James Hal Cone (August 5, 1938 – April 28, 2018), the Bill and Judith Moyers Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, has done what few have accomplished in human history. He developed a new academic discipline that crossed three publics: the church, higher education, and the broader society. Because of his commitment to his mission, millions have been touched by black liberation theology globally. He taught us how the gospel of Jesus is for the poor and the oppressed, the bruised and the wounded. Therefore, the mission and message of the gospel is not antithetical to but is the essence of liberation.

Cone earned his PhD from Northwestern University in 1965. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a recipient of the Marty E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion, and held thirteen honorary degrees. His Cross and the Lynching Tree text won the Grawemeyer Award.

Since 1969, from the famous halls of Union, Cone has produced several generations of scholars, church leaders, and civic voices. And his students have gone on to impact teaching and learning in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe (eastern and western sections), Latin America, and the Pacific Islands.

The teaching and training of students have been accompanied by the publication of his many books and articles with a range and vision that continue to filter through various levels of higher learning. Each book has been a pioneer or a pacesetter for research and teaching in higher education and, indeed, in high schools.

In addition to the academy and the church, Cone’s voice, vision, and vibrancy are felt in the broader public. No other theologian and his or her thought have ever been at the center of a United States presidential debate. In the race for the forty-fourth presidency, media and news outlets in the USA, Africa, Asia, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, and the Pacific Islands covered reports of Cone and black theology of liberation. In the midst of debates among and between Democratic and Republican contenders, questions surrounded all of them: who is James H. Cone, and what is black liberation theology? In this sense, Cone’s critical and passionate thinking and unbending prophetic faith had the potential to make or break presidential candidates. This is theology as its best—making a difference in people’s thought, belief, practice, and relations to powerful institutions on a very huge stage.

And his global theological interventions continue to ripple throughout every region of the world.

Cone’s theology has forever changed the course of pedagogy, international relations, institutions of all faiths, governmental debates, and inter-generational legacies. He is the paradigm of the prophetic, priestly, and practical theologian.

Resources

- Banks, Adelle M. “James Cone, ‘founder of black liberation theology,’ dies at 79.” Religion News Service. April 28, 2018.

- “Black Liberation Theology, in its Founder’s Words.” NPR. March 31, 2008.

- Cone, James H. The Cross and the Lynching Tree. Orbis Books, 2011.

Photo Credit: Coolhappysteve/Wikimedia Commons (cc, adapted)

---

Dwight N. Hopkins is the Alexander Campbell Professor of Theology at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

---

Sightings is edited by Brett Colasacco (AB’07, MDiv’10), a PhD candidate in Religion, Literature, and Visual Culture at the University of Chicago Divinity School. Sign up here to receive Sightings via email. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.