Dr. John B. Cobb, Jr. was born of Southern Methodist
missionary parents in Japan in 1925. Most of his childhood was
lived in Hiroshima and the Kobe area. Furloughs were spent in
his mother's parents' home in Newnan, Georgia. Because of the
approach of war, he returned to Newnan. He attended junior
college of Emory University, located in Oxford, Georgia, but
before completing he joined the army to attend the Japanese
language school at the University of Michigan. His subsequent
military service was mainly translating captured military
documents at Camp Ritchie, Marlyand. Soon after Japanese
surrender he became part of the army of occupation.
After discharge from the army Cobb earned his PhD from the
Divinity School of the University of Chicago. Thereafter he
joined the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist
Church, and his appointment for the first year was part-time
teaching at Young Harris College, with part-time pastoral
responsibility for six churches. He founded a seventh. The next
two years he was full time at the college from where he went to
Emory University for five years (1953-58). The rest of his
teaching career, until his retirement in 1990, was at the
Claremont School of Theology and Claremont Graduate University.
He has been guest professor at the University of Mainz, Rikkyo
University, Iliff School of Theology, Vanderbilt Divinity
School, the University of Chicago, and Harvard Divinity School.
He also served as a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center at the
Smithsonian Institution in Washington.
Throughout his career Dr. Cobb has been committed to the
process thought of Alfred North Whitehead. In 1970, together
with Lewis Ford, he founded the journal Process Studies, and
with David Ray Griffin he founded the Center for Process Studies
at the School of Theology at Claremont. He has written a number
of theological books, including A Christian Natural Theology
(1965), The Structure of Christian Existence
(1967), Christ in a Pluralistic Age (1975),
Beyond Dialogue (1982), Reclaiming the Church
(1997), and Grace and Responsibility (1995). He
has co-authored books in other fields with process thinkers:
The Liberation of Life (with Charles Birch, biologist), For the Common Good (with Herman Daly, economist), and Romans (with David Lull, New Testament scholar).
selected books
The Structure of Christian Existence
Univ Pr of Amer; Reprint edition (April 1990)
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The American Empire and the Commonwealth of God: A Political, Economic, Religious Statementwith Richard Falk, Catherine Keller, David Griffin (editor) (Westminster John Knox Press, 2006)
Buy at AmazonThe Process Perspective: Frequently Asked Questions About Process Theology(Chalice Press, 2003)
Buy at AmazonSearching for an Adequate God: A Dialogue Between Process and Free Will Theists(Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000)
Buy at AmazonChrist in a Pluralistic Age(Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1999)
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other related websites
The Center for Process Studies
CPS seeks to promote the common good by means of the relational approach found in process thought
http://www.ctr4process.org
Process & FaithThe aim of the organization is to provide a conceptual orientation (process theology) by which communities of faith can come to develop a theological foundation for their faith practices.
http://www.processandfaith.orgThe Institute for the Postmodern Development of ChinaThe aim of the Institute is to create and promote new modes of development in China and the West.
http://www.postmodernchina.orgReligion OnlineIncluded are large archives of articles from the journal Process Studies, and a section of articles by John Cobb.
http://www.religion-online.orgProgressive Christians UnitingProgressive Christians Uniting is committed to equipping individuals and congregations for the work of transforming society through the radically inclusive gospel of Jesus Christ.
http://www.progressivechristiansuniting.org