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

Showing posts with label Commentary - John Cobb Institute. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Commentary - John Cobb Institute. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 26, 2024

Cobb Institute - Seasons: Summer Quarterly, 2024


Here are a number of postings by process thinkers, theologians,
social activists, pastors, and laity to read since the last spring quarterly.
Enjoy! - re slater






Photo courtesy Matthew Sleeper


SUMMER 2024

The vitality of thought is in adventure. Ideas won't keep.
Something must be done with them. – Alfred North Whitehead

WHAT IS ADVENTURE?

ad·ven·ture | ədˈven(t)SHər | noun
an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity

Most adventures are fun but sometimes they are full of danger. Adventure introduces us to something new that we have not encountered before.

In Whitehead's ontology, the basic units of reality are "actual occasions" or "actual entities." These are dynamic events of experience that continuously arise and perish. Each actual occasion incorporates the past, synthesizes it with novel elements of creativity, and gives rise to a new experiential reality. Talk about adventure!

Within this framework, "adventure" can be understood as the ongoing process of actual occasions unfolding and evolving. Each moment of experience is an adventure in itself, as it involves the exploration of possibilities, the integration of past influences, and the emergence of new forms of actuality.

Please join us for explorations into multiple experiences of adventure.


“If we want a society in which the sense of belonging is strong, people are concerned for one another, and there is strong commitment to the common good, we need a metaphysics that shows that we are in fact part of larger societies and have no existence apart from our relations to others.” - John Cobb

In This Issue

Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Published Books by Dr. John B. Cobb Jr.


Dr. John B. Cobb, Jr.

Published Books by Dr. John B. Cobb Jr.

All Books listed by Publication Date from Amazon.com


The Faithfulness of Pluralism
  

John B. Cobb, Jr.: Selected Writings
 from a Christian Theologian



Is It Too Late?: A Theology of Ecology





Putting Philosophy to Work:
Toward an Ecological Civilization


Process Theology as Political Theology








The Process Perspective II


Spiritual Bankruptcy:
A Prophetic Call to Action










Reclaiming the Church


















Articles & Publications by Dr. John Cobb




WHY WHITEHEAD?

Hosted by 
January 24, 2020


Dr. John B. Cobb Jr. is the greatest living interpreter of Alfred North Whitehead and he is here to tell you Why Whitehead!

In this special episode you will heard a powerful invitation from JC himself to join our upcoming online extravaganza – Probing PROCESS & REALITY. This 6 week online pop-up learning community is going to be zesty. You can find out more about it and register HERE or listen to the new podcast.

Cobb taught theology at the Claremont School of Theology from 1958 to 1990. In 2014 he became the first theologian elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences for his interdisciplinary work in ecology, economics, and biology. He has published over 30 books including the first full length text in eco-philosophy.

In 1973, with David Griffin, he established the 
Center for Process Studies. In retirement he lives at Pilgrim Place in Claremont, California. Throughout his career he has contributed to Whitehead scholarship and promoted process-relational programs and organizations. Most recently, he helped found the Claremont Institute for Process Studies, and has been heavily involved in supporting work toward the goal of China becoming an ecological civilization.




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Religion Online
Articles & Publications by Dr. John Cobb


Book
(ENTIRE BOOK) The shortest and simplest introduction to Whitehead -- his life, his "process thought," and Christian Process Theology.

  • Brief Bibliography in Alfred North Whitehead
  • BOOKS BY WHITEHEAD Science and the Modern World, I 925 Religion in the Making, 1926 Process and Reality, An Essay in Cosmology, 1929 (best read in conjunction with D. S. Sherburne, A Key to Whitehead’s Process and Reality, 1965) The Adventures of Ideas, 1938 Modes of Thought, 1938 All published by Cambridge University Press. BOOKS …
  • Continue reading“Brief Bibliography”
  • Chapter 1: Introduction in Whiteheadian Thought as a Basis for a Philosophy of Religion
  • Whiteheadian thought offers a different way of looking at reality that requires rethinking the way we view God. It begins with a philosophy that endeavors to frame a coherent, logical, necessary system of general ideas that combines a creative and unique expression of the nature and unity of God. It can lead us to an understanding of our personal faith as well as the religious experience of mankind.
  • Continue reading
  • Chapter 1: Life in Alfred North Whitehead
  • A brief biography of Whitehead’s life — his early years, his family, his writing and teaching, lectures, Process-Thought, and final years. Includes Charles Hartshorne’s interpretation of Whiteheadian thought.
  • Continue reading
  • Chapter 2: Thought in Alfred North Whitehead
  • For Whitehead, the cosmic process — God — is characterized by change, dynamism, inter-relationships or “organic inter-penetration,” the presence of heights and depths of “importance,” and the quality of tenderness or love.
  • Continue reading
  • Chapter 3: Significance in Alfred North Whitehead
  • God himself is ‘in process’, in the sense that he is not abstractly eternal, utterly above and beyond all temporal succession. Rather, he is eminently temporal. God is seen not as primarily the ‘unmoved mover’ or ‘first cause’ or ‘absolute reality,’ but as the supremely related one. God in his consequent aspect is persuasive, sympathetic, affected by all that is not himself, inclusive of all possible good, supremely tender — indeed, God so portrayed is Love.
  • Continue reading
  • Chapter 6: A Whiteheadian Concept of the Self in Whiteheadian Thought as a Basis for a Philosophy of Religion
  • In rejecting western philosophy’s concept of the self as substance based on Aristotle, Whitehead offers as an alternative to substance what he calls "an actual entity" which is changing, self-determined and creative. The problem is not the need to explain continuity as explained by determinism, but the need to explain originality which in turn leads to the concept of God as the source of ". . .the initial aim from which self-causation starts" and evolves into people who are self-creating entities, actively participating in their own creation, capable of creating novelty and assuming responsibility.
  • Continue reading
  • Chapter 7: The Problem of Evil from a Whiteheadian Perspective in Whiteheadian Thought as a Basis for a Philosophy of Religion
  • Whitehead’s metaphysical system led to Hartshorne’s exploring the theological implications surrounding the problem of evil and the necessity to reinterpret the omnipotence of God as understood in Thomism. Whitehead suggests that the fundamental category for understanding the universe is aesthetic valuation toward order and that the richness of creativity will sometimes produce aberrations as well as serendipitous outcomes. Destructiveness is to be found in the very nature of the creative process. God is only morally good if we are to understand that his goodness does not entail being without destructiveness.
  • Continue reading
  • Chapter 8: A Whiteheadian Conception of Immortality in Whiteheadian Thought as a Basis for a Philosophy of Religion
  • Whitehead approaches the question of man’s desire for immortality, not by following the traditional path of the soul as having substance, but that every act, every event, every realization of value has everlasting significance and contributes everlastingly to the nature of things. We are part of the universe and part of God, the universe is a part of God, and God is a factor both in our personal existences and in the universe. Our immortality lies in the everlastingness and significance of each existence as a part of the whole.
  • Continue reading

To Whitehead, God is in the world, or nowhere, creating continually in us and around us.


1. I would not be here if I did not believe the answer is emphatically Yes. If I may make some bold, sweeping generalizations, I will claim the following. The religions and philosophies of India and China are full of profound insights badly needed in the contemporary world in both East and West. However, they …


Among philosophers of this century Alfred North Whitehead has been a seminal thinker for an increasingly influential concept in the theological world.


The author offers his philosophy of religion based on the thought of Alfred North Whitehead as it illuminates thinking about the nature of the world, of God and of man.


Speculative Postmodernism Although Whitehead never used the term “postmodern,” the way he spoke of the modern has a definite postmodern tone. Especially in his book, Science and the Modern World, the modern is objectified and its salient characteristics are described. Whitehead is appreciative of the accomplishments of the modern world, but he clearly recognizes its …


The encounter with Alfred North Whitehead in my student days was a revelatory event. It proved determinative of my theological career. I learned through him, gradually, a way of perceiving and thinking that was markedly different from what I found elsewhere. Once I entered into it, I could not leave it, even if I wanted …


Obviously, the comparison of one philosopher with a great tradition is awkward. Still some generalizations are possible. I will begin with some large and obvious differences. Whitehead was a mathematical physicist interested in developing as coherent and intelligible a cosmology as possible. He was certainly not indifferent to its existential and religious meaning for those …


For Alfred North Whitehead, value is central metaphysically as well as ethically and aesthetically. To be actual is to be a value in oneself and for oneself. It is also to be a value for others I. Intrinsic Value as Subjectivity For Whitehead, it would be meaningless to speak of a value apart from a …


Much of what is most important in shaping the philosophy by which thoughtful people live and think does not take place in departments of philosophy in universities. There the problematic is shaped a by a history of discussion mostly among philosophers. The problems considered are those that are generated by just this discussion. These are …


ENTIRE BOOK A helpful and understandable presentation of Whitehead's thought, for people interested in learning how careful, reflective thinking can provide a basis for religious beliefs.


Monday, November 20, 2023

Dr. John Cobb - Youtube Resources, Part 2


TRIP TO CHINA, ECOLOGY CONFERENCE IN KOREA AND DREAMS WITH
DR. JOHN B. COBB JR. TO CREATE AN ECOLOGIC CIVILIZATION


Dr. John Cobb - Youtube Resources, Part 2

Compiled by R.E. Slater




FYI. There may be hundreds of videos on Youtube. Below are a few
that I've listed. However, by clicking this link here you may page down
repeatedly to discover additional lectures and discussion by Dr. Cobb.
Should anyone have a list of these please forward them here that they
may be posted for everyone to peruse. Many thanks! - re slater


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In this ClimateGenn episode I am speaking with the theologian, environmentalist and philosopher, and author of over 50 books,...


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Dr. Cobb taught theology at the Claremont School of Theology from 1958 to 1990. In 2014 he became the first theologian elected ...
Buddhism | A Christian Can Practice Buddhism without Ceasing To Be a Christian | Purpose of Theology | The Compelling Nature of the Story of Jesus


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INTRODUCTION: Many of us participating in the Living Earth Movement believe that the global problems we face in both the ...


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John B. Cobb, Jr. "Whitehead's Model and Multiple Spiritualities" at the Center for Process Studies Seminar at Claremont School ...
Model of the Nature of Reality | What Does Spirituality Do | Buddhist Goal | The True Self Doctrine | Personal Spiritual Growth | Patterns of Spiritual Growth | Psychosomatic | Conclusions


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John B. Cobb, Jr. Center for Process Studies Seminar: "An Introductory Introduction," September 2002.


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In this session, John Cobb responds to the following question: How does process thought explain death? Recording Date: March ...


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Dr. John Cobb, an American Author, Theologian, Environmentalist and Philosopher, discusses his most recent book, Putting ...
Dr John Cobb | Ecological Civilization | An Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare | Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare | Un Millennium Development Goals | The Common Good


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Dr. John Cobb of the Cobb Institute, renowned author, professor, and theologian, joins Henri to discuss the ecological disaster our ...
Intro | Ecological crisis | What could happen | Nuclear war | Living earth movement | Cooperation on climate change | US foreign policy | Support the podcast | The refusal to look the truth in the face | American propaganda | American education | Nuclear war and climate change | Selfsufficient communities | European communities | US communities | Philosophy | Community | Events | American Communities | Exchange of Wages | Metaphysics | Living Earth | Democrats | Conclusion


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"Probing Process & Reality" is a six-week course, John B. Cobb, Jr. and Tripp Fuller provide an introduction to Alfred North ...
Introduction | Why Whitehead | Cosmology | Why study cosmology | Why do we need a new cosmology | Causality | Causes | Phenomenology | Philosophy Science | Quantum World | The University | Dualism | New Cosmology


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No, the Bible is not an infallible book of rules; but, yes, it can guide a life. No, God is not an all-controlling power; but, yes, God is a ...
Introduction | Who is John Cobb Jr | The Early John Cobb | God as Legalistic | Hell | The University of Chicago | Modern Thinking | Gods Power | Gods Companion | Jesus | Crucifixion | God is vulnerable | The resurrection | Modern university | Life after death | The role of the Bible | The Bible is a history | Christians have worked off the Bible | The importance of church | Conclusion


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John Perkins gives a talk with the Living Earth Movement about the emergence of China's dominance in international business ...
Intro | China in the Matrix | The New Silk Road | John Cobbs Letters to Xi and Biden | John Cobbs Views on US Foreign Policy | Monopoly Capitalism | NeoConservatism | Organizing Consumers | Being Value Free | We Dont Want Democracy | Consciousness Revolution | US China | David Cohen | Questions | California | Sunrise LA


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49:50NOW PLAYING
John Cobb Jr - The relationship of Science and Religion. Ecological Civilization
Church For Our Common Home
This interview is of John Cobb


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36:01NOW PLAYING


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The Cobb Institute by John B. Cobb, Jr.
Claremont United Church of Christ
John B. Cobb, Jr. taught theology at the Claremont School of Theology from 1958 to 1990. He is the author of more than fifty books ...


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Process - Novel Approaches to Science and Metaphysics 11th International Whitehead Conference (25th-28th, July ...
Distinguished process theologian John B. Cobb Jr. discusses Paul's understanding of God's saving work in Jesus Christ.