莫特曼：在盼望中面對苦難，從盼望中領受苦難

Where freedom has come near, the chains begin to hurt.
Where life is close, death becomes deadly.
Where God proclaims his presence, the God-forsakenness of the world turns into suffering.
Thus the theodicy question, born of suffering and pain, negatively mirrors the positive hope for God’s future.
We begin to suffer from the conditions of our world if we begin to love the world.
And we begin to love the world if we are able to discover hope for it.
And we can discover hope for this world if we hear the promise of a future which stands against frustration, transiency, and death.   (Jürgen Moltmann)

看來沒有人可以逃避面對苦難；但只有那些愛上帝的人、愛上帝創造的世界的人，以及愛上帝所愛的鄰舍的人，不僅是在盼望中面對苦難 (Suffer in Hope)，而且更是從盼望中領受苦難 (Suffer from Hope)。若是我們可以如此來理解莫爾特曼的苦難-盼望觀，耶穌基督曾經形容和描述的基督來臨的末世情景徵兆，是否如莫氏所言：世界進入它的受苦，也意味著上帝在世界中宣告他來臨中國度的臨在？莫氏的觀點為世界面對苦難這問題提供了另一個視角的理解。