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Home , Holy Spirit, Process theology

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SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

1998

Process

W. David Beck Liberty University, [email protected]

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Recommended Citation Beck, W. David, "" (1998). SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations. 100. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/sor_fac_pubs/100

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Crossing. It has been accepted for inclusion in SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations by an authorized administrator of Scholars Crossing. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Process Theology Process Theology ------and doctrines of the Priscillianists smacked of developed a complete process philosophical Norman Pittenger and Lewis Ford, generally As a result, the redemptive activity of Manichaeism" and sorcery. Matters came to a theology, detailing especially a full concept of attempt to show that 's life was God's consists in his willingness to accept past evil, head when these charges were brought against God. in the sense that it was lived in complete transform it into good and continue to lure Priscillian and some associates before the These views have seen extensive elaboration obedience, that is, that Christ most perfectly each individual toward a self-authenticating Emperor Maximus at Trier in 385. This led in succeeding decades by theologians and phil­ followed the 'lure' of God. Others have done acceptance of true value. A person's salvation to their execution - the first and almost only osophers such as John Cobb (b. 1925), David so to a high degree, but in Christ obedience consists in his recognition of disloyalty to occasion in antiquity when a heretic suffered R. Griffin (b. 1939), Schubert Ogden (b. was so complete that a whole new subjec­ communality (Ford, Cobb and Griffin) and this fate at the hand of a civil ruler. At the 1928), Daniel Day Williams (1910-73) and tivity, a way of human living, is inaugurated. his willing acceptance of God's lure to be a time the greatest indignation was reserved for Lewis Ford (b. 1933) in the United States and The result of the life and death of Christ is member of the . those who had pressed capital Norman Pittenger (b. 1905) in England, to the emergence of a new kind of community, The process-God's ability to preserve each charges. name just a few. the ." This is the meaning of resurrec­ event as an 'eternal object' adds an eschato­ After these executions there was a Most process theology is rooted in process tion:" the body of Christ is born. For Ford logical" dimension to the theological system. temporary reaction in favour of Priscillian, ." God, according to Whitehead, is the this is seen as a major step in human evol­ Not only does God's continuing knowledge who in some quarters was regarded as a primary example of metaphysical truths as ution. Man is now radically different. preserve the reality (in a subjective sense) of martyr.". A schism"· was threatened within the well as the one who supplies initial direction Add to this the view that the Holy " each occasion, but his use of the past in Spanish church, but this was avoided by to every event. Hence neither the general is to be understood as God's contribution of presenting new possibilities to the future also vigorous action from the Council of Toledo nature of reality nor the free actions of initial aims, and we see that process theology gives meaning to former events. Ogden and in 400. At a popular level Priscillianism history"· are comprehensible apart from him. is unitarian," not Trinitarian. others have used this concept in Whitehead as continued to exercise some influence right up The process view of God has been described The twofold character of all events as both a way of spelling out the biblical idea of to the 6th century. as ." It differs from theism in incarnational and autonomous also defines eternal life and . Nothing is forgotten identifying God and the , but it differs the process theologian's view of ." to the love of God, all is preserved and Bibliography also from " in seeing God as more Because all events, including human actions, continues to affect the future meaningfully. It H. Chadwick, Priscillian of Avila (Oxford, than, or existing beyond, the universe. Harts­ are given their initial design by God, they are should be noted, however, that this is not 1976). horne and Ogden use the analogy of a each a revelation of his character. As a result conscious personal continuance, and also that G.A.K. person's relation to his body. I am my body, the traditional distinction between general it is universal in application. but I am more than it. and breaks down. There is Ford, Cobb and others have done much to ROCESS THEOLOGY is the theo­ In Whitehead and Hartshorne, God's exist­ only special revelation; direct, intentional and develop a general as well. It Plogical system that has been developed on ence is necessitated by two different factors conscious acts of God. But every event has follows from their view of the church as the the basis of the philosophy of Alfred North which produced a dipolar concept. God in his this quality. emergence of a higher state of human evol­ Whitehead and . The 'primordial', eternal, nature as mind On the other hand, because every event is ution (see Creation"). This understanding name itself derives from the central tenet of contributes the novel aims or possibilities to self-determined in its actuality, God cannot permits us to look forward to a time when both of these philosophers that reality is a each succeeding event. God in his 'consequent' ensure that any revelation truly represents God's aims will finally overcome the indi­ process of , not a static universe of changing and growing nature physically him. The future is never known, always free vidual evil events, and bring about a true objects. From this, a unique concept of both experiences the process, knowing and loving and open. Until it decides itself, it has no community of love and peace. Hartshorne God and man is derived, and from that in it. But experiencing involves a real relation or reality and cannot be predicted, even by God. roots this in the biblical view of love as true turn a complete theology. union, hence the cosmic process is God. Consequently, revelation could never be union. Whitehead (1861-1947) began, in 1925, a For Whitehead God is conceived of as inerrant. Some expressions will be more There is among process theologians wide series of publications which culminated in himself a single event who in one act is characteristic than others, but none can be diversity of concern to preserve a biblical (1929). Here he comprehending the whole process. More guaranteed true. . Some, like Lewis Ford and many developed an original metaphysical" system recently, John Cobb and others have Hermeneutics"· is seen as an attempt to Roman Catholics, indicate a strong desire to based on the primacy of events. The notion developed a view of God as like a retrace the revelational process to discover remain scriptural, but most are concerned of events combines into one the previously human person, that is, a series of compre­ God's original 'lure'. Thus, it has both objec­ only to remain within a broadly understood separated notions of space, time and matter, hending events, identified by common charac­ tive and subjective components, and is poss­ . Some, like Hartshorne, as indicated by Einstein's physics. These teristics which continue in the transition. ible only in the interaction of the reader. are impressed with many process-like insights events (Whitehead called them actual The doctrine of Christ (see "l The general features of in Buddhism" and other religions and will occasions) are the atoms of the cosmos. Each has presented process theologians with a imply a view of man that is very close, if explicitly reject some Christian ideas in their atom is a point in the process, which takes difficult problem. Every event in history is not identical, to that of Heidegger, Bultmann"· favour. Hence an evangelical response to from the past and incorporates new possi­ God's activity and being inserting itself. In and other existentialists." Ogden has been the process theology is bound to be varied. bilities into a new event which, in turn, this sense every occasion is incarnation," and principal figure in developing this point. A In general, however, several major flaws can contributes to the future. The highest principle hence no single event can be so exclusively. person is a series of separate events. Each be indicated. First, its general in this process is that of creativity. It continu­ Yet it remains true that God cannot determine point is autonomous not only in relation to negates the biblical view of creation" and ously brings about novelty in a creative events. As a result, no event is only God's all others in the series but also to God. It is providence" with its radical distinction advance that maximizes good. action, and therefore the of Christ is self-determinative. Thus, it is also dependent between infinite creator and finite cosmos. Hartshorne (b. 1897), beginning with impossible in any strict sense. on its own existential decision. I am what I Some, like Hartshorne, have argued that the several major works in the 1940s, has Process , as in David Griffin, am now deciding to be. traditional view is not Hebrew but a Greek 534 535 Procession (of ) , Theology of addition and to be rejected. Others have explanatory hypothesis of reality was there­ utionary progress is therefore the precise offer truth about God, man and the world, attempted to modify Whitehead to allow for fore antecedent to the development of of the biblical picture of man and and its concerns may also be framed within the distinction. Darwin's theory of evolution (itself not the his religion, so the attempt thus to re-interpret well-known philosophical categories: What is Second, its universal view of incarnation first scientific theory of its kind). But the biblical history has to adopt the violent the real? How do we know truth? How shall has so far prevented any ontological, rather Darwinism seemed to provide a scientific basis methods of Procrustes, and subordinate the we act? Unlike philosophy, its starting-point than functional, concept of the deity of Christ. for the philosophical ideas which were already data to the theory. This single fact explains in is God and its source of knowledge is divine Likewise, it prevents any judicial or truly popular, and the use of biological evolution large measure the subsequent history of OT revelation - truth received, rather than truth redemptive view of salvation. Finally, the as the key to all historical development scholarship, which despite later renunciation achieved by autonomous human reason or hermeneutic of process theology eliminates reached its high-water mark in the extensive of an evolutionary paradigm'" is still under­ experience. Thus, prophecy presupposes a any concept of inerrancy (see Infallibility"). writings of Herbert Spencer (1820-1903). It girded by the inversion of the order of the law transcendent world-view; that is, a creator God cannot bring about such an event, neither was typical of the mind-set of the mid-19th and the which the theory required and a spirit world, realities that are separate could words have purely objective meaning century that his scientific hypothesis should (since prophetic religion was held to be more from but nonetheless impinge upon and (Hartshorne) . be made the basis for general philosophical simple and therefore earlier). communicate with the natural creation, constructions. Scarcely any thinker, Christian More recent social developments, beginning specifically, with man. Prophecy is the mode Bibliography or not, avoided being influenced by the idea with the First World War and coming to a and the content, and the the human D. Brown, R. E. James, G. Reeves (eds.), of evolutionary progress, in which the gevel­ head in the nuclear threat, have dealt a death­ agent of that communication. Process Philosophy and Christian Thought opment of human society and the moral devel­ blow to essentially progressive views of man, Prophecy not only represents a distinctive (Indianapolis, IN, 1971); J. Cobb and D. R. opment of man were seen as continuous and and returned ideas of evolution to the labora­ approach to truth but also, in the commentary Griffin, Process Theology: An Introductory essentially analogous with the supposed tory where they mayor may not prove fit on Scripture in 1 Cor 1: 18-3 :20, is given an Exposition (Philadelphia, 1976, and Belfast, upward progress of biological evolution. to survive. Man's economic and technological exclusive claim to it. There Paul denies that 1977); L. Ford, The Lure of God (Philadel­ More recently, the Jesuit anthropologist progress have been shown to be tenuous and autonomous human reason is a valid alterna­ phia, 1978); D. R. Griffin, A Process Chris­ Teilhard de Chardin" has attempted a full­ by no means inevitable, and question-marks tive way to truth, and his indictment against tology (Philadelphia, 1973); C. Hartshorne, blooded marriage of Darwinism and the put against the claim that he has advanced the of the Greeks must, in the context, Man's Vision of God and the Logic of Theism Christian view of man and redemption. Spen­ morally since his earliest days. Redemption, have included philosophical thought (Godet; (Chicago, 1941); S. Ogden, The Reality of cer's later contemporary Henry Drummond far from being a product of evolution, can cf. , 'wisdom', in 1 Cor.l:19-21; 1 Cor. God (London, 1966); Norman Pittenger, The sought in popular evangelical terms to do only be by revolution in man's continually 2: 11-12). By this a redemptive natural revel­ Word Incamate (New York, 1959); S. Sia, something similar in his Ascent of Man regressive moral and spiritual story. The only ation or insight is excluded (cf. O. Weber, God in Process Thought (Dordecht, Nether­ (1894). true idea of progress is that of the progress of Barth"'). lands, 1985); A. N. Whitehead, Process and An immediate implication of this way of God in salvation-history. ". 2. Prophecy has its source in the 'Spirit of God.' This is clear in the NT where it is Reality (London, 1929). thinking was found in the writing of history, See also: BIBLICAL CRITICISM. Response: R. Gruenler, The Inexhaustible in which an evolutionary progress was traced, represented as the gift or act of the Spirit God (Grand Rapids, MI, 1984). and since the Christian is largely an Bibliography (Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:10; cf. 1 Cor. 12:28; W.O.B. historical account there were dramatic reper­ C. Dawson, Progress and Religion. An Eph. 4:8; 1 Thes. 5:19f.) and the prophet is cussions for the way in which the Scriptures Historical Enquiry (London, 1945); C. S. identified as 'a man of the Spirit' (pneum­ PROCESSION (OF HOLY SPIRIT), see were assessed. A classic instance is William Lewis, 'The Funeral of a Great Myth', in atikos = 1 Cor. 14:37; cf. Hos. 9:7). But it is HOLY SPIRIT; . Robertson Smith's Religion of the Semites Christian Reflections (London, 1967). also true of prophecy in the OT (1 Sam. (1889), which attempts to find revelation in a N.M.deS.C. 19:20; 2 Ki. 2:15; 2 Ch. 15:1; Ne. 9:30; Mi. ROGRESS, IDEA OF. The idea most naturalistic reading of history. It was of course 3:8; cf. 2 Pet 1:20f.), even if in some books Pcharacteristic of 19th-century thinking not new for a naturalistic explanation to be PROOFS OF GOD'S EXISTENCE, see the role of the Spirit is lacking, unstressed or was that of progress. There were many given to the biblical history, since from the . undifferentiated from that of Yahweh (Lind­ reasons for this. Britain's industrial revolution first days of the church those who were scep­ blom, Prophecy). The hope of Moses (Nu. became the pattern for rapid economic growth tical of its claims had their own way of ROPHECY, THEOLOGY OF. 11:16, 29; cf. Lk. 10:1) that 'all the Lord's and social development throughout the West. reading its Scriptures. Yet such was the PProphecy may be defined as (1) a way of people [might be] prophets' and the prophecy Scientific discovery and its application in such absorption with evolutionary progress that in knowing truth; and as such, may be compared of Joel (2:28) that 'God will pour out his Spirit practical developments as techniques of the mid- and later 19th century the church and contrasted with philosophy. In its biblical on all flesh' find their specific import in the production and advances in public health itself began to adopt such a reading of its manifestation it forms a part of (2) the prophecy of the Baptist (Mt. 3: 11) and their helped generate an optimistic and forward­ canonical Scriptures. theology of the Holy Spirit" and is represented fulfilment in the post-resurrection church looking cast of mind, which was fostered by does not speak of man's history as as (3) one mode of the divine revelation" of (Acts 2:16, 33). the spread of civilization by the European an evolutionary progress. It tells of an original God's truth or, in a broader sense, the totality 3. The varieties of divine revelation are empires and across the continent of North perfection from which man has fallen (see of that revelation. Prophecy may be expressed described in J e. 18: 18 as 'the law ... from the America. At the same time, the wide influence Fall"), and the story which follows is that in (4) a variety of literary forms and in (5) priest, counsel from the wise [and] the word of Hegel's" dialectical rationalism provided of failed attempts to set matters right (Babel, both canonical and non-canonical contexts. from the prophet' (cf. Is. 28:7; 29:10, 14). the seed-bed in which was sown the theory of flood, exile), with a constant regress on the Each part of this definition may be expanded While prophets might live together in evolution (see Creation"). part of man. Progress comes only from the as follows. communities or guilds (2 Ki. 2:3ff.; 6:1), The idea of evolutionary progress as the side of God. The idea of a natural evol- 1. Like philosophy, prophecy purports to others were attached to the and some 536 537