The Risk of Redemption

Outline of a Dramatic Soteriology

(Draft)

Willibald Sandler, Innsbruck

Version 1a, 11 August 2009

Contents:
0. [Survey] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1. A Christian Understanding of Redemption in a Nutshell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
A definition of redemption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Need for redemption: Sin and original sin as preconditions for a Christian understanding of redemption
............................................................ 5
The grand Christian narrative: creation – fall of man – redemption . . . . . . . . . . 5
Redemption as restoration and completion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Salvation in four fundamental relations: relation to God, to fellow-creature, to
world, and to oneself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Lack of salvation: disintegration of the four fundamental relations . . . . . . . . . . 5
Facelessness in the four fundamental relations as a result of sin . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The self-sufficiency and hostile self-preservation of a sinful world . . . . . . . . . . 6
Redemption as a self-revelation of God which can also occur „anonymously“ . 6
What drives redemption dramatic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2. Redemption by Jesus Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The drama of redemption in view of the inescapability of sin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Deeds and dying of Jesus as two phases of redemption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1 The kairós of the encounter with Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
A deepened divine self-revelation by the message of the kingdom of God by Jesus
in his words, deeds, and being . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The two phases of the kairós . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Risks and chances of the decision to believe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2 A neglected kairós and the threat of judgement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Stubbornness as a consequence of a neglected kairós . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Kairós and freedom of will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
The risk of a neglected kairós, and what this really means . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
The judgement-words of Jesus as a warning about the consequences of a neglected
kairós . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
The actual consequence of neglected kairoì: a murderous enmity against God . 10

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 2.3 The redeeming crucifixion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Crucifixion: Symbol for salvation or for damnation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Crucifixion as a symbol for God.s unlimited commitment to redemption . . . . 10
The cross must be more than a mere indication of God´s unlimited will for reconciliation . . . . . 10
Intramundane effects of the redeeming crucifixion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3. Redemption and great assize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
God follows the sinner without limits, – until death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
The Christian obligation to hope for universal redemption („apocatastasis“) . . 12
This hope for universal redemption does not dissolve man.s freedom of decision as
well as the profoundness of sin, but in contrary makes a special feature of both
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
The price of redemption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4. Redemption and worlds suffering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.1 The risk of redemption, in view of a bottomless human atrocity . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Hope for salvation even for the meanest criminals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.2 Redemption and theodicy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.3 Redemption and apocalypse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
The corroding „salt of the earth“ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Redemption of the world through apocalypse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Nevertheless: Love of the world by Christians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Love of the world und contempt for the world on the basis of two ways for
redemption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
5. The two ways of redemption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The direct first way of redemption through a powerful proclamation of the kingdom
of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
God´s „plan B“ in the face of the rejected first way of redemption . . . . . . . . . . 17
Crossings between the two ways of redemption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
No fixing on a spirituality of the cross! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
5. „Quest for human and cosmic fullness“: Answers to the questions for the symposium
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
5.1 „What are the different ways – various religious traditions, ideologies, movements
and worldviews – in which human and cosmic fullness have been conceived?“
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
5.2 „What is the relevance of the proposed way of conceiving fullness for here and
now?“ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
5.3 „Is this fullness in a given tradition seen in communitarian or individual terms or
both?“ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
5.4 „How does a given tradition perceive the fullness of those who don.t belong to that
particular tradition?“ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

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5.5 „Does a given vision of human and cosmic fullness encourage human solidarity?“
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
5.6 „What role does material progress have in a given vision of cosmic fullness?“
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
5.7 „Is there a link between material progress and inner transformation in a given
understanding of cosmic fullness?“ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
5.8 „Is this human and cosmic fullness ... something awaited or something already
happening?“ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
5.9 „How and why can/shall we speak of salvation/redemption in our today.s world?“
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

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0. [Survey]

My Concern: [Abstract]
How can God open up a new chance for salvation to a sinner who has already decided against Him, without ignoring his free will? A deepened divine
self-revelation puts him in a new position to decide (biblical: „kairos").
So he can revise his former refusal of God, and receive salvation. But by the same token he gets provided with the power to reject God more severely. And all
that is not only a matter of cognition but also of acting in divine and human encounter. When God reveals Himself to a wicked person, He not only opens up
a new chance for her salvation, but He also risks more severe attacks: against Himself, against His Son and against the human beings, by whom He wants to
disclose His love to the world. The parable of the wicked tenants (Mt 21) claims that God time and again and increasingly radically risks Himself and His
people in favour of the salvation of man. Due to this unimaginable divine commitment we have reason to hope that in the end everybody will be saved (cf. 1
Ti 2:4). But this work of salvation has an enormous price. For example, the excess of violence which deluges the Revelation of John can be comprehended by
the help of these connections.

1. A Christian Understanding of Redemption in a Nutshell

S What is redemption: a transformation of human beings from a status of sin to a status of salvation and freedom, performed by God.
S Why redemption is necessary: that means to understand redemption in the context of the grand Christian narrative of creation, fall, and redemption
S Why redemption is not comfortable to man

2. Redemption by Jesus Christ

S How Redemption is realized by the work and death of Jesus Christ
S a special interest on the problem of human freedom which is thwarted by sin and nevertheless must be respected by redemption.

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1. A Christian Understanding of Redemption in a Nutshell

A definition of redemption
1. I propose to define redemption as a transformation of human beings from a status of sin to a
status of salvation and freedom, which is realized by God.

Need for redemption: Sin and original sin as preconditions for a Christian understanding of redemption
2. A knowledge of the universal need for redemption is a necessary precondition to understand the central meaning of
redemption for Christian belief. That is the „weight of sin“ („pondus peccati“, Anselm of Canterbury), which holds all
humans in a condition of lack of salvation and free will (cf. Rom 3:9-12). On the one hand this status is so fundamental
that it precedes all free decisions so that the result is a lack of freedom to do the good; on the other hand this status must
not be understood as constitutional for human nature. Otherwise there could be no redemption in the sense of liberation:
Maybe that redeemed humans would live in a blissful state, but this status would be alien to their nature. An unholy
status which precedes personal decisions (by hindering them) and which nevertheless is not constitutional for human
nature but is caused by a free break with God, is called original sin. In this way a Christian understanding of redemption
demands a concept of original sin, which again demands the idea of an inalienable good creation.

The grand Christian narrative: creation – fall of man – redemption

3. Redemption marks the third part of the grand Christian narrative (or trilogy) on creation, fall and redemption: (1) God
has created humans as free beings to get fulfilled in salvation. (2) Due to sin (by a free denial of God) they turned into
a status of lack of freedom and salvation. (3) By redemption in Jesus Christ God liberated man from being bound in
slavery and unholiness.

Redemption as restoration and completion

4. By redemption God restores the human potential which has been blocked by sin. Mind you, redemption is more than
mere restoration of abilities lost by sin. Redemption continues and completes God.s salvation plan under the conditions
of disobedience.

Salvation in four fundamental relations: relation to God, to fellow-creature, to world, and to

oneself
5. Salvation means a comprehensive achievement of love in its main forms of love to God,
brotherly love, self-love, and love for creation (in nature and culture). Salvation therefore is put
in concrete forms by a salvational orientation in four main directions: in humans. relation to
God, to fellow-creature, to world, and to oneself. Man*s creational destiny will be fulfilled by
shaping these fundamental relations successfully: by praising God, by loving ones fellows, by
shaping the world and – on this way – by self-realizing.

Lack of salvation: disintegration of the four fundamental relations

6. The result of sin is that such a freedom to do the good has become impossible. Actually
humans may be able to work something good in particular, but it seems that this is only possible
at the cost of some other good. This is not only the case within particular fundamental relations (when e.g. the
commitment in favour of certain people forces to disadvantage others), but also between them. We are living in a world,

5
where love to God, brotherly love, and self-love seem to be incompatible for the most part.

Facelessness in the four fundamental relations as a result of sin

7. According to biblical understanding, sin is based on a free ‚No‘ to God, – with the fatal effect
that the sinner loses sight not only of God, but also of ones neighbours, of the world around, and
of oneself. Instead of that the sinner will get fixed on substitutes. God, man, world, and self
appear no more as real-symbols of God.s glory, but deprave to placeholders for honour,
appreciation, wealth, power or its respective reversals (e.g. as dangerous competitors, who threaten to obscure
ones own splendour).

The self-sufficiency and hostile self-preservation of a sinful world

8. A sinful humanity will try to cope with a world, which is founded on rivalry instead of
transparence and integration. The more a person will be successful in achieving a respected,
powerful and rich position, the harder she will fight occurrences which could unbalance her
little world where she has settled down successfully, – and all the more she will combat Gods
initiatives of salvation as an unwanted meddling. But such a self-sufficient acceptance of the
bad compromises of a sinful world arises not only from egoistic interests; obviously it is
indispensable for us to sustain structures, whose compelling and destructive aspects are evident,
but who threaten to cause major damages, if someone tries to detach them (compare for
example: the current financial crisis.
9. Economic, political, juridical, and socio-psychological systems of this compelling type can be
understood as concretizations of world in a Johannine sense, – of a world particularly, which has
not recognized God (Jn 1:10), which has driven out the word of God and which proves in this
way that its master is the devil (Jn 12:31).

Redemption as a self-revelation of God which can also occur „anonymously“

10. Redemption means salvation and liberation by means of a divine self-revelation. God who
due to sin had got lost to man, reveals Himself in a new and deeper way. This self-revelation
happens not necessarily in an explicit religious way; it may also arise „anonymously“, when
God appears mediated by other fundamental relations: e.g. by a loving neighbour or in an
astonishing natural experience or a shattering self-experience.

What drives redemption dramatic

11. In this way salvation becomes feasible again, but so, on the other hand, established systems
of „this world“ threaten to lose balance. Therefore God.s self-revelation – be it direct or indirect
– will often seam to be dangerous. In the perspective of „this world“ it will appear like bondage,
disaster and death. God opens up a way out of the compelling systems of sin. But this escape
route is a transition through renunciation and even death into a new life. So, for this way can
only be followed by free decision, it is probable that the sinner will reject God.s offer for
redemption. When humans refuse the way of redemption which is offered by God, redemption

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will turn dramatic.

2. Redemption by Jesus Christ

The drama of redemption in view of the inescapability of sin

12. These correlations help to understand what is described as redemption by Jesus Christ. It begins
with a deepened self-revelation of God by the incarnation and the public acting of Jesus, and it
will become dramatic, when humans shy away from the costs for the way of redemption, when
they therefore reject the offer of divine salvation, when they prefer to barricade themselves in a
sinful world, and when they therefore reject Jesus as a threat for their preferred sinful order.
When redemption can only be completed by free will, how can persons be saved who don.t want
to go the way of redemption? Redemption proves to be nearly impossible, when we consider
that sin essentially leads to an unwillingness to follow the ways offered by God. When
redemption requires free consent, how can sinners be redeemed who don´t want to get saved?

Deeds and dying of Jesus as two phases of redemption

13. So it becomes plausible that redemption by Christ begins with incarnation and the public
acting of Jesus and then runs towards the exclusion of God by the crucifixion of Christ. The
question, whether redemption of sinners is possible or not, has to be decided based on the cross.
(Regarding the two phases of redemption cf. the continuation in chapter 5).

2.1 The kairós of the encounter with Jesus

A deepened divine self-revelation by the message of the kingdom of God by Jesus in his
words, deeds, and being
14. „The time (kairós) is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe
in the good news“ (Mk 1:15). To this summarizing salvific message correspond the deeds of
Jesus – by his miracles, healing, expulsion of demons, forgiving of sins, solidarity to sinners and
his gathering of God.s people – and the charisma of his appearance as a whole. The Gospels testify:
Wherever Jesus appears, a time of salvation – kairós – dawns for the person who encounters
her. God himself becomes apparent to her, and this may also mean: In a new depth the
neighbour himself, world in an unknown transparency and also she by herself become accessible
to her (cf §7). This change is not only a matter of imagination, it can be experienced: People get
healed, demons get cast out, a threatening nature becomes tamed, material needs are satisfied,
injustice redressed, and sins forgiven.

The two phases of the kairós

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15. Again and again the Gospels show that people initially were not able to withdraw from the
impetus of Jesus. work. Without being asked they are drawn into something unknown which
drives them astonished or even horrified. But what on the first glance looks like an
overpowering of free will, turns out to be a temporary tearing away from a sinful bondage, –
within a strictly limited time which is specific to a kairós. Only moments after the occurrence of
an alarming message or a shocking miracle the compelling impressions may begin to fade, so
that the reality of „this world“, which has been supported before, becomes accessible again. This
is the second phase of the kairós, where a new freedom of choice takes effect: The former
ungodly view and a new access to God, man, world, and self are within the horizon of decision
at the same time. And because these two views are incompatible, the person caught by a kairós
is enabled and forced to decide.
To accept the kairós means belief and repentance (cf Mk 1:15), which in fact has its price,
actually for the rich to a higher extent than for the poor. The advantages of ones well-established
little world have to be given up (cf. Lk 14:33), and excellent connections (even within the
family) have to be downgraded (cf Lk 14:2).

Risks and chances of the decision to believe

16. Whoever repents and believes, will be able but also obliged to live according to principles which are „not from this
world“. This implies the risk to appear as a loser and an outcast in this world.1 But this risk is offset by the promising
experience of the „treasure hidden in the field“ and the „pearl of great value“ (Mt 13:44-46), – the promise of „abundant
live“ (Jn 10:10). To decide in favour of belief in such a situation of kairós is harder for the rich than for the poor, it is
harder for the respected than for the despised, and it is much harder under the influence of public opinion.

2.2 A neglected kairós and the threat of judgement

Stubbornness as a consequence of a neglected kairós

17. The freedom, which is released by a kairós, has two sides. When man uses his newly
released freedom of will in favour of a positive decision towards God, he is not far away from
the kingdom of God;2 but when he shies away from the demanding consequences and rejects the
divine offer of grace, he will be driven into a more severe dynamics of sin. That*s what the
Gospels call stubbornness or hardness of the heart.3 The effect is that further kairoí will

1
„If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world – therefore the world hates you.“ (Jn 15:19)

2
Cf. the answer of Jesus to the reasonable Pharisee (Mk 12:34), and his answer to the right criminal at
the cross (Luk 23:43)
3
Cf. Mk 3:5; Mt 13:10-16; Jn 12:37-41.

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probably not lead to repentance and faith but almost automatically to an intensified rejection of
God: „in order that they may indeed look, but not perceive, and may indeed listen, but not
understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.“ (Mar 4:12).

Kairós and freedom of will

18. Here we should consider the relationship between kairós and free will. Normally humans
live to a certain extent in a state of godlessness, which is partly handed down by others and
partly ratified deliberately by themselves. Therefore people are resistant to situations of God*s
self-revelation that are similar to former situations (kairoí) where God had been rejected. But
when God reveals Himself in a new and deeper way, such an event can drive them into a
consternation which breaks up their previous godless decisiveness. They can change their mind
by saying: „If I had known that God is so different, I would not have rejected Him.“
19. So, how can God open up a new chance for salvation for a sinner who had already decided
against God, without ignoring his free-will decision? This is possible, if God reveals Himself to
the sinner in an hitherto unknown depth which is not yet affected by his former godless
decisions. By His deeper self-revelation God undermines the „No“ of the sinner and becomes
present for him again. The sinner*s freedom to choose the good (God Himself, the neighbour himself,
himself, – and not a substitute, cf. § 7) is reactivated. He has got a new chance to love and to acquire
God and salvation. But in this way he is also enabled to renew and deepen his decision against
God, love, and salvation. This is the risk of the neglected kairós.

The risk of a neglected kairós, and what this really means

20. It is important not to underestimate the implications and consequences of a neglected kairós.
Essentially it consists in an aggravated „No“ against God. But on the basis of the interconnected
four fundamental relations this rejection of the Divine results also in a deepened refusal of
others (by hate and violence), in a more ruthless exploitation of nature (for the stubborn sinner
becomes blind to the wonder of appearance in nature and culture), and in a worsened self-
fixation. The biblical people who encountered Jesus and neglected this kairós, resorted not only
to an aggravated „No“ against God. They nourished a deadly hate against Jesus and his disciples
(= blocked interpersonal relation); they became blind to the wonderful potentials of nature,
which had been uncovered by the miracles and healing wonders of Jesus (= blocked relation to
the world), and they began to behave in a self-destructive way.

The judgement-words of Jesus as a warning about the consequences of a neglected kairós

21. Redemption begins with the event of a kairós, but it does not come to an end with it. Otherwise the public work of
Jesus would have sufficed to save man, and the death of Jesus would not have any redemptive relevance. But this was
not the case. More and more people rejected Jesus under the pressure of a fickle crowd, manipulated by religious
leaders, who estimated Jesus as a rival. From there the question became urgent, what chance for salvation could be left
for people who neglected their kairós. Jesus threatened them with hell, which means a state of eternal agony, which in
this intensity was unknown to Old Testament. Jesus* words on judgement and hell must be understood as a warning to
the people who were on the point to neglect a kairós: „Repent, because there is no other way out. If you accept the offer

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of God*s grace only as far as it corresponds to your unholy ideas, you will miss God and your salvation definitely.“4

The actual consequence of neglected kairoì: a murderous enmity against God

22. These warnings of Jesus are not only educational. The people who rejected Jesus – and by
him God in an hitherto unknown depth of his self-revelation – would not have any chance for
salvation left, if the shepherd had not followed the lost sheep (cf. Jn 10:14f). But the fact that
Jesus followed them like a good shepherd, was in no way appreciated by his adversaries; they
almost necessarily understood it as an even bigger provocation. The chance for Jesus to reach
people, who had dismissed a kairós once before, was minimal. The overall effect was that they
consolidated in their enmity.

2.3 The redeeming crucifixion

Crucifixion: Symbol for salvation or for damnation?

23. The violent death of Jesus at the cross was the consequence of his incessant engagement for
the people who had rejected kairoí which had been released by him. If only considered from this
perspective, the cross would not appear as a symbol for salvation but rather as a symbol for
judgment and damnation: the sealing of a „No“ to God which by the crucifixion revealed its
ultimate seriousness.5

Crucifixion as a symbol for God.s unlimited commitment to redemption

24. But the cross is symbol for salvation insofar, as it confirms the boundlessness of God.s
commitment in favour of the sinner. „He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up
for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?“ (Rom 8:32) Resurrection means
that this boundless engagement of God does not get limited even by the murder of His Son. By
his resurrection and the transmission of the Holy Spirit, Jesus passes on his powerful sending to
his disciples. So a new chance for salvation is opened to the people who crucified Jesus.
[>>> hierweiter1]

The cross must be more than a mere indication of God´s unlimited will for reconciliation
25. But if the cross were only a means to inform people about God.s unlimited will for reconciliation, this could not
facilitate the redemption of sinners. Either God.s will to redemption would break the godless will of the sinner – which

4
Such an interpretation of Jesus* words on judgment and hell was supported by Raymund Schwager,
Jesus in the Drama of Salvation (Crossroad Publishing, 2008).
5
It is true that Jesus arose from death, but this alone would not change anything at this sealing of
damnation. The resurrection would only be the divine confirmation that it was really the son of God,
who they had crucified.

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would thwart redemption in the sense of liberation – or God.s will to redeem would fail because of the indignation of
the stubborn sinner. The redemption of a notorious sinner would be impossible on the whole.
26. However redemption is not only the announcement of God.s boundless will to reconciliation, but rather a heavily
symbolic divine acting with tangible and comprehensible effects. Tangible are the intramundane effects of Jesus. death
and resurrection to the disciples (cf. § 27f.), and comprehensible is the idea of God.s infinite commitment to the
persistent sinner beyond the grave (cf. § 29).

Intramundane effects of the redeeming crucifixion

27. The cross as a symbol of God.s unlimited commitment to the salvation of sinners has concrete effects, which can be
experienced historically. Before we try to understand or even derive them theoretically we should acknowledge the
testimony of the Gospels and of the Acts of the Apostles. Obviously the events of death, resurrection and transmission
of the Holy Spirit changed the behaviour of the disciples radically: Before, the disciples were often obtuse and easy to
intimidate; afterwards, they preached the Gospel with incredible frankness (parresía). After his death by crucifixion,
which Jesus had taken on voluntary, his disciples became completely free from any fear of death. This shows: By his
raising at the cross Jesus has overcome the power of death, actually not only for himself but also for all who believed in
him. Since then the belief in Jesus has been sealed by a baptism which is a baptism into the death of Jesus (Rom 6:3f.).
It means a dying with Christ in order to live with him (Rom 6:8) and so to get released from the power of death and fear
of death (Rom 6:9).
28. Certainly, the dying of the baptizand is only a symbolic death. But thus far as this sacramental performance is made
up by faith, a fear of death loses its power, which enslaves the whole live, – namely in the forms of fear of loss, fear of
failure, and fear of being excluded as well as in the form of a craving for life, which wants to compensate a deep-rooted
fear of death at any cost. That death on the whole has lost its power by the redeeming death of Jesus, is not only proven
by the extreme example of martyrdom. Redeemed persons can already be recognized by their calmness regarding the
examples of earthly salvation. A perceptible nearness to God, friendship, material pleasures, and inner balance: These
are values which they can enjoy without greed or sorrows, because they are not tormented by the Sword of Damocles
which consists in a fear of loss. And, when it comes to the point, they can let go of all the good without bitterness, for
their citizenship is not here but in heaven (Phil 3:20).
29. Therefore redemption by the cross proves as a reality, which is clearly perceptible at very few extraordinary persons
and which is approximately perceptible at some more people. But when we understand redemption in this fashion, how
can it be a reality to the large majority of humans, who are plagued by sorrow and desire till their dying breath? In order
to comprehend that Jesus died not only for few people but for all (2 Cor 5:14f.), we must reflect on the effect of
redemption beyond the limits of earthly life.

3. Redemption and great assize

God follows the sinner without limits, – until death

30. Even with the death of the sinner God.s commitment does not come to an end. This is indicated by 1 Pet 3:19,6 as
well as by the passage of the Apostles. creed: „He descended to the death“. In recent times a theology of the Holy
Saturday has been worked out.7 More generally there.s a widespread agreement in today.s theology that the great assize

6
„He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a
proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in
the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved
through water.“ 1 Pet 3:18-20 (NRS) This statement is meant to people who died before Christ, – but a
widened application to all deceased seems reasonable.
7
Cf. Hans Urs von Balthasar, Theo-Drama. Volume V: The Last Act (Ignatius Pr 1994).

11
is not a heteronomous judgement but an encounter with Jesus Christ and hereby with the culprits and with the victims
of history, whom he identified with (cf. Mt 25:31-46). In the light of this all-embracing confrontation the decisions
which have been taken here in this world can mature to an ultimate „Yes“ or „No“ to God which means heaven or hell.
Here it is decisive that God follows the sinner down to the deepest abyss of his godless and inhuman ‚No‘, to open them
again and again new kairoí in a deepened self-revelation which bears the risk of even more serious offences against
love, but in this way opens up the chance to gain the lost heart of the sinner. This drama of salvation, which had become
vivid in the life and fate of Jesus nurtures our hope that there won.t exist any sinner, for whom the grace of God will not
suffice to save him.

The Christian obligation to hope for universal redemption („apocatastasis“)

31. The redeeming Christ event makes us not only capable to hope for the salvation of all, it even obliges us to such a
hope, – at least in the concrete sense that we must never give up the hope for salvation for anybody, whether it be Judas
or Hitler, for nobody who we know, and not even for ourselves. Mind you this universal restoration is subject of hope
and not of knowledge.

[hier weiter 1]

This unlimited commitment of God for the sinner establishes the hope for a universal
redemption. In § 30 and 31 I have worked this out in view of the grand assize. For time is short,
I will drop these explanations and leave it at the claim of a hope for universal redemption.

This hope for universal redemption does not dissolve man.s freedom of decision as well as the
profoundness of sin, but in contrary makes a special feature of both
32. This hope for a universal restoration is neither void nor cheap. It does not overrun human.s
freedom of choice nor the bottomlessness of sin and evil; quite the contrary. Sin is freedom to
bondage, and so it would tend to paralyze the capacity to do the evil, – unless God would
reactivate the paralyzed freedom, in order to redeem the sinner, – by the help of a deepened self-
revelation, which enables the obstinate sinner to rage even worse.

The price of redemption

33. Only by God.s continued salvific engagement the sinner receives the power to be really
destructive. This is the price of redemption. It consists not only in the risk to a worsened
dishonouring of God – who, by revealing Himself, makes Himself susceptible to attack when he opens up to the
sinner for contact –, but also in the risk of an unlimited violation of humans, of nature and also of
a bottomless self-destruction: „Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who
are members of my family, you did it to me“ (Mt 25:40.45).
From there, God*s risk of redemption concerns not only His crucified son, but the whole
world, which, according to the world, has come into being „in Christ“ who is the mediator of all
creation. In the following I will outline some of these mundane aspects of the risk of
redemption.

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4. Redemption and worlds suffering

4.1 The risk of redemption, in view of a bottomless human atrocity

34. Sometimes we can experience – in real life or by literary fiction –, how a spoilt sinner gets
transformed to the best by a deepened self-revelation of God, commonly put in concrete forms
by the selfless love of a defenceless person. Such occurrences support a hopeful belief in the
power of a redemption, which reaches the sinner from inside and so never overruns his freedom.
But also the risk of this way of redemption can be experienced. Sometimes unbelievable
atrocities occur, so excessive and with such an exceptional cynicism that humanities shy away
from any explanation. Here a dramatic theology of redemption can point out possible motives.
35. Let us consider Dostoyewsky.s horrible tale of a soldier who leads a baby to play with a
loaded pistol in his hands and – in the right moment – fires with the purpose to blow away the
baby.s lovely face, – and all this in full view of his scared mother.8
Here is my attempt of an explanation: When a mercenary, who has become expertly in
murdering people, encounters a helpless infant, his brutality could come to an end. In the form
of a powerless child God could appear to him once more, to reveal Himself in an unknown
depth and to break open the hardened shell around his trembling heart. So a heartbreaking
power comes exactly from a defenceless child. „God chose what is low and despised in the
world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are“ (1 Cor 1:28). But in the second
phase of this kairós, at the latest, the callous sinner may guess the danger which arises from
these innocent children.s eyes against the strongholds of his hate and inaccessibility. Exactly
this is the point where an unspeakable atrocity can break out, just like the one, Dostoyesky is
talking of. Its motif is the attempt to annihilate the voice of God – and of conscience –
definitely. Even the deepest – and in its powerlessness strongest – self-revelation of God does not rob the sinner of
his power to destroy.

26min

Hope for salvation even for the meanest criminals

36. The drama of Christian redemption expects us to hope for salvation even for this „artist“9 of
atrocity, – though it is inconceivable for us how God could reveal Himself to this brute in a yet
deeper way. But also beyond any imagination is the agony of remorse which waits for this man,
when he ultimately will turn to God and – driven by God*s love – gets confronted with the

8
Cf. Fyodor Dostoyewsky, The Brothers Karamazov: A Novel in Four Parts and an Epilogue (Penguin
Classics) 311f.
9
Dostoyesky uses the word „artist“ to describe the exceptional cruelty of these soldiers.

13
victims who he is responsible for. The grief of this remorse will exceed all what former
judgment-preachers could think up by picturing sadistic torments of hell. And there is still
another decisive difference to the past sermons of judgment: The pains of remorse are not
torments of hell but of purgatory, with the goal to prepare the repentant for heaven.

4.2 Redemption and theodicy

37. God goes beyond every limit for to save every sinner. Not only that he „did not withhold his
own son“ (Rom 8:32); by him, who is the mediator of all creation (cf. Col 1:15-20), God is
prepared to risk the whole world: He allows war, disease, atrocity, natural and climatic disaster.
When we don.t want to abandon our belief in a both good and almighty God, these worst strokes
of fate force us to the burning question what the sense of these cruelties could be. Our
reflections suggest the idea that the suffering of helpless people could draw notorious sinners to
change. Christs life and fate opens up an idea of redemption by suffering and death, which
affects not only him but all human beings and the whole world. And the New Testament
supports the idea of a final judgment which exceeds all our possibilities of judging. But the
material basis for this great assize can only consist in the occurrences of this world within our
finite lifetime. This is the case because according to Christian belief it is inconceivable that the
eschatological confrontation between men and Jesus Christ could engender a new history of free
decisions and acting. The eschatological judgment can find its end only by organizing the
fragments of all biographies – with all the doing and letting go of good and bad – in a way that
these biographies would converge to a unanimous ‚Yes‘ to God. In this judgment love and truth,
mercy and justice will meet in a mode, that the deepest experience of love will lead to an
excruciating but at the same time exhilarating purgatory. I dare to use a risky metaphor: All the
suffering of the victims of our world and history provides the fuel for this redemptive fire of
remorse.
38. If we would try to explain in particular all the suffering in the world by such reflections, this
would run out to an unbearably cynical theology. But on the other hand, theologians have no
business to criticize the victims of our history in advance in case they would get prepared to
forgive their tormentors, when they would comprehend in the all-embracing overview of the
great assize that their undeserved suffering facilitated the deliverance of notorious sinners, –
though to a burning fire of remorse. We can neither exclude nor prejudge the possibility that
such deliverance will finally be a reality for all men. But in the mode of hope we may and even
must believe that God is capable of doing so.

4.3 Redemption and apocalypse

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The corroding „salt of the earth“
39. By Christ.s death and ascension his redeeming influence over the world has not come to an
end. It is extended by all persons who have already been changed by the redemptive love of God
so that they have commenced to be „salt of the earth“ (Mt 5:13) by themselves. This salt has a
corrosive and decomposing effect to the structures of „this world“ (in a Johannine sense).10 Mind
you, these structures which are threatened by the evangelical salt are not exclusively destructive; for they conatin
violence by violence, injustice by injustice, the redeeming impact of the Gospels can provoke an increase of damage,
conflict, distress, and violence, – at least superficially and medium-range.

Redemption of the world through apocalypse

40. Not only individual people, but also the whole mankind is longing for full salvation (in all
fundamental relations); and this can only be fulfilled, when „God may be all in all“ (1 Cor 15:28).
Here the same applies to the global dimension as to the individual perspective: This end cannot
be realized in a straight line but only through decline and death. This disillusioning insight is
broadly unfolded by the apocalypses of the Gospels and especially by the Revelation of John.
The apocalyptic excess of violence and destruction cannot be avoided by Christian commitment.
Rather it will be aggravated, because „the gospel must first be published among all nations“
(Mk 13:10 KJV), and that means, that all people and systems will be confronted with the
corroding salt of the Gospel. How they will react, whether they will make use of the kairós or
whether they will oppose the impact of the Gospel, has to remain undecided in particular,
because this is a matter of an unpredictable freedom of choice. But all – biblical and later –
experience regarding the resistance of „this world“ drives our expectations of an unproblematic
repentance (without neglected kairoí) illusionary.

Nevertheless: Love of the world by Christians

41. Does this mean that Christians are singing the funeral hymns to this world? Is their
commitment to justice, peace, and keeping of creation the result of a misunderstanding of
Christian principles or – even worse – the insincere attempt to get pally with this world? No! –
„The gospel must first be published among all nations“ (Mk 13:10). And just like Jesus, his
followers are required to support their proclamation of the Gospel with deeds. Salvation has also
an incarnate, mundane dimension: „The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are
cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them“ (Mt
11:5). According to the gospels, miracles should be part of a powerful preaching, but also a
resolute commitment to peace, justice, and keeping of creation. Being tangible symbols of love,
these deeds have their significance – but also their limitation – in this respect that they are real-
symbols for the fullness of salvation, which marks the Kingdom of God proclaimed by Jesus. Being real-

10
Cf. René Girard, Things Hidden since the Foundation of the World. London 1987.

15
symbols, they are indispensable for the proclamation of the Kingdom of God, which according
to Jesus is already imminent in this world; being real-symbols, they are still different to the
heavenly Kingdom of God, which according to Jesus is still outstanding in this world. They
have their limited time and space, so that they cannot be preserved to the ultimate without being
subjected to a break. That means that people who follow Jesus must always be ready to let go of
all examples of salvation which they have gained. Every peace of salvation in this world must
be risked, when this is demanded by the risk of redemption. In the face of hardened sin, Jesus
could only offer the „sign of the prophet Jonah“, which means judgment (Lk 11:29), suffering,
death, and resurrection (Mt 12:39). There are situations where Christians are not better off than
Christ (cf. Jn 15:20). Under the circumstances of hardened sin they can be obliged to become
servants of God without any „form or majesty“ (Isa 53:2), in order to become a „sign of the
prophet Jonah“ for stubborn sinners, and in this way – by means of love and never with forcing
violence – to destroy strongholds (2 Cor 10:4) which have been erected against God and world,
against themselves and their neighbours.

Love of the world und contempt for the world on the basis of two ways for redemption
42. The seemingly contradictory fact that Christians – and actually all humans – can be
appointed to love of the world and to contempt for the world, to an ultimate commitment for the
world and to a radical abandoning of the world, is based on the central reason of life, which is
to love and by this means to contribute to redeeming the world. And redemption has to result in
two ways, in order to respect the freedom of man.

5. The two ways of redemption

The direct first way of redemption through a powerful proclamation of the kingdom of God
43. The dramatic work and fate of Jesus Christ shows that redemption is effected in two
different ways: first directly by a powerful proclamation of the imminent Kingdom of God by
words and deeds. Without any preceding conditions Jesus plants the seed of fulfilment –
salvation and freedom – in the middle of this world. If all humans would „make the most of the
time“ (Eph 5:16 NRS: exagorazómenoi ton kairón), then redemption would spread all over the
world without any break. Whether this would come to be, is only a matter of the free choice of
humans who were addressed by God through a kairós. Therefore its possibility cannot be
excluded a priori. But it is a matter of experience, testified by the Gospels, that humans very
often reject this direct offer for redemption, and that they in this way not only gamble away there
own chance for salvation but also put grief on others and hinder them to accept the divine kairós
for their own sake.

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Gods „plan B“ in the face of the rejected first way of redemption
44. When man rejects the kairological offer of salvation, due to the necessary respect of their
free decision, they can no more be saved directly. Here Jesus. judgment words and his
crucifixion open up a divine „plan B“, a fallback option, by which they can get redeemed
nevertheless, though „on the hard way“, through a breaking, „as through fire“ (1 Cor 3:15).
45. This breaking is a breaking of themselves, it is a culpable breaking of others, and it can be
a breaking, which has been taken over voluntary by others, in order to open up a last resort to
the stubborn sinner, though through a break which the remorseful culprit will have to bear
voluntary.

SCHLUSS

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Crossings between the two ways of redemption
46. It would be a much to simple idea, that God would start for everybody with a direct offer for redemption, to change
completely to plan B in the case of an already unique rejection. If it were this way, than all humans were tied down to
redemption through breaking. But the human soul is a complex pattern, with many unaligned threads of decisions. Time
and again even notorious sinners, who gambled away a lot of kairoí, are put into a new kairós without any preconditions,
– actually with a real chance to be led back to the first way of redemption, which is characterized by an experience of
increasing grace.

No fixing on a spirituality of the cross!

47. This leads us to a severe critique of a fixing on God.s „plan B“, – whether regarding others,
by leaving them to judgment in a self-righteous mode, or regarding oneself, by setting on an
escapistic spirituality of suffering and cross. Again and again Christians have to restart with the
first way, in an unceasing readiness to forgive and to endeavour for real-symbols of salvation in
this world. If understood correctly the knowledge regarding God.s ‚plan B‘ will not weaken
Christians. commitment for salvation in this world, but rather support it with a backing for
critical circumstances.

5. „Quest for human and cosmic fullness“: Answers to the questions for the
symposium

5.1 „What are the different ways – various religious traditions, ideologies, movements and
worldviews – in which human and cosmic fullness have been conceived?“

48. The presented approach examines the question of redemption in a Christian, catholic-
dogmatic perspective, – namely in the tracks of a dramatic theology, which is influenced by
Hans Urs von Balthasar11 and which is mainly situated in the sphere of the Innsbruck dramatic
theology.12 Dramatic theology is a kind of salvation-historical theology which emphasizes the
history of conflict between divine and human acting. In this perspective redemption appears as
a risky dramatic process.
In this process earthly salvation – in the fundamental relations to God, neighbour, world and self
– has to be striven for as a real-symbol of an eschatological „human and cosmic fullness“; but
if need be it is also necessary for Christians to put it on stake (cf. chapter 4).
49. The world (in a Johannine sense) has settled down into a reduced fullness, which is
estimated in comparison to others. This leads to an unlimited growth of need and lack – a really

11
Cf. Hans Urs von Balthasar, Theo-Drama. Volume I – V.
12
Cf. Raymund Schwager, Jesus in the Drama of Salvation.

18
satisfactory fullness can never be reached – and to a systemic necessity of losers.
50. Redemption starts with an unknown and incomprehensible depth of divine self-revelation by
Jesus Christ; – „from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace“ (Jn 1:16). „Yet the
world did not know him“ (Jn 1:10), but rejected him, because his claims demanded
unacceptable cut backs to the hitherto attained and claimed fullness in this world. In order to
comprehend the provocative dimensions of Jesus. redeeming message it must be understood,
that the complete fullness, which Jesus addressed with his proclamation of the Kingdom of God,
cannot be reached in direct extension of the provisional fullness in this world, but only via death
and decline (or at least the readiness for it). „Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and
mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.“
(Lk 14:26).

5.2 „What is the relevance of the proposed way of conceiving fullness for here and now?“

51. Salvation in the dimensions of the fundamental relations (God, neighbour, world and self;
cf. § 6) has to be striven for in its function as a real-symbol for the full, eschatological salvation.
But Christians must not cling to them at any cost. Under the condition of a sinful making
absolute of mundane goods, renunciation can become a necessary symbol for a deeper and more
truthful fullness (cf. chapter 5).

5.3 „Is this fullness in a given tradition seen in communitarian or individual terms or
both?“

52. In this approach fullness is described by the term salvation, which is unfolded in four
fundamental relations (relation to God, to others, to world, and to self; cf. § 6). So
communitarian and as well as individual terms are decisive.

5.4 „How does a given tradition perceive the fullness of those who don.t belong to that
particular tradition?“

53. Redemption in the sense of salvation and freedom depends on a personal assent to God.s
salvific offer; but in our world this assent can also be performed in an anonymous mode, i.e.
regarding experiences of salvation along other fundamental relations (interpersonal, self-related,
and to world in nature and culture), as they contain the demand to change one.s life.

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5.5 „Does a given vision of human and cosmic fullness encourage human solidarity?“

54. Human solidarity is a high value; as a real-symbol it represents the imminent Kingdom of
God, when it can be hold in an integrated way, which means: not off the backs of others, and not
at the expense of other fundamental relations, especially the relation to God. That means, that
actually situations are possible, where dominating obligations to solidarity must be abandoned
in loyalty to Christian faith.

5.6 „What role does material progress have in a given vision of cosmic fullness?“

55. Material progress can be a symbol for the fullness of eschatological salvation, – both
regarding material prosperity, and regarding man.s destination by creation to shape the world
out of his own creativity. On the other hand there exist a lot of situations, where material
progress has to be risked in favour of other, dominating values (cf. chapter 4 and 5).

5.7 „Is there a link between material progress and inner transformation in a given
understanding of cosmic fullness?“

56. The link between material progress and inner transformation is symbolic, – according to the
somatic-psychical structure of man. Though material progress serves as means to the higher
values of interpersonal solidarity and love. Therefore a lot of situations can arise, where a direct
proportionality between material progress and inner transformation is broken. This is the case
in an even sharpened form, because redemption is mainly not realized straight, but through
death and decline (cf. chapter 4).

5.8 „Is this human and cosmic fullness ... something awaited or something already
happening?“

57. Human and cosmic fullness is rudimentary present as real-symbols for the Kingdom of God.
So it is moulded by the same tension between „already now“ and „not yet“, which is
characteristic for the proclamation of the Kingdom of God by Jesus.

5.9 „How and why can/shall we speak of salvation/redemption in our today.s world?“

58. Redemption is a process which has already begun in our world and which contains

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indications which are perceptible to believers. Redemption is a dramatic process with decisive
stages (accepted or refused kairós; processes of renunciation and repentance, but also of a
hardening heart; dramatic escalations ...) which happen in different constellations in our world.
In the light of the Christ event these stages can be viewed as an overall dramatic process which
aims at a universal redemption of all humans. Part of this overall dramatic process are also
apocalyptic escalations. Their escalating logic can be comprehended, but it is in no way possible
to locate them historically, because these are events where human (and also divine) freedom are
engaged in an unforeseeable way.
59. Salvation and redemption are the end of human existence. Salvation is the „content“ of
redemption (in the four fundamental relations, cf. § 6.); freedom is the specific form of its
acquisition; the leading main act is love. The reason of human life consists not only in achieving
redemption by loving, but also to contribute to the redemption of others by love. For that the
gained earthly goods are means, but not an end which has to be kept at all costs.

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