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Karl Barth and James Cone: Theology in Context
Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge
West Road, Cambridge CB3 9BS
Friday 9 December 2022, 10 am – 4 pm.
A day conference co-hosted by the Faculty of Divinity,
University of Cambridge & Oxford Centre for Religion & Culture,
Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford
Special revelation has always occupied the central role in Christian theology. It means that there has been a self-revelation of God in biblical history and decisively in Jesus Christ. It is this conviction that Karl Barth takes seriously by using Christology as the point of departure of his Church Dogmatics. God has been fully revealed in the man Jesus so that the norm of all existence is determined exclusively by him - James H. Cone ‘A Black Theology of Liberation’, p.51
This one-day conference seeks to explore the theological legacy of two foundational ‘patriarchs’ of 20th century academic Christian theology – Karl Barth and James Cone. Karl Barth and James H. Cone on first appearance seem to have little in common, and yet once we dig beneath the immediate facade, we see multiple connections. Cone’s doctoral work was on Barth’s theological anthropology. Cone’s scholarship is shot through with multiple references to Barth as witnessed in the above quotation. Both of them see Jesus Christ as a critical point of departure in their explicitly Christian informed faith commitments to undertaking academic theology. This conference seeks to put Karl Barth and James Cone’s respective theologies into context.
We are inviting short papers (20 minutes) for a one-day conference on December 9th, 2022, to explore the relationship between the theologies of Karl Barth and James Cone. The conference will take place in person at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Divinity and online. The deadline for paper submissions is: 1/10/22.
Please send short paper proposals to both of the following email addresses:
anthony.reddie@regents.ox.ac.uk
Online registration is available via the link below. The cost of lunch is £15.
Barth-Cone Symposium 9-DEC-2022 | University of Cambridge
Draft Conference Programme:
10:00-10:15 Introduction: Prof. Anthony Reddie & Dr Stephen Plant
10:15-10:45 Keynote: Prof. Kelly Brown Douglas, Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary
10:45-11:00 Break
11:00-11:45 Keynote: Prof. David Clough, University of Aberdeen
11:45-1:00 Short papers [2-3 streams, each with 2 twenty minute papers with discussion]
1:00-1:45 Lunch
1:45-3:00 Short papers [2-3 streams, each with 2 twenty minute papers with discussion]
3:00-3:15 Break
3:15-4:00 Final Keynote: Prof. Susannah Ticciati, King’s College London.
Photograph of James Cone by courtesy of Union Theological Seminary, New York
Past conferences
Reformed theology and conformity in England's long Reformation, 21-22 November 2019
Re-thinking Origen, 25 April 2018
The Septuagint within the History of Greek, 20 April 2018
Divine Creation & Linguistic Creations, 1 December 2017. Audio Recording Available.
The Talmud and Christianity: Rabbinic Judaism after Constantine, 27-28 June 2016.
Discovering, Deciphering and Dissenting: Ben Sira's Hebrew Text, 1896-2016, 12-14 September 2016.
Rethinking Exile, Center and Diaspora in Modern Jewish Culture, 2-4 May 2016.
Tsimtsum and Modernity: Lurianic Heritage in Modern Philosophy & Theology, 31 May-1 June 2016.
Ancient Philosophy and Religion Colloquium, 14-16 May 2014. Convenor: George van Kooten.
Purity & Impurity Across Anthropology, Psychology & Religious Studies: Contaminating Disciplines. 20-21 May 2014.
The Origins of the Origins of Evil, 2-4 September 2014.
