Article
The ‘60s were a shattering time for many of us. We were taught by blacks, Indians and Chicanos to read American history in a new way. The war in Vietnam forced us to look from unaccustomed perspectives at the role played by the United States in international affairs. On the one hand, this was for …
Article
The topic of this lecture was proposed by Cathy Bone. I had originally suggested “How God Works in Evolution: A Process View.” In the U. S. this has been a hot topic for some time because of the objection of conservative Christians to the Neo-Darwinian theory of evolution. I share the objection to Neo-Darwinism, but …
Continue reading “A Theology of Enjoyment for a Post Capitalist Life”
Article
I was born of Southern Methodist missionary parents in Japan and spent most of my childhood there to the age of 15. This saved me from imbibing the racial attitudes so central to the culture of Georgia, which was their home. If my parents shared those attitudes, they never showed them or spoke in terms …
Article
To speak of religious pluralism is often simply to state the obvious. There is a plurality of religious traditions. Usually it means something more, that is, that we should be appreciative and respectful toward all of them instead of supposing that one is true and good and the others false and evil. In this sense, …
Article
I In my previous lecture I talked about the need to consider separately every other religious tradition and how as Christians we should understand and relate to each. We must consider the history of our past relation to it, its strengths and weaknesses, and the practical effects of taking particular actions. We may end up …
Article
I. Introduction The word "capital," like most important words, has many possible definitions. In its narrowest or most basic meaning , it refers only to those things that make human labor more productive, such as building, machinery, and infrastructure for industrial production. In a much broader and more popular meaning, it refers to …
Book Chapter
The meaning of process theology: 1. As developed out of Alfred North Whitehead’s thought. 2. Theology that emphasizes event, occurrence, or becoming over against substance. 3. Process theology that developed at the Chicago Divinity School during the thirties.
Book Chapter
Dr. Cobb identifies a number of anthropological themes of political theology and develops their political implications.
Book Chapter
Optimistic expectation of society’s progression and the turning away from socio-historical thinking have caused thought to turn to the question of finding meaning in history without continuous progression.
Book Chapter
A survey of the history of political theology, with comments on the perspective and promise of process theology in its relation to political theology.
Book Chapter
A theology of history may have its dangers, but Christianity has strong reason for developing such a theology anyway.
Book Chapter
The author questions whether process thought’s raising the importance of the ecological horizon excludes it from political theology.
Book Chapter
How process theology can become a political theology committed to the indivisible salvation of the whole world.
Article
In the 30th chapter of Deuteronomy, after many laws have been laid down, many warnings and promises given, we encounter the climactic exhortation. We have been shown the way of life and the way of death. We are urged to choose the way of life. Judaism has been the vehicle for teaching and practicing this …
Article
Christianity is a religious tradition with many strands and many potentialities for expression. Tonight I will highlight some of the strands that support empire and some that oppose it. I need hardly say that I regard the latter as more authentically Christian. I say this because I am a Pauline Christian who reads the Bible …
Article
I. What is "post-modern"? "Postmodern" is an intentionally odd term in English. For a long time, the words "modern" and "contemporary" and "up-to-date" were used almost interchangeably. The content of the "modern" changed with time. What was technologically "modern" in the nineteenth century was called "Victorian" in the twentieth century. However, the term, "modern", became …
Article
I The issues of poverty and possessions have been central to biblical and Christian reflection. That does not mean that there is one clear position. It certainly does not mean that Christians have lived consistently by Christian teachings. Especially since the eighteenth century, confusion has reigned. It has been Christian (or post-Christian) cultures that have …
Continue reading “Consumerism, Economism, and Christian Faith”
Article
First, let me say very clearly that I am engaged in a problematic venture. I will be talking about texts that I am barely able to make out the words in Greek. Stating this is not a matter of modesty; it is simply acknowledging the deplorable truth. When David Lull, who teaches New Testament at …
Continue reading “Did Paul Teach the Doctrine of the Atonement?”
Article
I have been asked to say something about the global economy from an East Asian perspective. I can’t really do that. My perspective is a critical Western one. Nevertheless, I can talk about some thinking that comes from the East that is also critical of the dominant Western economic thought, and my appreciation for it. …
Article
I It is my special pleasure to welcome you to Claremont for this conference. The topic is one about which I know very little myself, but about which I have had the good fortune to have met others who know a great deal. They have persuaded me that no topic could be more important …
Article
My topic allows me to reflect more about myself than about the work of Ivan Illich himself. That is fortunate, since I would have difficulty writing a paper on Illich’s ecological interest and thought. Indeed, I doubt that the reading of Illich has led many people to give sustained attention to ecology. Certainly that was …
Article
As I read the passages of scripture in the lectionary for today, I found myself identifying most with the author of this psalm. Obviously I cannot do so in any literal way, but I doubt that the original author was literal in intention either. He, assuming it was a man, may have thought more literally …
Article
The nature of theology has changed dramatically from time to time during the course of Christian history. There have been periods of greatness followed by others when little happened of long-term interest. The high Middle Ages was one period of greatness. The task of theology then was to provide an overarching context in which the …
Article
This title invites two levels of discussion. First, there is the urgent need to revivify belief in the importance of caring for something beyond the interests of one’s self and the groups with which one identifies. Second, there is the need to clarify what the common good may be and how we can act so …
Article
1. My Point of View As I compare Marx and Whitehead, I think it important to let you know from what point of view I do so. I am sure that point of view is very different from that of one who has lived through recent decades in China. It is also very different from …
Article
I It is my great joy and privilege to welcome you to Claremont. We are truly honored that you have come to exchange ideas with us. You certainly should not come to the United States in hopes of finding here an ecological civilization. What you may find are people who have been hoping and working …
Continue reading “Necessities for an Ecological Civilization”
Book Chapter
Dr. Cobb’s interest in both political and process theology gives him a theological base for Christian activism and concern for the planet earth.
Article
Gabor Karsai suggested that I might explain to you some of the contributions that Alfred North Whitehead has made to philosophy. I will, of course, speak as an American and in terms of the philosophical situation in the United States. I should also say that I am a theologian, and that means that my interest …
Article
I Christian theology is necessarily rooted in the Bible. Nevertheless, the role the Bible plays in theology varies greatly among theologies. At one extreme are theologies that regard their task as systematizing the teaching of the Bible. At the other extreme are theologies that take the best of contemporary thought as normative and then explain …
Continue reading “Process Theology and the Bible: How Science Has Changed Our View of God”
Book
(ENTIRE BOOK) Dr. Cobb applies process theology to the relevance of the world in expressions of hope, liberation theology, political theology and issues facing the global environment.
Article
In this lecture I am using “religion” in a somewhat broader way than is usual. I understand “religion” in its root meaning of binding up. A religion is a system of beliefs and practices that commands personal and social devotion. The word is most often used for the great universal systems that arose two …
Article
Science and theology have had a long history together. For the most part the relation has been friendly, but the controversy over evolution in the latter part of the nineteenth century led to a cultural change. During the twentieth century most people came to view this relation as one of tension, if not enmity. We …
Article
We live in the best of times and in the worst of times. Charles Dickens started his book, A Tale of Two Cities, with a paradoxical statement of this sort about the time of the French Revolution. It applies to today with even greater force. We live in the best of times. I can attest …
Article
A topic of this kind lends itself to discussion at many levels. One is the level of the common good of a national society. The other is the common good of the whole world. In the first instance, Cobb focuses on multiculturalism; in the second, on the economy. I In highly homogeneous societies, the idea …
Article
The title of this discussion points toward the need to clarify what we mean by the common good. Is it the greatest good of the greatest number? I think not. But do we, then, think of it as describing a situation that is ideal in some independence of the people who participate in it? For …
Continue reading “The Common Good: Individual Rights and Community Responsibility”
Article
1. What is process thought? There is, of course, no true or false answer to this question. A better question would be: “How shall we use the term, process thought?” We need not all agree, but it is helpful for each to know how others use it. I use it broadly and narrowly. Broadly, I …
Continue reading “The Potential Contribution of Process Thought”
Article
In introductions of process thought, we usually tread lightly on the topic of metaphysics. I considered avoiding the word in entitling what I want to say today. I feared that many would assume they could not understand what I would say or that, if they did, it would be of no interest. But I decided …
Article
The regress is evident. The world is still in decay. Of course, there are scattered examples of restoration of what seemed lost, but the most one can say in general is that some forms of decay have been slowed. Other aspects, such as global warming, may be accelerating. My own country, the United States, now …
Continue reading “The Road to Sustainability: Progress and Regress”
Article
Many of the authors in this book propose new ways of imaging human relations to nature, the earth, and nonhuman animals. Some self-consciously propose a new, life-centered theology of nature and a life-centered ethic. What is the role of such a theology of nature in the life of the church? Is it simply a restatement …
Continue reading “The Role of Theology of Nature in the Church”
Article
We are gathered as a quite diverse group. Yet we sense that what unites us may be more important than what divides us. I propose that what unites us is “realism” in two senses. First, we believe that we are speaking of a real God. For two centuries, now, this has become increasingly difficult, and …
Article
First, let me express my appreciation for the invitation to give these lectures. A lecture series is an occasion to think through some question with considerably more thoroughness than a single lecture allows. One of the questions that has been on my mind for a long time, but has always been pushed to the back …
Continue reading “To Whom Can We Go? I. Jesus’ Call for Progressive Protestants”
Article
In the Johannine story the teachings of Jesus that drove many away were about the eating of his body and the drinking of his blood. I for one do not blame Jews for being turned off by some of this language. Ever since then, many have ceased to follow Jesus because they could not believe …
Continue reading “To Whom Can We Go? II. Secular and Religious Alternatives”
Article
In the first lecture I explained why, for liberal and progressive Protestants the question of whether we should turn to someone other than Jesus is a serious, even critical, one. In the second lecture I looked at what happens when people simply drift away from Jesus into the wider Western culture, the option of Gautama, …
Continue reading “To Whom Can We Go? III. Jesus and the University”
Article
1. “God” the Enemy. Somewhere in the widespread preference for “spirituality” over “religion” there is a revulsion toward “God.” Such a revulsion is healthy. “God” has meant many things, and most of them harm more than they help. Beginning with the evolutionary controversies in the late nineteenth century, “God” has symbolized, for many scientists, opposition …
Article
To be a Christian is to hold Jesus in highest esteem. Even more important, it is to live as Jesus’ follower and as one who believes that in following Jesus one is also serving God. According to the synoptic gospels, people in his day, marveling at his words and deeds, called him "Lord." The great …
Article
I. The Global Crisis When I chose this topic for the opening CPS seminar for this semester, I was very much aware of the global crisis that is the context of all that we do. I am convinced that process thought has great potential to help respond to this crisis. I planned to let the …
