Saturday, May 29, 2021

Process Sovereignty vs Church Sovereignty






Amazon Link

Applying an ever more radical hermeneutics (including Husserlian and Heideggerian phenomenology, Derridian deconstruction, and feminism), John D. Caputo breaks down the name of God in this irrepressible book. Instead of looking at God as merely a name, Caputo views it as an event, or what the name conjures or promises in the future. For Caputo, the event exposes God as weak, unstable, and barely functional. While this view of God flies in the face of most religions and philosophies, it also puts up a serious challenge to fundamental tenets of theology and ontology. Along the way, Caputo's readings of the New Testament, especially of Paul's view of the Kingdom of God, help to support the "weak force" theory. This penetrating work cuts to the core of issues and questions―What is the nature of God? What is the nature of being? What is the relationship between God and being? What is the meaning of forgiveness, faith, piety, or transcendence?―that define the terrain of contemporary philosophy of religion.




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A God of Process Sovereignty

Our view of God's Sovereignty must change from one of power to one of weakness. God is the opposite of being nihilistic or militaristic... God is exactly what Jesus showed us He is. No spears, clubs, nor high-minded threats of ending governments and innocent lives in the name of Christ. Nay. God is gentle, meek, merciful and loving.

Conversely, we would expect man's God to be a vigorous, red-meat eating bloody military general, wouldn't we? But of the God we see in Jesus this is not so.... Our longing for unrighteous power and ill-gained safehaven in the shadows of the rich and powerful can find no substitute for God's loving strength and holy guidance in this life nor the next.

Process theology says God is embedded in all things, meaning, God's power is unlimited. It is as large as the universe. But that this power is meant for wellbeing, creational care, nourishment, and healing of body, mind, soul and spirit. A militaristic God styled after King David of the OT gets you nowhere. Just the satisfaction that your worldly God is something the true God really isn't. A proper definition of God's Sovereignty must be a loving God full of mercy and forgiveness. One who lived life caring and healing others. And in death, did the same.

What about the God of the apocalyptic revelation coming to destroy the world? Again, not true. We might destroy ourselves as we are continually predicting but God will not, and cannot, because of who God is as loving and good. But aren't all eschatological stories based on stories of holy vengeance and justice? You know, the Wyatt-Earp-kinds-of-justice staged at the OK-Corrals-of-the-world where the bad guys get what's coming to them? Sure, those shoot-em-up-endings portray their muscular, powerful stories of protecting the innocent from the cruel, the ideal from the wayward. Yet God doesn't work this way. God isn't loving one moment and vengeful the next. Sure, God is grieved and harmed by our actions towards one another but God is Spirit and we are God's fleshly hands and feet to conduct a loving, caring, restorative justice. Not a justice of harm and cruelty. We are therefore to conduct ourselves in ministrations of care... not continue the donkey wheel of injustice, harm, and hate.

Let's just say then that the book of Revelation is man's metaphorical image of God and not the picture of the true Jesus-God. Naturally it is a yearning of the Christian Church that hell be swallowed up by the cross of Jesus along with all antichrists and wicked prophets of the world. But if God's Sovereignty is epitomized in Jesus then we should suspect one of us is wrong. Either our idolatry of God is wrong as pictured by the church's idolatry of God's sovereignty always described in terms of bloody return. Or, the eschatological hope we carry for vengeful justice is wrong. Perhaps Revelation was written as a warning to the church to reign-in our lusts and megalomaniac dreams of domineering world power under religious rule. To content ourselves rather in love's healing ministries and restorative justice. Without this character in our spirits our metaphorical gods will rise up and eat us alive in hatred and cruelty where no one can stand and there can be no atonement left save for death.

R.E. Slater
May 29, 2021

 

The Power of God's Love

by R.E. Slater


Held in the loving power of Jesus

        is the God of the universe...
  His divine power supersedes all others,
              His divine love undergirds
                                the foundations of the world...
                         upon which we who walk this earth
               seek a home not of our own...
                             but of loving nourishment,
          wellbeing, soul healing,
  and nurturing care...

                                                    

                                          R.E. Slater
                                               May 29, 2021





Bible Verses about Power Through God

Acts 3:12
But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?

2 Corinthians 4:7
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;

2 Corinthians 12:9
And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

Ephesians 1:19-20
and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

Ephesians 3:20
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,
 
Colossians 1:29
For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

2 Corinthians 6:7
in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,

Daniel 2:23
“To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise,
For You have given me wisdom and power;
Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You,
For You have made known to us the king’s matter.”

Daniel 2:37
You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory;

1 John 4:4
You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

2 Corinthians 13:3
since you are seeking for proof of the Christ who speaks in me, and who is not weak toward you, but mighty in you.

Luke 9:1
And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases.

John 14:12
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.

Acts 4:33
And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.

1 Corinthians 15:43
it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;

2 Corinthians 10:4
for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.

Colossians 1:11
strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously

2 Thessalonians 1:11
To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power,

2 Timothy 1:8
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God...






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Friday, May 28, 2021

An Interview with Process Theologian Philip Clayton




Philip Clayton is a Professor of Theology at the Claremont School of Theology and the 2010 Metanexus Senior Fellow. In these interviews with William Grassie, Clayton discusses his intellectual and spiritual journey, religion and science, the confluences and boundaries between, religious pluralism, Big History, Sir John Templeton, the Humble Approach, and more.


Interview with Philip Clayton, Part 1 5



Interview with Philip Clayton, Part 2 5



Interview with Philip Clayton, Part 3 5



Interview with Philip Clayton, Part 4 5



Interview with Philip Clayton, Part 5 5







Philip Clayton: What is panentheism?










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Meet Philip Clayton, Process Theologian




Before I knew Philip Clayton as an ecologist I knew him as a process philosopher and theologian who strove to be connective to the church and practical to society. 

Philip's interests, like my own, are large and varied, and the lists of his book titles near the bottom of this post will show the amount of material he has digested in his lifetime in order to reach out to as many people as he could.

At this moment Philip is invested with the Institute for Ecological Civilization and works to connect and share it's Whiteheadian process perspective practically into the grand idea of human ecological societies with as many environmental groups as he can.

Before this time Philip was associated for many long years with the Claremont Graduate School of Theology. One of his latest books asks the reader to consider what an ecological civilization might look like? I tried this once with a group of state and national politicians and failed miserably. They showed no interest in the topic and very little desire to be involved in creating the foundations for an expansive ecological civilization.

In hindsight, I think the best we may do is to affect our local communities, schools, and government. Being myself involved for many years in implementing ecological policy for my community as a citizen volunteer has shown the positive impact it can have on many organizations, corporations, and educational bodies.

But efforts like these, in order to be successful, will take a lot of people with a shared vision, a lot of organizations, and a lot of effort. To those like Philip who have made process theology practical to the religious, scientific, and educational communities around the world we say thank you for your time and effort. It was not easily purchased... but there will be many hearts and souls who will carry on the tradition of mending lives to the earth and the earth back into lives.

R.E. Slater
May 28, 2021




https://www.philipclayton.net/

As a scholar, Philip Clayton (Ingraham Professor, Claremont School of Theology) works at the intersection points of science, philosophy, and theology. As an activist (president of EcoCiv.org, President of IPDC), he works to convene, facilitate, and catalyze multi-sectoral initiatives toward ecological civilization.


BIOGRAPHY

As a scholar, Philip Clayton works at the intersection of philosophy, theology, and science. Although he continues to work on fundamental questions that arise within each of these fields and at their intersections, his more recent focus has turned increasingly to the intersection of climate science, ethics, religion, and social philosophy, or ecotheology. 

Clayton holds the Ingraham Chair at Claremont School of Theology, where he directs the PhD program in comparative theologies and philosophies; he is also affiliated faculty at Claremont Graduate University. A graduate of Yale University, he has also taught at Williams College and the California State University, as well as holding guest professorships at the University of Munich, the University of Cambridge, and Harvard University. He has published two dozen books and some 350 articles.

Philip is President of the Institute for Ecological Civilization (EcoCiv.org), which works internationally to support multi-sector innovations toward a sustainable society through collaborations between governments, businesses, policy experts, and NGOs. He is also president of the Institute for the Postmodern Development of China, which works with universities and government officials to promote the concept of ecological civilization through conferences, publications, educational projects, and ecovillages. He has previously served as a Dean, Provost, and as the Executive Vice President of a small university. In 2018 he helped to organize the Justice track for the Parliament of the World’s Religions.

Philip enjoys cycling, refereeing competitive soccer, and wilderness camping with family and dog.


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The present trajectory of life on this planet is unsustainable, and the underlying causes of our environmental crisis are inseparable from our social and economic systems. The massive inequality between the rich and the poor is not separate from our systems of unlimited growth, the depletion of natural resources, the extinction of species, or global warming. As climate predictions continue to exceed projections, it is clear that hopelessness is rapidly becoming our worst enemy. What is needed—urgently—is a new vision for the flourishing of life on this planet, a vision the authors are calling an ecological civilization. Along the way they have learned that this term brings hope unlike any other. It reminds us that humans have gone through many civilizations in the past, and the end of a particular civilization does not necessarily mean the end of humanity, much less the end of all life on the planet. It is not hard for us to conceive of a society after the fall of modernity, in which humans live in an equitable and sustainable way with one another and the planet. This book explores the idea of ecological civilization by asking eight key questions about it and drawing answers from relational philosophies, the ecological sciences, systems thinking and network theory, and the world’s religious and spiritual traditions. It concludes that a genuinely ecological civilization is not a utopian ideal, but a practical way to live. To recognize this, and to begin to take steps to establish it, is the foundation for realistic hope.

 



https://ecociv.org/our-mission/


What Is Ecological Civilization?




The Institute for Ecological Civilization
promotes civilizational change
for the long-term wellbeing of
people and the planet.​


      

WATER
We work to connect, catalyze and incubate urban water solutions globally.


ECONOMY
We work with global networks to transform economic systems in favour of human and ecological wellbeing.


COMMUNITY
We reimagine human communities to build more interconnected systems.


DIALOGUE
We build networks with thought leaders and experts worldwide to solve root causes of complex social and environmental challenges.


WE STAND FOR RACIAL JUSTICE
Dismantling institutional racism is not peripheral; it’s an integral part of building ecological civilizations. We join the ongoing protests demanding justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others, and an end to the violence against Black bodies. we echo their urgent call to find ways that our various organizations and movements can do more to integrate anti-racism into our programming and to actively stand up for racial justice.




OUR MISSION

EcoCiv promotes civilizational change for the long-term wellbeing of people and the planet.

CORE BELIEF

The present trajectory of life on this planet is unsustainable, and the underlying causes of our environmental crisis are inseparable from our social and economic systems. The massive inequality between the rich and the poor is not separate from our systems of unlimited growth, the depletion of natural resources, the extinction of species, or global warming. Social and environmental movements require an orientation that is neither too narrow and short-term, nor too abstract and long-term to offer concrete guidance. Formulating the requirements for the flourishing of life in all its forms ― an ecological civilization ― will provide the roadmap that leaders need and will ground a hope that stimulates the necessary reforms.

OUR VISION

The Institute for Ecological Civilization works with allies and global leaders to design solutions for the well-being of people and the planet. By convening experts from across the major sectors of society, we have been able to catalyze groundbreaking explorations of the ways that current systems and structures need to be transformed. Ultimately, our goal is to work with leaders to shape the policies that, when implemented, will bring about a sustainable, ecological civilization.


Working at the intersection of theory and practice, we amplify narratives of hope that motivate, guide, and direct. As humanity works its way from social and environmental threat toward an ecological society, only the transformative vision of a positive new story will suffice. Where hopelessness arises, we call others to join us in walking toward ecological civilization, one step at a time.

https://ecociv.org/our-mission/




Philip Clayton Titles 
~ more may be found at the end of this post ~







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Philip Clayton (philosopher)

  (Redirected from Philip Clayton (theologian))
Philip Clayton (born 1956) is a contemporary American philosopher of religion and philosopher of science. His work focuses on the intersection of science, ethics, and society. He currently holds the Ingraham Chair at Claremont School of Theology[1] and serves as an affiliated faculty member at Claremont Graduate University.[2] Clayton specializes in the philosophy of science, philosophy of biology, and philosophy of religion, as well as in comparative theology.

Career

As an administrator in higher education, Clayton served as Dean of the Claremont School of Theology, and as Provost and Senior Vice President of Claremont Lincoln University, which at that time was an interreligious university.[3] He was Principal Investigator for the Science and the Spiritual Quest project from 1999 to 2003.

Within the natural sciences, Philip Clayton’s research has focused on emergent dynamics in biology and on the neural correlates of consciousness in neuroscience. He has co-authored or edited a number of publications with physicists, chemists, and biologists, analyzing emerging natural systems and exploring their significance for the study of religion. He works in particular on the philosophical and religious implications of emergence theory. In this field his books include Mind and Emergence: From Quantum to Consciousness and In Quest of Freedom:The Emergence of Spirit in the Natural World. He was also editor of The Reemergence of Emergence. He has also published extensively in the field of science and religion, and served as the co-editor for the Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science.

Philip Clayton received a joint PhD from Yale in the philosophy of science and the philosophy of religion. He has also held a variety of invited guest professorships at other universities, including the University of Munich, the University of Cambridge, and Harvard University.[4] As Fulbright Senior Fellow and Humboldt Professor he studied with Wolfhart Pannenberg in Theology and in Philosophy with Dieter Henrich and Lorenz Puntel. He later co-edited the English Festschrift for Pannenberg and translated Pannenberg’s work into English.

Philip Clayton has taught at Haverford College, Williams College, and Sonoma State University. His international lectureships include India,[5] Great Britain,[6] France,[7] and China.[8] He speaks and writes extensively on issues at the intersection of science, religion, ethics, and politics.[9][10]

Authored works

  • Explanation from Physics to Theology, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989.
  • God and Contemporary Science, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdman’s, 1998.
  • The Problem of God in Modern Thought, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdman’s, 2000.
  • Mind and Emergence: From Quantum to Consciousness, Oxford University Press, 2004.
  • In Quest of Freedom: The Emergence of Spirit in the Natural World, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 2007 (English edition 2009).
  • Adventures in the Spirit: God, World, and Divine Action, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2008.
  • Transforming Christian Theology: For Church and Society, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009.
  • The Predicament of Belief: Science, Philosophy, and Christian Minimalism, Oxford University Press, 2011.

Select edited works

  • Science and the Spiritual Quest: New Essays by Leading Scientists, London and New York: Routledge, 2002.
  • In Whom We Live and Move and Have our Being: Panentheistic Reflections on God's Presence in a Scientific World (with Arthur Peacocke), Eerdman’s, 2004.
  • Evolution and Ethics (with Jeff Schloss), Eerdman’s 2004.
  • The Re-Emergence of Emergence: The Emergentist Hypothesis from Science to Religion (with Paul Davies), Oxford University Press, 2006.
  • The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science (with Zachary Simpson), Oxford University Press, 2006.
  • Practicing Science, Living Faith: Interviews with Twelve Leading Scientists (with Jim Schaal), New York: Columbia University Press, 2007.
  • Panentheism across the World's Traditions (with Loriliai Biernacki), Oxford University Press, 2014.

References

  1. ^ "Claremont School of Theology Faculty Profile". Archived from the original on 2011-12-30. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
  2. ^ "Claremont Graduate University Faculty Profile".
  3. ^ "Calif. University Introduces First U.S. Multi-Faith School of Theology".
  4. ^ "Curriculum Vitae" (PDF).
  5. ^ "Science and Beyond: Consciousness, Cosmology and Technology in the Indic Traditions".
  6. ^ "Faraday Institute Newsletter No. 2 - February 2006".
  7. ^ "Les 20 ans de l'Université interdisciplinaire de Paris" (PDF).
  8. ^ "The Process of Interfaith in China".
  9. ^ "Prominent theologian says Turkey in crisis with international community". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-04-02.
  10. ^ "A Mystery of Body and Soul".

External links



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THE WRITINGS OF PHILIP CLAYTON

BOOKS
AUTHORED

Explanation from Physics to Theology:  An Essay in Rationality and Religion (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989).  German translation:  Rationalität und Religion. Erklärung in Naturwissenschaft und Theologie, trans. Martin Laube (Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh, 1992).

Das Gottesproblem, vol. 1:  Gott und Unendlichkeit in der neuzeitlichen Philosophie, composed in German (Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöfningh Verlag, 1996).

God and Contemporary Science (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press and Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998).

The Problem of God in Modern Thought (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000)

Mind and Emergence:  From Quantum to Consciousness (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).  

German translation:  Emergenz und Bewusstsein. Evolutionärer Prozess und die Grenzen des Naturalismus (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, October 2008).  

Romanian translation, 2008.  Spanish translation 2011. Chinese translation, 2015. Korean translation in process.

Adventures in the Spirit:  God, World, Divine Action (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2008). Chinese translation underway.

In Quest of Freedom:  The Emergence of Spirit in the Natural World (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2009).  

German translation: Die Frage nach der Freiheit. Biologie, Kultur und die Emergenz des Geistes (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2009). 

French translation: Les origines de la liberté. L’Émergence de l’esprit dans le monde naturel, trans. Allesia Weil (Paris: Éditions Salvator, 2012).

Transforming Christian Theology:  For Church and Society (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009). Danish translation 2011. Korean translation 2012. 

Religion and Science: The Basics (London: Routledge, 2011). Second edition, 2019. Swedish translation forthcoming.

The Predicament of Belief: Science, Philosophy, Faith, with Steven Knapp (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2011). 

Confronting the Predicament of Belief: The Quest for God in Radical Uncertainty, with Steven Knapp and eight critics, edited by James W. Walters, Philip Clayton, and Steven Knapp (Edmond, OK: Crowdscribed, 2014).

Spanish translation by Gorgias Romero García: Marxismo Orgánico: Una alternativa al capitalismo y a la catástrofe ecológica (Claremont: Process Century Press, 2016). 

Chinese translation, trans. Xian Meng,Guifeng Yu, and Lixia Zhang (Beijing: The People's Press, 2015): [美]菲利普克莱顿贾斯廷海因泽克著;孟献丽于桂凤张丽霞译:《有机马克思主义——生态灾难与资本主义的替代选择》, 北京：人民出版社，2015年。

Organic Marxism: An Alternative to Capitalism and Ecological Catastrophe, with Justin Heinzekehr (Anoka, MN: Process Century Press, 2014);

God and Gravity: A Philip Clayton Reader on Science and Theology, ed. Bradford McCall (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2018). 

What is Ecological Civilization? Crisis, Hope, and the Future of the Planet, co-authored
with Andrew Schwartz (Anoka, MN: Process Century Press, 2019).

Now What? Rebuilding the Sacred from the Rubble of God, co-authored with Claudia Pearce (in preparation).

Hope in an Age of Unbelief, with Steven Knapp (in preparation).

The New Socialism: Sacred and Secular Roots of a Transformative Politics, co-authored with Justin Heinzekehr (in preparation). 

BOOKS EDITED

The Theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg: Twelve American Critiques, co-edited with Carl Braaten (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1988).

Science and the Spiritual Quest: New Essays by Leading Scientists, co-edited with Mark Richardson et al. (London and New York: Routledge, 2002).

Quantum Mechanics, vol. 5 of Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action, coedited with Robert J. Russell John Polkinghorne, and Kirk Wegter-McNelly (Vatican City: Vatican Observatory, and Berkeley: Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, 2002).

In Whom We Live and Move and Have Our Being: Panentheistic Reflections on God’s Presence in a Scientific World, co-edited with Arthur Peacocke (Grand Rapids: Eerdman‘s, 2004).

Science and Beyond:  Cosmology, Consciousness and Technology in the Indic Traditions, co-edited with Roddam Narasimha, B. V. Sreekantan, and Sangeetha Menon (Bangalore, India: NIAS Publications, 2004).

Evolution and Ethics: Human Morality in Biological and Religious Perspective, co-edited with Jeffrey Schloss (Grand Rapids: Eerdman‘s, 2004).

The Re-emergence of Emergence:  The Emergentist Hypothesis from Science to Religion, co-edited with Paul Davies (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006)

The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science, with associate editor Zachary Simpson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006). Arabic translation, 2014.

Practicing Science, Living Faith:  Interviews with Twelve Leading Scientists, co-edited with Jim Schaal (New York: Columbia University Press, 2007).

All That Is: A Naturalistic Faith for the Twenty-First Century, in honor of Arthur Peacocke. (Minneapolis: FortressPress, 2007).

Panentheism Across the World’s Traditions, co-edited with Loriliai Biernacki (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2013).

Socialism in Process, coedited with Justin Heinzekehr (Anoka, MN: Process Century Press, 2017)

How I Found God in Everyone and Everywhere: An Anthology of Spiritual Memoirs, coedited with Andrew M. Davis (New York: Monkfish, 2018).

What’s with Free Will?  Ethics and Religion after Neuroscience, coedited with Jim Walters (forthcoming from Wipf & Stock, 2020).

Thought at the Edge of Collapse: Reception and Response in the work of Philip Clayton, Festschrift edited by Zachary Simpson (in preparation).



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