Reading Scripture with Moltmann: The Cry of Dereliction and the Trinity

Abstract

Jürgen Moltmann’s proposals for the doctrine of the Trinity have generated much critical response. His readers have rarely attended, however, to the exegetical basis on which Moltmann establishes his trinitarian interpretation of the cry of dereliction. Those who have contested Moltmann’s interpretation of the cry on the basis of Scripture make appeals to Luke and John to rein in the overly Markan shape of Moltmann’s doctrine of the Trinity. But these appeals overlook the value of Moltmann’s project for a truly canonical doctrine of the Trinity. While Moltmann employs a dubious historical Jesus methodology to establish the theological priority of Mark’s passion narrative, this article argues that his doctrine of the Trinity in The Crucified God allows readers of Scripture to behold Mark’s unique witness to the triune God.