A number of people have given their personal characterizations of what
"process theology" entails. However, like more traditional Christian
theologies, there is no one party line that can be taken as the
representative of the entire category. So ........ I think it's time to
engage particular proponents and deal with what they actually say, thereby
avoiding problems that could arise from glib oversimplifications or
misrepresentions.
Following, for example, is David Ray Griffin's way of talking about the
"generic idea of God."
""God" refers to (1) a personal purposive being who is (2) supreme in power,
and (3) perfect in goodness, who (4) created the world, and (5) acts
providentially in it, who (6) is experienced by human beings, especially as
the source of moral norms and religious experiences, and is (7) the ultimate
guarantee for the meaningfulness of human life, (8) the ultimate ground of
hope for the victory of good over evil, thereby (9) alone worthy of
worship."
He goes on to say that "A Whiteheadian theism can retain all nine features
by simply modifying the traditional understanding of some of them. The
central modification involves the second feature, according to which God is
supreme in power. This change in meaning, from coercive to persuasive power,
entails a modification of the traditional meanings of the 4th, 5th, and 8th
features as well. These modifications constitute the change from
supernaturalistic theism to the kind of naturalistic theism affirmed in this
book." From Religion and Scientific Naturalism, p. 90.
Howard Van Till
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