Quotes & Sayings


We, and creation itself, actualize the possibilities of the God who sustains the world, towards becoming in the world in a fuller, more deeper way. - R.E. Slater

There is urgency in coming to see the world as a web of interrelated processes of which we are integral parts, so that all of our choices and actions have [consequential effects upon] the world around us. - Process Metaphysician Alfred North Whitehead

Kurt Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem says (i) all closed systems are unprovable within themselves and, that (ii) all open systems are rightly understood as incomplete. - R.E. Slater

The most true thing about you is what God has said to you in Christ, "You are My Beloved." - Tripp Fuller

The God among us is the God who refuses to be God without us, so great is God's Love. - Tripp Fuller

According to some Christian outlooks we were made for another world. Perhaps, rather, we were made for this world to recreate, reclaim, redeem, and renew unto God's future aspiration by the power of His Spirit. - R.E. Slater

Our eschatological ethos is to love. To stand with those who are oppressed. To stand against those who are oppressing. It is that simple. Love is our only calling and Christian Hope. - R.E. Slater

Secularization theory has been massively falsified. We don't live in an age of secularity. We live in an age of explosive, pervasive religiosity... an age of religious pluralism. - Peter L. Berger

Exploring the edge of life and faith in a post-everything world. - Todd Littleton

I don't need another reason to believe, your love is all around for me to see. – Anon

Thou art our need; and in giving us more of thyself thou givest us all. - Khalil Gibran, Prayer XXIII

Be careful what you pretend to be. You become what you pretend to be. - Kurt Vonnegut

Religious beliefs, far from being primary, are often shaped and adjusted by our social goals. - Jim Forest

We become who we are by what we believe and can justify. - R.E. Slater

People, even more than things, need to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone. – Anon

Certainly, God's love has made fools of us all. - R.E. Slater

An apocalyptic Christian faith doesn't wait for Jesus to come, but for Jesus to become in our midst. - R.E. Slater

Christian belief in God begins with the cross and resurrection of Jesus, not with rational apologetics. - Eberhard Jüngel, Jürgen Moltmann

Our knowledge of God is through the 'I-Thou' encounter, not in finding God at the end of a syllogism or argument. There is a grave danger in any Christian treatment of God as an object. The God of Jesus Christ and Scripture is irreducibly subject and never made as an object, a force, a power, or a principle that can be manipulated. - Emil Brunner

“Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh” means "I will be that who I have yet to become." - God (Ex 3.14) or, conversely, “I AM who I AM Becoming.”

Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. - Thomas Merton

The church is God's world-changing social experiment of bringing unlikes and differents to the Eucharist/Communion table to share life with one another as a new kind of family. When this happens, we show to the world what love, justice, peace, reconciliation, and life together is designed by God to be. The church is God's show-and-tell for the world to see how God wants us to live as a blended, global, polypluralistic family united with one will, by one Lord, and baptized by one Spirit. – Anon

The cross that is planted at the heart of the history of the world cannot be uprooted. - Jacques Ellul

The Unity in whose loving presence the universe unfolds is inside each person as a call to welcome the stranger, protect animals and the earth, respect the dignity of each person, think new thoughts, and help bring about ecological civilizations. - John Cobb & Farhan A. Shah

If you board the wrong train it is of no use running along the corridors of the train in the other direction. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

God's justice is restorative rather than punitive; His discipline is merciful rather than punishing; His power is made perfect in weakness; and His grace is sufficient for all. – Anon

Our little [biblical] systems have their day; they have their day and cease to be. They are but broken lights of Thee, and Thou, O God art more than they. - Alfred Lord Tennyson

We can’t control God; God is uncontrollable. God can’t control us; God’s love is uncontrolling! - Thomas Jay Oord

Life in perspective but always in process... as we are relational beings in process to one another, so life events are in process in relation to each event... as God is to Self, is to world, is to us... like Father, like sons and daughters, like events... life in process yet always in perspective. - R.E. Slater

To promote societal transition to sustainable ways of living and a global society founded on a shared ethical framework which includes respect and care for the community of life, ecological integrity, universal human rights, respect for diversity, economic justice, democracy, and a culture of peace. - The Earth Charter Mission Statement

Christian humanism is the belief that human freedom, individual conscience, and unencumbered rational inquiry are compatible with the practice of Christianity or even intrinsic in its doctrine. It represents a philosophical union of Christian faith and classical humanist principles. - Scott Postma

It is never wise to have a self-appointed religious institution determine a nation's moral code. The opportunities for moral compromise and failure are high; the moral codes and creeds assuredly racist, discriminatory, or subjectively and religiously defined; and the pronouncement of inhumanitarian political objectives quite predictable. - R.E. Slater

God's love must both center and define the Christian faith and all religious or human faiths seeking human and ecological balance in worlds of subtraction, harm, tragedy, and evil. - R.E. Slater

In Whitehead’s process ontology, we can think of the experiential ground of reality as an eternal pulse whereby what is objectively public in one moment becomes subjectively prehended in the next, and whereby the subject that emerges from its feelings then perishes into public expression as an object (or “superject”) aiming for novelty. There is a rhythm of Being between object and subject, not an ontological division. This rhythm powers the creative growth of the universe from one occasion of experience to the next. This is the Whiteheadian mantra: “The many become one and are increased by one.” - Matthew Segall

Without Love there is no Truth. And True Truth is always Loving. There is no dichotomy between these terms but only seamless integration. This is the premier centering focus of a Processual Theology of Love. - R.E. Slater

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Note: Generally I do not respond to commentary. I may read the comments but wish to reserve my time to write (or write from the comments I read). Instead, I'd like to see our community help one another and in the helping encourage and exhort each of us towards Christian love in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. - re slater

Sunday, August 31, 2025

SOAP 13/21 - Life in the Vine (John 15.4-11)

 

SOAP 13/21
Life in the Vine
John 15.4-11

by R.E. Slater & ChatGPT 5

For the next 21 days, let's commit to feeding yourself spiritually by reading and reflecting on a passage of Scripture each day using the S.O.A.P. method (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer). Keep a brief daily note of what you learn and how you might apply it, and at the end of the 21 days, share your biggest takeaway with someone else. 

Life in the Vine
John 15.4-11
In His farewell discourse, Jesus uses the imagery of vine and branches to describe the believer’s relationship with Him. Abiding in Christ is the source of fruitfulness, joy, and love. Disconnection leads to withering, but union brings life. This passage calls disciples into enduring intimacy with Christ, grounded in obedience that flows from love.


John 15.4-11 (ESV)

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my (ever-constant) love.
10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

Greek Word Study
  • μένω (menō) – “abide, remain” (vv. 4–10). Central Johannine verb, expressing ongoing indwelling and mutual presence.
  • καρπός (karpos) – “fruit” (vv. 4–8). Organic metaphor: the visible result of abiding; life expressing divine vitality.
  • χωρὶς (chōris) – “apart from” (v. 5). Without connection, existence becomes barren.
  • ἐντολή (entolē) – “commandment” (v. 10). In John, the central command is love (cf. John 13:34).
  • χαρά (chara) – “joy” (v. 11). Not mere feeling, but fullness of life in divine relationship.


Historical Situation

The Gospel of John (c. 90–100 CE) was written to a community experiencing conflict with synagogue authorities and grappling with identity after separation from Judaism. The Farewell Discourses (John 13–17) are pastoral theology: Jesus prepares His followers for life without His physical presence.

The vine imagery recalls Israel as God’s vineyard (Isaiah 5.1-7, Psalm 80.8-19). Jesus re-centers the metaphor: He is the true vine, His followers are His branches that must remain connected.

The call to “abide” emphasizes enduring relationship and active love in a context of Judaistic exclusion, persecutorial hardship, and future uncertainty.


Observation through Three Lenses

1. Traditional (Catholic / Orthodox / Protestant Mainstream)

Tradition reads “abide” sacramentally and communally. Union with Christ is nurtured through baptism, Eucharist, and prayer, the means by which believers remain in the vine. Fruit is the evidence of sanctification, cultivated by virtue, obedience, and one's corporate relationship in the Church. The warning about withering branches reinforces the importance of remaining in the sacramental life of the Church; joy and fullness flow from abiding within this sacred communion.

2. Evangelical (Conservative Protestant)

Evangelicals stress abiding as personal relationship with Jesus apart from the church (as churches may, or may not, remain faithful). Fruit is the outward evidence of authentic faith: if I abide, my life will bear witness in obedience, prayer, and mission. Evangelicals highlight the exclusivity: “apart from me you can do nothing,” underscoring dependence on Christ alone for salvation and sanctification. The fire imagery is often read as a warning of judgment for false disciples. Abiding is thus both relational intimacy and evidence of genuine conversion.

3. Process Theological (Relational, Whiteheadian)

Process theology interprets abiding as mutual indwelling of relational life. To abide is i) not sacramental incorporation into the church (traditionalism), ii) nor proof of personal conversion to Christ (evangelicalism), but iii) living openness to God’s ever-loving presence. The vine-branch imagery affirms relational ecology: each life derives vitality from connection. Fruit emerges not by compulsion but by resonance with divine lure. The fire image is not eternal torment but the natural withering of relational disconnection with the divine - estrangement from divine life, divine love, and divine community (broadly, "community" is not necessarily the church but wherever divine live is resident within). Where tradition emphasizes sacramental continuity and evangelicals stress conversional intimacy, process reframes abiding as participatory becoming: the Spirit flowing through us as co-creators of love, joy, and harmony.


Application through Three Lenses

1. Traditional

Do I abide in Christ through prayer, sacrament, and obedience? This passage reminds me that fruit grows only in communion with Christ and His Church, sustained by grace.

2. Evangelical

Do I live daily in a personal, abiding relationship with Jesus? This passage challenges me to remain dependent on Christ in prayer, Scripture, and obedience, that my life may bear fruit as evidence of true discipleship.

3. Process Theological

Do I remain open to God’s relational presence as the source of life? This passage heals by showing abiding not as fear of judgment nor as burden of relational proof, but as a shared flow of love. Fruit emerges naturally as I live in attunement with God’s lure. Abiding is mutual joy: divine life becoming my life, and my life resonating with divine love.


Processual Sidebar

Why does Process Theology feels like healing after centuries of harsh teaching by the Church? Let’s carefully unpack several observations...

1. The Evangelical “Wrathful Warrior God”
  • Many Evangelicals frame God as fierce, punitive, and judgmental - a holy warrior who wages war on sin and sinners.

  • They likewise emphasize substitutionary penal atonement: Christ absorbs God’s wrath so believers can escape punishment.

  • This God is imagined as both loving and furious, with wrath and judgment held in “tension” with divine love

  • The result: a theology of fear, shame, and exclusion. God’s love feels conditional, fragile, and always threatened by failure.


2. Why This Reading Is Incorrect in the Old Testament
  • Wrath as metaphor: In Hebrew Scripture, ḥēmah and ʾap (“wrath/anger”) often describe the consequences of human actions rather than God’s inner mood. Wrath = the destructive outcome of breaking covenant, not God’s malicious will.

  • God’s steadfast love (ḥesed): Again and again, God’s defining trait is faithful love (Exodus 34:6–7; Psalm 136; Hosea 11). Even when pictured in judgment imagery, it is wrapped in mercy and restoration.

  • Prophetic trajectory: Prophets envision a God who desires mercy, justice, and relationship more than sacrifice (Micah 6:6–8, Hosea 6:6). The “warrior God” image is contextual, poetic, and culturally conditioned -  not God’s eternal character.


3. Why This Reading Is Incorrect in the New Testament
  • Jesus reveals God’s heart: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). In Jesus we see no wrathful warrior, but compassionate healer, reconciler, and servant.

  • Judgment redefined: Jesus speaks of judgment as the unveiling of truth (John 3:17–21) - not divine rage, but exposure to what can be destructive so that healing can come.

  • Paul’s “wrath of God” (Romans 1:18ff) = the natural consequences of idolatry and violence, not God lashing out. Wrath = God “handing over” people to their chosen path, not actively destroying them; that is, God forewarns us of sin's evil and destruction. When we chose sin, we chose death. We receive our own "judgment" in consequences of our "own" choices to not love.

  • The cross: Evangelicals claim it “satisfied wrath,” but in the NT the cross is framed as God’s solidarity with suffering (Philippians 2:5–11), reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18–19), and love to the uttermost (Romans 5:8).


4. The Process Alternative
  • God’s power is persuasive, not coercive: God never forces, never smites, never destroys. God lures creation toward harmony, beauty, and love.

  • Wrath = alienation: What Scripture calls “wrath” is the felt reality of resisting God’s love - life unraveling when cut off from its source.

  • Judgment = truth exposed: Judgment is not God’s violence but the unveiling of consequences - destructive choices are shown for what they are.

  • Eternal character = Love: “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Any portrayal that suggests God is wrathful, malicious, or evil contradicts this ontological truth.


5. Why It Matters

When Christians preach a God of wrath and punishment:

  • They distort Scripture, elevating violent metaphors over consistent testimony of God’s love.

  • They harm people, teaching self-hate and fear instead of healing and joy.

  • They misrepresent Jesus, whose life reveals not a warrior bent on wrath, but a healer who suffers with creation.

When Christians preach God’s ever-abiding, non-wrathful love:

  • They honor both OT and NT witness to mercy, steadfast love, and faithfulness.

  • They heal trauma caused by fear-based religion.

  • They embody the gospel: good news of God’s endless compassion.


In Summary

In the process theological viewpoint, Evangelical warrior-God theology is incorrect because it confuses metaphorical wrath with God’s eternal nature. The Bible consistently affirms: God is love, faithful, merciful, steadfast - never evil, never capricious, never coercive. Process Theology heightens these beliefs and is supported by Process Philosophy which grounds reality in worth, value, co-creativity, and novelty. All attributes of a loving God.


Prayer

God of the vine,

Teach me to abide in You, not through striving or fear, but through trust in Your life flowing through me. May my love, joy, and peace be fruit of Your presence. Keep me connected to Your community, grounded in Your love, and filled with the joy that comes from union with You.

Amen





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