Process theology

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Process theology is a newer school of thought of predominantly North American theology . It is closely related to the metaphysical process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead ( 1861 - 1947 ), which he describes in particular in the works How does religion come about ? and has developed process and reality .

In process theology, the world is understood as a constant creative process of becoming and passing away. The basic context of the world is the event, not immutable substances. There are no permanently stable objects, but gradually more or less stable contexts of events that are relationally related to one another. In this view, God is the concrete event in which all happening is realized, the moving totality of existence.

central message

For process theology, God is the origin of the new and the order. The world was not created out of nothing ( creatio ex nihilo ), but is an open, continually continuing process of the creation of something new ( creatio continua ). The traditional terms being and substance are being replaced by the terms process and becoming . The entire world is made up of interrelationships in which God is involved. The concern of the process philosophy is the development of a worldview that can be brought into harmony with the pluralistic experiences of reality in the modern world.

The concept of process theology includes in particular the following key statements:

  • The omnipotence ( omnipotence ) of God is redefined and partially negated; God never uses compulsion to carry out his will, but enables a world of self-creation in which the subjects have room for free decision. Herein lies a solution to the problem of theodicy .
  • Reality and the universe are defined by process and change, determined by free-willed individuals. At this point, process theology creates a connection with modern scientific theories , for example evolutionary theory in biology .
  • God includes the universe, but is not identical to it ( panentheism ).
  • Since God includes a changeable universe, he himself is changeable (i.e. influenced by what is happening in the universe) in time. God is not self-sufficient, but is integrated into the life of the universe as a primordial ground. He reacts to what is happening in the world and becomes himself through the becoming of the world.
  • Man has no subjective (or personal), but an objective immortality, in which his life lives on forever in God, who contains everything that is.

Currents

The process philosophy is not a uniform theological system. Rather, the term combines a multitude of approaches, the commonality of which lies in a few key points and in relation to Whitehead's philosophy.

An important developer and founder of process theology was Whitehead's former assistant at Harvard , Charles Hartshorne (1897–2000), whose merit v. a. consisted in interpreting and developing the theological aspects and implications of Whitehead's philosophy. A continuation of Hartshorne's ideas can be found in Schubert Miles Ogden , who at the same time dealt with Rudolf Bultmann's theology .

In addition to Hartshorne, a more empirically oriented, naturalistic theology developed at the Chicago Divinity School , the founder of which was Henry Nelson Wieman (1884–1975). Martin Luther King did his doctorate on the difference in the concept of God with Henry Nelson Wieman and Paul Tillich . Wieman's students were Bernard Eugene Meland (1899-1993), Bernard M. Loomer (1912-1983) and Daniel Day Williams (1910-1973).

An important center of process theological thought is the Center for Process Studies in Claremont , founded in 1973, whose representatives are theologians John B. Cobb , who had moved from Chicago to California, David Ray Griffin , Lewis S. Ford , Philip Clayton , Roland Faber and Marjorie Count Suchocki . Here an attempt is made to establish a direct link between process theological thinking and Christian teaching. The magazine Process Studies was established in 1971 and the first editors were Cobb and Ford.

In Germany there is a sympathetic discussion of process theology with Godehard Brüntrup and Michael Welker , in the Netherlands with Jan Van der Veken .

literature

  • John B. Cobb / David R. Griffin: Process Theology. An introductory presentation , Göttingen 1979.
  • Roland Faber : Process Theology. For their appreciation and critical renewal , Mainz 2000.
  • Roland Faber: God as the poet of the world. Issues and perspectives of process theology. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2003, ISBN 3-534-15864-4 .
  • Charles Hartshorne: Omnipotence and other Theological Mistakes , New York 1984.
  • C. Robert Mesle / John B. Cobb: Process Theology. A Basic Introduction , Chalice Press, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, Sep 1993
  • Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki : God Christ Church. A Practical Guide to Process Theology , 2nd ed., New York 1989.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Roland Faber: God as the poet of the world. Issues and perspectives of process theology . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2003, pp. 75–76.
  2. ^ Ian G. Barbour : Science and Belief: Historical and Contemporary Aspects . Vandenhoeck & Rupprecht, Göttingen 2003, p. 148.
  3. ↑ Barbara Lukoschek: The theodicy problem from a process theological perspective . Lit, Münster 2006, p. 23.
  4. ^ Schubert Miles Ogden: The Reality of God and Other Essays . Southern Methodist University 1966 (German: Diereal Gottes, Zürich 1970), as well as ders .: Christ Without Myth: A Study Based on the Theology of Rudolf Bultmann , Southern Methodist University 1991.
  5. ↑ Henry Nelson Wieman: The Source of Human Good (1946) et al .: Man's Ultimate Commitment (1958)
  6. ↑ Barbara Lukoschek: The theodicy problem from a process theological perspective . Lit, Münster 2006, p. 29.
  7. ^ Javier Monserrat: Alfred N. Whitehead on Process Philosophy and Theology. Cosmos and Kenosis of Divinity . In: Pensamiento , Vol. 64 (2008), pp. 815-845.
  8. ↑ cf. For example, Brüntrup's article: 3.5-dimensionalism and survival - a process-ontological approach ( PDF; 218 kB )
  9. ↑ Jan Van Der Veken: Process Thought From a European Perspective