The Implications of James Cone’s Critique of Barth and Barthians for the Practice of Academic Christian Theology

Abstract

ABSTRACT Fifty years have passed since James Cone wrote _Black Theology and Black Power _ critiquing the unbarthian ways Barth was being appropriated in Europe and North America. This article identifies key weaknesses in a Barthian theological method that may explain the conspicuous silence of White Barthian theologians in response to Cone’s critique. It suggests three lessons for ethical theological enquiry arising from attention to Cone’s analysis: first, the need to recognise the ways in which the Christian theological tradition has been shaped in racist, White supremacist, and colonialist ways in order to avoid reproducing theologies Cone identified as racist; second, the responsibility of Christian theologians to give an account of the relationship of their projects to questions of ethics and practice, in order to avoid the vice of curiosity; and third, the responsibility of theologians to take particular care to avoid disadvantaging students and colleagues of colour in their professional practice.