Week 3--Cobb Chapter 3--Theology and Culture

Cobb gives an important caution against giving deviant voices in culture priority over mainstream voices simply because they are deviant. I think there is a tendency in Christian circles to make this mistake because we often pride ourselves on being an inherently countercultural movement. Anthony Pinn makes the mistake of favoring dissident voices against the mainstream to the extent that such voices are uncritically thought to be superior to the mainstream. But I also think subtler versions of this kind of privileging of outside voices can be problematic. James Cone makes a similar mistake when he comes very close to saying that only oppressed people (outwardly) are true Christians. While it’s good that Cone recognizes the special rapport that oppressed peoples have with the Gospel, it should not be used as a wholesale acceptance of every oppressed voice. I don’t think Cone is advocating as much, but I think his type of thinking and writing often leads people down that road. This kind of blanket judging is most often reactionary. An uncritical acceptance of outside cultural voices can be just as hastily disruptive to church and culture relations as solely accepting voices that are inside the church.