- I am a theologian who wants to be a disciple of Jesus. Jesus wanted to save Israel from destruction by following a t... moreI am a theologian who wants to be a disciple of Jesus. Jesus wanted to save Israel from destruction by following a third way, the way of love of opponents. He failed, but in the twentieth century his way was finally tried by Gandhi and King. As he was called to save Israel, we are called to save the biosphere. Nonviolent loving resistance against the many forces that are destroying the biosphere is my task as Jesus' disciple today.(I am a theologian who wants to be a disciple of Jesus. Jesus wanted to save Israel from destruction by following a third way, the way of love of opponents. He failed, but in the twentieth century his way was finally tried by Gandhi and King. As he was called to save Israel, we are called to save the biosphere. Nonviolent loving resistance against the many forces that are destroying the biosphere is my task as Jesus' disciple today.)edit
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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... more
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 what sense can be made of basic biblical ideas in this context. In other instances, the tradition through the centuries plays the primary role. Here it is assumed that the church's teaching is the responsible development of biblical teaching, but the task is not so much to check this assumption as to build on the tradition.
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A presentation of the nine major systematic Protestant theologies that dominated the 1960's. Summaries of each position are logically drawn and treated as living options before being critically examined. The first section of the book... more
A presentation of the nine major systematic Protestant theologies that dominated the 1960's. Summaries of each position are logically drawn and treated as living options before being critically examined. The first section of the book looks at theologians who are explicit in their philosophical commitment. The second treats those who seek in revelation an alternative to dependence on philosophy. In the third section, the author evaluates the existential mode of thought and those who espouse it. Originally published by the Westminster Press in 1962.
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Since 1991, one division of the Bank has been devoted to ‘sustainable development.’ This division does not plan or approve projects, but it does engage in research. Since in principle the Bank wants all of the development it promotes to... more
Since 1991, one division of the Bank has been devoted to ‘sustainable development.’ This division does not plan or approve projects, but it does engage in research. Since in principle the Bank wants all of the development it promotes to be sustainable, the results of this research should affect all the practice of the Bank. Within this division, fresh work is being done on a paradigm that is far superior to those discussed in Chapter 8 — a paradigm of genuinely sustainable development. In this paradigm social and environmental considerations cease to be mere epicycles and play a much larger role.
The economistic age was ushered in at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in 1944. While most of the world’s attention was directed to the establishment of the United Nations, the actions taken at Bretton Woods would prove, in the long run,... more
The economistic age was ushered in at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in 1944. While most of the world’s attention was directed to the establishment of the United Nations, the actions taken at Bretton Woods would prove, in the long run, more fateful. These actions were about the organization of the global economic order.
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A distinguished thinker ponders the meaning of Wesley's theology. John B. Cobb, Jr., draws on the historical, critical, and literary work that has characterized Wesley studies in recent years, but moves beyond them to propose one way... more
A distinguished thinker ponders the meaning of Wesley's theology. John B. Cobb, Jr., draws on the historical, critical, and literary work that has characterized Wesley studies in recent years, but moves beyond them to propose one way of reconstructing and reappropriating essential elements of Wesley's thought in service of the church's life and mission.
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The dominant ideal of the American university is to excel in research. To this end it has organized itself in terms of academic disciplines. These discourage critical thought. Their goal of good research could be realized in the context... more
The dominant ideal of the American university is to excel in research. To this end it has organized itself in terms of academic disciplines. These discourage critical thought. Their goal of good research could be realized in the context of intellectual inquiry. But the most prestigious universities today are those that have most fully rejected this alternative. The liberal arts colleges that hire their graduates have great difficulty maintaining the tradition of liberal arts. Concern for the holistic development of students is in tension with studies that aim to be “value free.” Value free research is done for the highest bidder. There is no place in the university for discussing its assumptions or those of the academic disciplines that make up its curriculum. Even if academic disciplines operate on mutually inconsistent assumptions, the university does not consider this worthy of study. The experts produced by the anti-intellectual university contribute more to the global crisis th...
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My primary self-definition is as a theologian. Dealing with the concept of God as a theologian, one is always in the midst of a discussion, a discussion that is continuous with that reflected in the Bible. Most of the time that is the way... more
My primary self-definition is as a theologian. Dealing with the concept of God as a theologian, one is always in the midst of a discussion, a discussion that is continuous with that reflected in the Bible. Most of the time that is the way I deal with the question of God intellectually.
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Hick’s project is to find a way, of understanding the several religious traditions so that their respective claims will not be in conflict. The ideal would be that believers in one tradition who understand themselves in the way he... more
Hick’s project is to find a way, of understanding the several religious traditions so that their respective claims will not be in conflict. The ideal would be that believers in one tradition who understand themselves in the way he proposes could accept believers in other traditions as having equal, or at least comparable, claims to truth and validity. This is a worthy goal, one that I share. But I fear that the way in which Hick seeks to accomplish his purposes pays too high a price.
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Wiebe approaches my book with very different assumptions from mine, and as a result finds almost everything unclear. Although I am not persuaded that his criticisms in themselves bring us much closer to "the real structures of... more
Wiebe approaches my book with very different assumptions from mine, and as a result finds almost everything unclear. Although I am not persuaded that his criticisms in themselves bring us much closer to "the real structures of religious thought cross-culturally," I do appreciate the chance to clarify what I want to say. The title of Wiebe's critique highlights one of his concerns. Since I expect that after dialogue Buddhism and Christianity will remain different, he asks what difference the dialogue will have made. My answer is that each will have learned from the other and been inwardly transformed by what it has learned. This process of mutual learning will bring them closer together, but I do not see that it should lead to identity. In a different vein Wiebe notes that I assume that dialogue transforms the dialogue partners. To do so, of course, it must be a dialogue that leads beyond dialogue. Wiebe's objection is that we might find instead that the traditions are in opposition and conflict. Surely he is correct. Indeed, which traditions are not in opposition and conflict? Also, there are traditions with which it is inappropriate for Christians to engage in dialogue at all. They should simply be condemned. But my interest in this book is with the great religious traditions of humankind. I do not see how a Christian can wish simply to condemn any of these. Surely they are all bearers of truth and wisdom! But surely also the truths they bear are quite different, in many cases, from those we know in our own tradition. The point of the deepest dialogue is to share our differing apprehensions of truth.
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When the first edition ofA Christian Natural Theologyappeared in 1965, it was a groundbreaking work that incorporated Alfred North Whitehead's metaphysical philosophy as a framework for developing a Christian natural theology. The... more
When the first edition ofA Christian Natural Theologyappeared in 1965, it was a groundbreaking work that incorporated Alfred North Whitehead's metaphysical philosophy as a framework for developing a Christian natural theology. The work was so significant it ...
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L'A. partage les idees de Ian Barbour qui le rassurent. Malgre les importants changements en physique, les perspectives de Whitehead qui ont ete si importantes pour lui en tant que chretien lui permettent de comprendre le monde physique
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n the broader context of the North American scene today, “being progressive” is my central interest and commitment. But in other I contexts, often more immediate, my argument is for being conservative. Surely the truth is that authentic... more
n the broader context of the North American scene today, “being progressive” is my central interest and commitment. But in other I contexts, often more immediate, my argument is for being conservative. Surely the truth is that authentic Christianity today is both progressive and conservative. Since I am a representative of “progressive Christianity” and since I am happy to be labeled in that way (among others), mainly I will argue that authentic faith expresses itself in progressive ways. First, however, I want to argue the importance of being conservative.
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products of man's own creation, expressions of his own power. The complexity of the formation of meaning is missed in this individualized model. Meaning is constituted between beings. There is a centrifugal-centripetal pattern which... more
products of man's own creation, expressions of his own power. The complexity of the formation of meaning is missed in this individualized model. Meaning is constituted between beings. There is a centrifugal-centripetal pattern which has elaborate complexities of operation. The intention of the symbol is not wholly individualistic. It is both a given and a received. Feuerbach moves toward this insight at points, insofar as there is the other and Nature. However, because of his one-dimensional model for thinking, Feuerbach largely misses the horizons of meanings of acts and symbols. He follows the symbols only partway. The question is if the meaning of the sacred overflows the anthropological images and derivatives. The phenomenology of religion has shown us that symbols cannot be simply translated into human terms and equivalents. There is a More. Feuerbach does not perceive, or he quickly rejects, the authentic nature of this thrust of man's being. Perhaps even the wishes for breaking the categorical schemata of existence which Feuerbach rejects are the authentic signs of man's Being. That is a crucial question for philosophy and theology, and Feuerbach is largely responsible for posing it in all its dramatic clarity. The angst of modern existence runs deeper and is much more determinative than Feuerbach could have conceived it to be. The phenomenology of religion in our age has moved to let the sacred be, and that is a mode of thinking fundamentally different from Feuerbach's. But in some measure, in breaking the tyrannical sacrality of religion, Feuerbach contributed to an openness and a modern hermeneutic which paradoxically allowed such a discipline as the study of religion to arise within the secularized university.
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... 2 Alfred North Whitehead, Process and Reality (New York: The Social Science Book Store, 1929), p. 35. Page 5. ... 106-111 and 148-158, reprinted in Eliseo Vivas and Murray Krieger, The Problems of Aesthetics (New York: Rinehart &... more
... 2 Alfred North Whitehead, Process and Reality (New York: The Social Science Book Store, 1929), p. 35. Page 5. ... 106-111 and 148-158, reprinted in Eliseo Vivas and Murray Krieger, The Problems of Aesthetics (New York: Rinehart & Co., 1953), pp. 304-314. Page 6. ...
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... Missoula: Scholars Press. 1976a "The Old Testament in 'Process' Perspective: Proposal for a Way Forward in Biblical Theology." Pp. 480-509 in Magnolia Dei: The Mighty Acts of God.... more
... Missoula: Scholars Press. 1976a "The Old Testament in 'Process' Perspective: Proposal for a Way Forward in Biblical Theology." Pp. 480-509 in Magnolia Dei: The Mighty Acts of God. ... Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Claremont Graduate School. ...
Research Interests: Philosophy, Theology, New Testament, Exegesis, Scholarship, and 2 moreExplication and The American(Explication and The American)
(Explication and The American)
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HE problem of defining Christianity or of specifying what it means to be a Christian can be approached in several ways. It can be approached institutionally with the understanding that a Christian is one who belongs to an institution that... more
HE problem of defining Christianity or of specifying what it means to be a Christian can be approached in several ways. It can be approached institutionally with the understanding that a Christian is one who belongs to an institution that identifies itself as Christian. For statistical studies this method is appropriate, but serious Christians know that institutional affiliation and genuine Christianity are not identical. A second approach is through belief: A Christian is one who believes certain things, such as the divinity of Jesus, the authority of the church, or the doctrine of the Trinity. This approach also has its usefulness. Christians as a whole do believe some things that others do not generally believe. But two problems arise. First, diversity of belief among those sincerely identifying themselves as Christians is vast, and the specification of common beliefs is exceedingly difficult. Even when particular verbal formulae receive widespread acceptance, they carry quite different meanings in different Christian groups. Second, most Christians do not regard cognitive assent to propositions as the essence of being Christian. Persons of impeccable orthodoxy in belief may still be regarded as not Christian. James's devils are a case in point. A third approach is through ethics. A Christian is understood as one who conforms his life to certain ethical principles, who accepts responsibility for his society, or who is characterized by kindness in interpersonal relations. Here also two problems arise. First, much of Christian theology, especially in Protestantism, has sharply distinguished faith and works in such a way as to conflict with any definition of Christianity in ethical terms. The righteous pagan has not been regarded as a Christian. Second, those who are called Christian by such criteria may resent the claim. They understand themselves as Jews or humanists, Marxists or Buddhists, and they see no justification for the claim that their virtues are peculiarly Christian. A fourth approach is to reject the attempt to distinguish Christians from others. To be a Christian, it is held, is simply to be a man, to be fully human. The sentence is not reversible. Hence the Christian makes no claim that only Christians can be fully human; the point is rather that as a Christian a man is called to nothing else than full humanity. The problem with this approach is that it erroneously assumes that being fully human is a state 327