Introduction: Reclaiming a Living Language for God
- from noun to verb,
- from stasis to process,
- from abstraction to relation,
Please note: This is not a dismissal of the past but a fulfillment of its deepest intuitions: that God is love, and love is never still.
Sample Verbs
Being ➝ Becoming
Immutability ➝ Faithful Change
Omnipotence ➝ Relational Power
Sovereignty ➝ Co-creative Freedom
Judgment ➝ Consequential Response
Salvation ➝ Transformative Healing
Each chapter includes:
Classical usage and critique
Proposed process alternative
Scriptural reinterpretation
Pastoral and liturgical examples
Lexicon Entry 1: Being ➝ Becoming
Classical theology centers on "being"—a concept derived from Greek metaphysics that defines God and reality in terms of fixed essence and unchanging substance. God is understood as "Pure Being" (actus purus), the most perfect form of existence, untouched by time or flux.
In contrast, process theology affirms becoming as fundamental to reality. Everything that exists, exists in process - including God - though God’s primordial nature remains constant in character, God's consequent nature changes in loving response to the world.
God is not simply the ground of being, but the source of creative becoming, luring all occasions toward novelty, harmony, and beauty. The universe is composed not of enduring substances but of momentary actual occasions whose reality is relational, not isolated, because ALL things are relationally interconnected resulting in relationally interconnected experiences.
Reflection Questions
- How does shifting from 'being' to 'becoming' change the way you relate to God?
- Where in your life have you experienced God as a dynamic presence rather than a fixed authority?
Lexicon Entry 2: Immutability ➝ Faithful Change
In classical theology, immutability means God cannot change in any respect. Rooted in Greek idealism, change was seen as imperfection; hence, God had to be beyond change to remain perfect.
Process theology reframes this: God does change—but faithfully so. God's essence (the divine love and commitment to all creation) does not shift, but God's experience does. God changes in relation to the unfolding of creation, absorbing all joys, suffering, and novelty.
This view aligns with Scripture:
God “repented” (changed mind) in response to Moses (Exodus 32:14)
God weeps, rejoices, and walks with Israel (Hosea, Isaiah, Luke)
Faithful change means God is the most dependable precisely because God is relationally responsive. This is a deeper constancy than philosophical abstraction allows.
Pastoral and Liturgical Implications
Liturgy might praise God as "Ever-Faithful in Change," always becoming in love
Suffering is not ignored but taken into the divine life itself
God’s trustworthiness lies not in being above the world but in suffering with it
- What does it mean for you to trust a God who changes?
- Can divine faithfulness be more meaningful when expressed through relationship rather than static perfection?
Lexicon Entry 3: Omnipotence ➝ Relational Power
Classical Christian theology often defines omnipotence as God's unlimited ability to do anything, including overriding creaturely will, natural law, and history itself. This absolute power model stems from Greco-Roman monarchical assumptions: the divine king rules by force, not persuasion.
Process theology replaces omnipotence with persuasive or relational power—God's ability to influence all things without coercing any. God’s power is not about overriding freedom but about calling, luring, and creatively shaping the field of becoming. Divine power works through possibility, not force.
This vision is deeply biblical:
“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit…” (Zechariah 4:6)
Jesus’ kenosis (self-emptying) in Philippians 2: God’s power made manifest in humility
God’s Spirit as a still, small voice (1 Kings 19), not a dominating presence
Persuasive power is greater, not lesser: it honors the creational integrity and agency of the world while inviting cooperation toward the good.
Pastoral and Liturgical Implications
God is invoked as the "All-Loving Influence," not the omnipotent controller
Encourages relational trust over submission to divine might
Deepens the theology of prayer: God influences without violating freedom
- How does understanding divine power as persuasive reshape your view of prayer or divine action?
- Can love be powerful without being coercive?
Lexicon Entry 4: Sovereignty ➝ Co-creative Freedom
Sovereignty traditionally suggests unilateral divine rule over creation, often associated with predestination, micromanagement of history, or exhaustive foreknowledge.
Process theology reimagines sovereignty as co-creative freedom. God does not manipulate history but calls creation to actively participate and co-create in its unfolding. Every moment is a joint project between God and the world, a mutual responsiveness where divine aims meet creaturely freedom.
Biblical echoes of co-creation include:
Genesis 2: God invites Adam to name the animals—partnership, not domination
Amos 5:14: "Seek good, not evil, that you may live"—divine call, not control
Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:9: "We are co-workers in God’s service"
God’s sovereignty is expressed in divine faithfulness and creativity, not unilateral control. The power of God is exercised through invitation, nurture, and integration.
Pastoral and Liturgical Implications
God is praised as the "Co-Creator of All Life"
Encourages human responsibility and cosmic participation
Moves theology toward ecological justice and mutual empowerment
- In what ways might you be participating in God’s co-creative work?
- How does this model of sovereignty inspire responsibility rather than submission?
Lexicon Entry 5: Judgment ➝ Consequential Response
In classical theology, judgment often implies divine punishment or reward based on obedience or failure, administered by an omniscient, moral arbiter. This concept is frequently linked with finality, fear, and retributive justice.
Process theology reframes judgment as consequential response—a natural unfolding of results within a relational universe where every act affects others and shapes the future. Divine judgment is not imposed from above but arises from how each decision aligns or misaligns with God's lure toward goodness.
Scriptural illustrations:
“You reap what you sow” (Galatians 6:7) – not punishment, but relational consequence
Jesus’ teachings on forgiveness and mercy (Luke 6:37)
The judgment in Matthew 25 is not arbitrary, but relational: "As you did it to the least…"
Judgment is reconceived as God's relational awareness of moral impact—holding all actions in memory while inviting healing, restoration, redemption without wrathful condemnation.
Pastoral and Liturgical Implications
God is invoked as the "Rememberer of Consequences," not the enforcer of wrath
Fosters moral responsibility without fear-based theology
Emphasizes accountability within compassion and growth
Reflection Questions
- What impact does this understanding of judgment have on your sense of accountability?
- How can consequences be a form of grace?
Lexicon Entry 6: Salvation ➝ Transformative Healing
Classically, salvation is often framed as rescue from sin and hell, achieved through belief or sacrificial atonement. It is commonly seen as a static status—saved or not saved.
Process theology envisions salvation as transformative healing: a dynamic, ongoing process of becoming whole in relationship to God, self, others, and the cosmos. It is not escape from the world but deep participation in its renewal.
Biblical resonances:
Jesus heals more than he condemns (Mark 5, Luke 17)
The word sozo (to save) in Greek also means to heal or make whole
Paul’s language of transformation (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18)
Salvation is not a transaction, but a journey toward alignment with the divine lure—the invitation to love, to heal, to grow.
Pastoral and Liturgical Implications
Salvation is celebrated as journey and restoration, not mere pardon
Encourages personal and communal practices of healing, justice, and reconciliation
Frames mission as mutual transformation, not conquest or conversion
- How have you experienced salvation as a process of healing?
- What would a salvation-focused community of healing look like?
Lexicon Entry 7: Hell ➝ Wasted Possibility
In traditional Christian doctrine, hell is portrayed as a place of eternal punishment—a final, irreversible rejection of God, often administered by divine decree.
Process theology reframes hell as wasted possibility—the tragic absence of realized potential within an open, relational universe. It is not a literal fiery domain but a metaphysical state of missed relational harmony, the suffering that results from resisting the divine lure.
Rather than punishment, process thought sees hell as the natural existential outcome of rejecting love and refusing to participate in the creative advance.
Scriptural echoes include:
Jesus’ lament: “How often I have longed… but you were not willing” (Luke 13:34)
The parable of talents (Matthew 25) as unrealized growth
Paul’s image of being saved “as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:15)—purifying, not punitive
Pastoral and Liturgical Implications
Encourages hope, not fear; redemptive possibility over final condemnation
Frames hell as the pain of alienation from love, not the wrath of an angry God
Invites renewed participation in healing rather than judgmental exclusion
- Have you experienced or witnessed moments of 'wasted possibility'?
- How might divine love respond to unfulfilled potential?
Lexicon Entry 8: Heaven ➝ Creative Fulfillment
Classically, heaven is viewed as a static, perfect realm entered after death—defined by reward, perfection, and eternal rest.
Process theology offers a vision of heaven as creative fulfillment—the ongoing realization of divine harmony, novelty, and relational richness. It is not a fixed location but a dynamic participation in God’s ongoing, continual becoming with all of creation.
Heaven is the integration of beauty, love, and memory into divine experience, what Whitehead called “the consequent nature of God,” where all value is eternally preserved and creatively transformed.
Scriptural foundations include:
“Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5)
“The kingdom of God is among you” (Luke 17:21)
Jesus’ invitation to abundant life (John 10:10)
Heaven is not the end of the story but the deepening of divine creativity.
Pastoral and Liturgical Implications
Shifts eschatology from reward to relationship
Emphasizes participation, not passive rest
Celebrates the future as open, evolving, and shared with God
- What does it mean for you to live toward creative fulfillment?
- How can we anticipate heaven in the present moment?
Conclusion: The Future of God is a Verb
If theology is to serve life, it must speak in the grammar of life—open, evolving, and deeply relational. The classical theistically-formulated God, often is imaged or imagined as distant, omnipotent, and unmoved; One who cannot address the challenges of a world aching for connection, compassion, and shared creativity, without demanding it to do so by wrath and condemnation.
The God of verbs is not less than the God of old—but more alive. This is the God who suffers with, moves through, and calls forth each moment into greater intensity of beauty and justice. It is the God who does not control outcomes but inspires possibilities.
This sample lexicon is only a beginning. Its aim is not to provide final answers but to reawaken theological imagination—to invite readers, pastors, seekers, and communities into a shared, unfolding articulation of the Divine.
May these verbs live in your prayers, your questions, your poems, and your prophetic acts.
The future of God is not fixed.The future of God is becoming.
And we, with God, are becoming still.
Reference Sources for Verbs of God
1. Bruce Epperly, Process Theology: Embracing Adventure with God (2014)
Applies process theology in spiritual formation.
Use: Bridges theology and daily Christian life.
2. Jay McDaniel, Living from the Center (2000)
Links process thought with practical spirituality.
Use: Encourages accessible devotional practice.
3. Monica Coleman, Making a Way Out of No Way (2008)
Womanist theology deeply shaped by process ideas.
Use: Highlights liberation and intersectional relevance.
4. Michael Lodahl, God of Nature and of Grace (2003)
Wesleyan engagement with relational theology.
Use: Expands ecumenical reach of process ideas.
5. John Haught, God After Darwin (2000)
Theology through an evolutionary lens.
Use: Grounds eschatology and divine lure in ongoing creation.
✨ Processual Verbs for God & God’s Activity - A Concluding Poem
So we speak:
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