Herbert McCabe’s essay provides a vivid description of James Cone’s view and approaches to the theological problem of evil through The Cross and Lynching tree. James H. Cone explores how the lives and minds of black people are connected to the images depicted in these photographs (McCabe, 2005). Both the lynching tree and the cross represent the worst that people are capable of doing, but they also represent a yearning for a life that refuses to allow the worst to define who we are (Cone, 2021). In contrast to the lynching tree, which means white superiority and the termination of black life, the cross represents divine power and the continuation of black life. James Cone approaches the theological problem of evil in Christian American today by bolstering the African American community’s belief in a benevolent God who stood by them and comforted them throughout the times of lynching.
In light of McCabe’s essay describing evil, Awareness of sin and suffering profoundly affect people’s conceptions of God, at least in the Western tradition. The lack of religious belief in God in today’s bourgeois society can be traced mainly to the deliberate suppression of Awareness of evil. Commercial advertising also avoids depicting hardship because the liberal imagination protects individuals from actual sin. The concepts of suffering and evil are combined, since evil, from the point of view of Cone, is a metaphysical and theological concept, sometimes associated with the theme of sin. When asked to provide an example of moral evil, English moral philosophers were formerly limited to breaking promises (Cone, 2021). Penal institutions and medical facilities are known for being safe havens where criminals and the sick can be concealed. According to him, this desire for life is symbolized by the cross.
Leaving this comfort zone and seeing the world as it might elicit contrasting feelings in people. They can say that God is too childish, insensitive, or heartless to care about the plight of those who must endure pain in this life. On the other hand, they may learn from Job’s example and come to appreciate the mystery of God more deeply if they see that their conception of God was juvenile. The atheist’s initial reaction may have a bearing on their subsequent one. No one here is trying to help new atheist expand their worldview to include a more sophisticated understanding of God. Humans have assigned themselves the minor task of removing one barrier. Failure to make this shift may occur if they become preoccupied with the philosopher’s problem of evil.
To explore the mysterious universe of God solemnly, it is helpful first to problematize or study the mystery of evil. Individuals have not yet encountered the love of God if this does not cause them to be disturbed and hindered in some way. One should not let the fact that there is a conceptual knot between God and Evil give any stress or confusion in any way. Whether people label their worldview as atheism or a more nuanced sense of mystery, Herbert McCabe’s essay is not meant to serve as a guide for to help navigate the enigma of evil. The article is a philosophical refutation to the view that evil’s existence proves that selfless love and compassion cannot be the universe’s origin and ultimate purpose.
Herbert McCabe appears as a lawyer and acts as though he is in a courtroom to defend God against philosophical critics. As a result, all he does is attempt to answer the arguments they present. Accordingly, Herbert McCabe’s work on liberation theology is essential to comprehending Christian theology as a public message. The result suggests that black liberation theology liberates Christian theology from racial bias, imperialism, and oppression. With this work, Cone hopes to promote a new way of looking at his ideas and using them in novel contexts (Cone, 2021). The dominant white theological tradition is being shaken up by Cone’s public theology, which offers a fresh perspective on the discipline in the twenty-first century.
Herbert McCabe describes James Cone’s theological approach to evil through a symbolic Cross and Lynch tree. Cone’s work presents Christian theology in public dialogue and as a witness to God’s continuous liberating processes and empowering presence in society. To set the oppressed and the weak free, the universe was readjusted in the direction of divine justice and peace. The role of Christian theology as public testimony was visioned in furthering God’s liberating agenda and reconciliatory purpose. Modern contexts and the postcolonial era accomplishment is through applying anti-imperialist, liberatory, and postcolonial hermeneutic lenses and methods.
References
Cone, J. H. (2021). The cross and the lynching tree. Highbridge Audio and Blackstone Publishing.
McCabe, H. (2005). God still matters. A&C Black.