James H. Cone Quotes

#1. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love.

James H. Cone

#2. In the act of worship itself, the experience of liberation becomes a constituent of the community's being ... It is the power of God's Spirit invading the lives of the people, "building them up where they are torn down and propping them up on every leaning side".

James H. Cone

#3. Any theology that is indifferent to the theme of liberation is not Christian theology.

James H. Cone

#4. If we save the planet and have a society of inequality, we wouldn't have saved much.

James H. Cone

#5. To sing about freedom and to pray for its coming is not enough. Freedom must be actualized in history by oppressed peoples who accept the intellectual challenge to analyze the world for the purpose of changing it.

James H. Cone

#6. Black racism is a myth created by whites to ease their guilt feelings. As long as whites can be assured that blacks are racists, they can find reasons to justify their own oppression of' black people.

James H. Cone

#7. The belief that the soul continues its existence after the dissolution of the body is a matter of philosophical or theological speculation rather than of simple faith, and is accordingly nowhere expressly taught in Holy Scripture

James H. Cone

#8. The truth about injustice always sounds outrageous.

James H. Cone

#9. Anger and humour are like the left and right arm. They complement each other.

James H. Cone

#10. To be Christian is to be one of those whom God has chosen. God has chosen black people!

James H. Cone

#11. Anger and humor are like the left and right arm. They complement each other. Anger empowers the poor to declare their uncompromising opposition to oppression, and humor prevents them from being consumed by their fury.

James H. Cone

#12. Patrick Cheng's Radical Love is not only an excellent introduction to LGBT theology but an important contribution to the discipline of theology and the life of the church. It is a must read for anyone who cares about the health of the church and theology today.

James H. Cone

#13. The coming of Christ means a denial of what we thought we were. It means destroying the white devil in us. Reconciliation to God means that white people are prepared to deny themselves (whiteness), take up the cross (blackness) and follow Christ (black ghetto).

James H. Cone

#14. It is ironic that America, with its history of injustice to the poor, especially the black man and the Indian, prides itself on being a Christian nation.

James H. Cone

#15. The acid test of any truth is found in whether it aids victims in their struggle to overcome victimisation.

James H. Cone

#16. One can lynch a person without a rope or tree.

James H. Cone