FOUNTAIN HILLS – Called one of the most important theologians in the last half century, Harvey Cox has made a career of exploring the many expressions of Christianity, their intersections with World Religions, and challenging the status quo all along the way. Cox will be preaching at both the 9am and 11:15 services at The Fountains, a United Methodist Church, on Sunday, January 31st. He’ll also be sharing his wisdom and insights during a Q&A session at 10:15.
Along with being a prolific and influential author, Cox occupies a place on the short list of preeminent American theologians. In 1965, the same year he began teaching at Harvard, his book, The Secular City, became a world-wide phenomenon, eventually selling over a million copies. In 1969, Time magazine placed the publishing of The Secular City on a short list of the most influential religious events of the 1960s (along with Vatican 2 and the Supreme Court prohibiting school prayer and Bible reading!).
During the Civil Rights movement, Cox worked actively with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference under Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., including being jailed on several occasions for participating in demonstrations. He was one of the founders of the Boston chapter of the SCLC, helped bring Buddhism’s teachings to a larger audience, and following his travels in Central America, returned to teach some of the first courses on “Liberation Theology” in North America.
Pastor David Felten says, “It’s an amazing privilege to have Dr. Cox with us at The Fountains – and he’s not only one of the great theologians of our time but also has the added credibility of being a saxophone player to boot.” At age 86, Cox continues to play in several jazz ensembles around the Boston area.
Cox has stirred his share of controversy over the years, including promoting secularization as a way to sweep away the superstitions of medieval religion still permeating many of our churches. He has critiqued the tendency of modern churches to slip into a fundamentalism that focuses on the private salvation of their members instead of being at the forefront of change in society, “stepping into God’s permanent revolution in history.”
The Fountains is located at 15300 N Fountain Hills Blvd in Fountain Hills. Dr. Cox will be speaking at 9am and 11:15 with a Q&A session at 10:15. All are welcome. Childcare will be provided throughout the morning. More information is available on the web: www.thefountainsumc.org.