Process Theology

Process Theology is the philosophical and theological position that God is changing, as is the universe.  Therefore, our knowledge of God must be progressing as we learn more about him and it can never rest in any absolutes, which is why process theologians deny the absolutes of God’s immutability and truth.  Furthermore, this would mean that absolute knowledge of God would not be achievable, and a self-revelation of God (in the person of Jesus Christ and the Bible) would also not be possible.  This would open the door for humanistic philosophy and/or false theological systems to be “rationalized” by process theologians. (CARM.org)

[Process Theology states that it] is an essential attribute of God to be fully involved in and affected by temporal processes, an idea that conflicts with traditional forms of theism that hold God to be in all respects non-temporal (eternal), unchanging (immutable), and unaffected by the world (impassible). Process Theology does not deny that God is in some respects eternal, immutable, and impassible, but it contradicts the classical view by insisting that God is in some respects temporal, mutable, and passible [(affected by the world)]. (Wikipedia)

Its originator is Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) with his metaphysical process philosophy, further developed by Charles Hartshorne (1897–2000). Process Theology’s insights [are] derived [in part] from mathematical physics.

Whitehead’s classical statement [explaining PT involves] a set of antithetical statements that attempt to avoid self-contradiction by shifting them from a set of oppositions into a contrast:

It is as true to say that God is permanent and the World fluent, as that the World is permanent and God is fluent.

It is as true to say that God is one and the World many, as that the World is one and God many.

It is as true to say that God transcends the World, as that the World transcends God.

It is as true to say that God creates the World, as that the World creates God

(Wikipedia)

Logically speaking, if process theology maintains that God is progressing and changing, then given an infinite amount of time in the past, God may not have actually been God.  Also, it could be argued from this perspective that there is something outside of God that works upon him, bringing him into a greater knowledge and increased greatness.

In process theology, God does not know the future exhaustively.  He can guess at what may or may not happen, but absolute knowledge is not attainable until events actually occur.

Process theologians deny that Jesus Christ is God in flesh and therefore mankind has no need for salvation.  (CARM.org)

The Christ of process theology does not represent a hypostasis of divine and human personae. Rather God is incarnate in the lives of all humans when they act according to a call from God. Jesus fully and in every way responded to the call of God and so the person of Jesus is theologically understood to be “the divine Word in human form.” Jesus was not God-man in essence, but fully identified with God at all moments of life. (Wikipedia)

The 8 Points of Process Theology

  1. Everything is in process; reality is flowing; nothing ever stays the same.

  2. All things are interconnected; no human is an island; things are present in one another even as they have their autonomy.

  3. The whole of nature has value; all live beings deserve respect; human beings are not the sole repository of value.

  4. Human beings find happiness in sharing experiences with others; there are no isolated egos; all selves are selves-in-

relation; humans become whole through reciprocity.

  1. The essence of the universe is a continuous creativity of which all things are expressions; there is creativity in plants and

animals, hills and rivers, trees and stars.

  1. All beings seek harmony as their guiding ideal; harmony includes differences; the whole of the universe is a harmony of

harmonies.

  1. Thinking and emotion cannot be sharply separated; mind and body are not two; even thinking is a form of feeling;

aesthetic wisdom and rational inquiry are complementary.

  1. Every moment of human experience begins, not with projecting things onto the world or even acting in the world, but

with feeling the presence of the world and being affected by it.

(By Jay McDaniel of Processandfaith.org)

[Process Theology plays an active role in Liberation Theology. One example of this is in the Feminist movement.]

Monica Coleman has combined Womanist theology and Process theology in her book Making a Way Out of No Way. In it, she argues that ‘making a way out of no way’ and ‘creative transformation’ are complementary insights from the respective theological traditions. She is one of many theologians who identify both as a process theologian and feminist/womanist/ ecofeminist theologian, which includes persons such as Sallie McFague, Rosemary Radford Ruether, and Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki.

C. Robert Mesle, in his book Process Theology, outlines three aspects of a process theology of liberation:

  1. There is a relational character to the divine which allows God to experience both the joy and suffering of humanity. God suffers just as those who experience oppression and God seeks to actualize all positive and beautiful potentials. God must, therefore, be in solidarity with the oppressed and must also work for their liberation.

  2. God is not omnipotent in the classical sense and so God does not provide support for the status quo, but rather seeks the actualization of greater good.

  3. God exercises relational power and not unilateral control. In this way God cannot instantly end evil and oppression in the world. God works in relational ways to help guide persons to liberation.

(Wikipedia)