The Annihilation of Hell

For Jurgen Moltmann, Hell is the nemesis of Hope. The "annihilation of Hell" thus refers both to Hell's annihilative power in history and to the overcoming of that power as envisioned by Moltmann's distinctive theology of the cross in which God becomes "all in all" through Christ's descent into Godforsakenness. The negation of Hell and the fulfillment of history are inseparable. Attentive to the overall contours and dynamics of Moltmann's thinking—especially his zimzum doctrine of creation,...