A Critical Review on John Cobb’s Religious Dialogue

Abstract

This paper critically reviews on the method of Cobb’s religious dialogue. Cobb proposes a solution of religious dialogue among different religious traditions using the method of mutual transformation. It enables for dialogue partners to enrich their own religious tradition. Cobb maintains that he method of mutual transformation can make authentic conversation with dialogue partners beyond exclusivism and inclusivism. My argument is that the principle of mutual transformation only in the sense that it should be restricted to self-transformation, to the self-reflective achievement of each dialogue partner. The principle of mutual transformation should not be aimed at or demanded from a religion to other religions because all entities have the freedom of self-determination. As long as Christianity takes seriously self￾transformation, the other religious partner will transform their religious beliefs by themselves. In this respect, I agree with his comparison of two ultimate principles of reality: God and Nothing- ness in order to enrich Christian traditions. However, I am not of the same opinion on his attempt to enrich the concept of Amida in Buddhism by conjoining it with Christ. I question why Cobb takes for granted locating the name, “Christ,” at the center of religious dialogue. Cobb’s religious pluralism should go beyond his Christ-centered vision in order to obtain the genuine dialogue, which Cobb calls for. In the long run, religious dialogue should be rooted in the cooperation of religious traditions for global responsibility such as peaceful sustainability, ecological problems, and so on.