Play Saves the World

Episode 43: Moltmann's A Theology of Play (part 3) – Christ the New Creation


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How do Christian theology and play intersect? Moltmann's seminal book, A Theology of Play, explores this, and we discuss pages 25-36.

Christ Is More than a Remedy for Sin
  • Christ became a human being not just to be a remedy for sin, but to create a new reality or a re-creation of the world. This tells us something about the nature of God: abundance, joy, and newness.
  • “God's love goes beyond his mercy and beyond man's misery. So it reaches beyond the mere restoration of the sick to the healthy state of the new life” (26).
  • “Only those who are capable of joy can feel pain at their own and other people's suffering. [One] who can laugh can also weep. [One] who has hope is able to endure the world and to mourn" (31).
  • In faith we accept ourselves as we are and gain new confidence in ourselves because we have been trusted more than we deserve and ever thought possible." (32)
  • “Games always presuppose innocence” (31)
  • Life Is More than Work and Purpose
    • The final purpose of history is liberation from the tyranny of needing to have a purpose.
    • "Life which is made meaningful by purposes and goals must find the vision of heaven terrible, since that vision only invites infinite and purposeless boredom. Christian eschatology [ideas about the end times] has never thought of the end of history as a kind of retirement or payday …" (34)
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        Play Saves the WorldBy Daniel Hilty & Kevin Taylor