast of Creation

The Completion of Creation

The Blessing of Creation

The Sanctification of Creation

The Feast of Redemption

Jesus and the Sabbath

Sunday: the Feast of the Beginning

Appendix: Symbols of the World

The Great World Mother

Mother Earth

The Feast of Heaven and Earth

The World as Dance

The Great Theatre of the World

Play as Symbol of the World

The World as Work and as Machine

Symbols Compared in the Messianic Light

Notes

Index of Names