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?

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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Amazon Link

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)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  (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

• Philip Clayton's Personal Website and Blog
• Claremont School of Theology

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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).

Meet Catherine Keller, Process Theologian

The Process Metaphysics of Alfred North Whitehead (*1861, †1947)

Alfred North Whitehead Project

A short introduction to the process philosophy & process theology of Alfred North Whitehead (*1861, †1947), containing several photos and 4 speakers, describing some core hypotheses of Whitehead's metaphysics. The speakers are: John B. Cobb, David Ray Griffin, Charles Hartshorne and Rupert Sheldrake.

 

TheoCon: Process Theology

Jun 24, 2020

Click here for video (which does work)

Host - Tripp Fuller

Speaker - John Cobb

Speaker - Catherine Keller

Respondent - Sarah Lane Ritchie

Respondent - Jacob Erickson

* * * * * * * *

http://catherineekeller.com/

With immediate impact and deep creativity, Catherine Keller offers this brief and unconventional introduction to theological thinking, especially as recast by process thought. Keller takes up theology itself as a quest for religious authenticity.

Through a marvelous combination of brilliant writing, story, reflection, and unabashed questioning of old shibboleths, Keller redeems theology from its dry and predictable categories to reveal what has always been at the heart of the theological enterprise: a personal search for intellectually honest and credible ways of making sense of the loving mystery that encompasses even our confounding times. 

http://catherineekeller.com/

Biography

Catherine Keller, Professor of Constructive Theology in the Theological and Graduate Schools of Drew University, teaches and writes across a wider range of contemporary theological and religious studies. After a seminomadic childhood, undergraduate studies in theology in Heidelberg, Germany, and an M.Div. from Eden Seminary in 1977, she pursued doctoral studies at Claremont Graduate School, in conjunction with the Center for Process Studies. With John B. Cobb, Jr. as her advisor, she received her Ph.D in 1984. After 3 years as Assistant Professor at Xavier University, she has taught at Drew ever since, offering seminars in the reconstruction of historical Christian doctrine.

Systematic theology, often called constructive theology in its contemporary form, involves a deconstructive as well as a creative moment.In the constructive task, Keller employs a wide hermeneutical palette, including feminist and gender studies, metaphorical, biblical, and literary readings, process and poststructuralist philosophies, and practices of ecological and social justice.

She is also a self-avowed and practicing United Methodist, who enjoys preaching and teaching in multicontextual, multireligious settings.

Drew Transdisciplinary Theological Colloquia

Campus Extension: 3268

Office: Seminary Hall 108

E-mail: ckeller@drew.edu

Biographical Ammendment

Catherine Keller practices theology as a relation between ancient hints of ultimacy and current matters of urgency. As the George T. Cobb Professor of Constructive Theology in the Theological School and Graduate Division of Religion of Drew University, she teaches courses in process, political, and ecological theology. Within and beyond Christian conversation, she has all along mobilized the transdisciplinary potential of feminist, philosophical, and pluralist intersections with religion.

Most Recent Books

• Her most recent books invite at once contemplative and social embodiments of our entangled difference:

• Facing Apocalypse: Climate, Democracy, and Other Last Chances (April 2021);

• Political Theology of the Earth: Our Planetary Emergency and the Struggle for a New Public (2018);

• Intercarnations: On the Possibility of Theology (2017);

• Cloud of the Impossible: Negative Theology and Planetary Entanglement (2014).

Earlier Books

• On the Mystery: Discerning Divinity in Process (2008);

• God and Power: Counter-Apocalyptic Journeys (2005);

• Face of the Deep: A Theology of Becoming (2003);

• Apocalypse Now and Then: A Feminist Guide to the End of the World (1996);

• From a Broken Web: Separation, Sexism, and Self (1986).

Co-Editorial Projects

Since the start of the millennium, she has served as executive director of the annual Drew University Transdisciplinary Theological Colloquium. These events have yielded 12 anthologies, mostly published by Fordham University Press. Of these volumes, Keller is co-editor of:

• Entangled Worlds: Religion, Science, and the New Materialisms (co-edited with Mary Jane Rubenstein);

• Common Goods: Economy, Ecology, and Political Theology (co-edited with Melanie Johnson-DeBaufre and Elías Ortega-Aponte);

• Polydoxy: Theology of Multiplicity and Relation (co-edited with Laurel Schneider); 

• Apophatic Bodies: Negative Theology, Incarnation & Relationality (co-edited with Christopher Boesel);

• Ecospirit: Theologies and Philosophies of the Earth (co-edited with Laurel Kearns);

• Toward a Theology of Eros: Transfiguring Passion at the Limits of Discourse (co-edited with Virginia Burrus);

• Postcolonial Theologies: Divinity and Empire (co-edited with Michael Nausner and Mayra Rivera, published by Chalice Press).

All Books and Projects

https://www.amazon.com/Catherine-Keller/e/B001ITYU8K?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1622128172&sr=1-1

Amazon Link

The questions raised by use of American power and the advent of an "American empire," Keller argues, reveal a deeply troubled political unconscious that is wrestling with basic religious issues of power, terror, territory, and love. Keller traces our response to the current national, international, and religious situation to the deeply fraught legacy of Christian apocalypticism. Religious and political factions both left and right, she argues, read our situation in apocalyptic terms without truly understanding that complex legacy. After diving deeply into the multiple and conflicting political and religious meanings of the Book of Revelation, she proposes a counter-apocalypse, an anti-imperial political theology of love.

Interview with Catherine Keller, Facing Apocalypse:

Climate, Democracy, and Other Last Chances

 Political Theology of the Earth with Catherine Keller

* * * * * * * *

Amazon Link

Leading scholars explore the relationship between deconstructive theory and process thought.

The similarities and creative tensions between French-based poststructuralism and Whiteheadian process thought are examined here by leading scholars. Although both approaches are labeled “postmodern,” their own proponents often take them to be so dissimilar as to be opposed. Contributors to this book, however, argue that processing these differences of theory at a deeper level may cultivate fertile and innovative modes of reflection. Through their comparisons, contrasts, and hybridizations of process and poststructuralist theories, the contributors variously redefine concepts of divinity and cosmos, advance the interaction between science and religion, and engage the sex/gender and religious ethics of otherness and subjectivity.

“Keller and Daniell break astonishingly new ground with this volume. North American process theology and philosophy are unlikely to remain the same after this collection.” — Darren J. N. Middleton, author of Novel Theology: Nikos Kazantzakis’s Encounter with Whiteheadian Process Theism

“This is a truly pioneering work. Individual authors have explored the theoretical convergence of process and post-structuralist thought, but this volume demonstrates that a number of very competent philosophers and theologians are exploring this field, opening up many avenues for future work. These writers don’t deny that differences persist between ‘constructive’ and ‘deconstructive’ postmodern trajectories, but by reinterpreting each side of the conversation, they suggest many possible points of agreement and mutually beneficial influence.” — Don H. Compier, author of What is Rhetorical Theology?: Textual Practice and Public Discourse

At Drew University, Catherine Keller is Professor of Constructive Theology and Anne Daniell is a doctoral candidate. Catherine Keller is the author of Apocalypse Now and Then: A Feminist Guide to the End of the World and From a Broken Web: Separation, Sexism, and Self.

Catherine Keller interview

Apr 16, 2016

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Catherine Keller

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  (Redirected from Catherine Keller (theologian))

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Catherine Keller
Born	1953 (age 67–68)
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Claremont Graduate School, Eden Theological Seminary, University of Heidelberg
Era	20th-century philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Feminist Theology Process Theology Constructive Theology
Main interests	theology, process theology, ecology, feminism, poststructuralism

Catherine Keller (born 1953) is a contemporary Christian theologian and Professor of Constructive Theology at Drew University's Graduate Division of Religion.^[1] As a constructive theologian, Keller's work is oriented around social and ecological justice, poststructuralist theory, and feminist readings of scripture and theology. Both her early and her late work brings relational thinking into theology, focusing on the relational nature of the concept of the divine, and the forms of ecological interdependence within the framework of relational theology. Her work in process theology draws on the relational ontology of Alfred North Whitehead, fielding it in a postmodern, deconstructive framework.^[2]

Education

Keller received a Ph.D. in Philosophy of Religion and Theology from Claremont Graduate School in 1984, a M.Div. from Eden Theological Seminary in 1977, and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) equivalent in Theology from University of Heidelberg in 1974.^[3]

Academics

Keller's work stresses an interdisciplinary approach, pulling from sub-fields such as feminist thought, environmental thought, and Continental philosophy. She has played a leading role in building interdisciplinary connections into, and out of, the field of theology. Since 2001 she has had a central role in directing and developing Drew University's Transdisciplinary Theological Colloquium.^[4] The colloquia seek to "foster a fresh style of theological discourse that is at once self-deconstructive in its pluralism and constructive in its affirmations".^[5] Recent colloquia have brought theology into conversation with movements such as Queer Theory and Animal Studies, have offered novel perspectives on debates about Religion and Science, and have explored topics such as political theology. Notable scholars from outside the field of theology who have participated in the colloquia in recent years include: William E. Connolly, Karen Barad, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Daniel Boyarin, and Amy Hollywood.

With John Caputo, Roland Faber and others, Keller provides leadership in the field of theopoetics.^[6]

Works

Books

• From a Broken Web: Separation, Sexism and Self. Boston: Beacon Press, 1986. Der Ich-Wahn: Abkehr von einem.
• Apocalypse Now and Then: A Feminist Guide to the End of the World. Boston: Beacon Press, 1996.
• Face of the Deep: A Theology of Becoming. London: Routledge, 2003.
• God and Power: Counter-Apocalyptic Journeys. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005.
• On the Mystery: Discerning God in Process. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2008.
• Cloud of the Impossible: Negative Theology and Planetary Entanglement. New York: Columbia University Press, 2015.
• Political Theology of the Earth: Our Planetary Emergency and the Struggle for a New Public. New York: Columbia University Press, 2018.

Edited

• Process and Difference: Between Cosmological and Poststructuralist Postmodernisms (with Anne Daniell), N.Y.: SUNY, 2002.
• Postcolonial Theologies: Divinity and Empire (with Mayra Rivera and Michael Nausner), St. Louis: Chalice, 2004.
• Toward a Theology of Eros: Transfiguring Passion at the Limits of Discipline (with Virginia Burrus), New York: Fordham Press, 2006.
• The American Empire and the Commonwealth of God: a Political, Economic, Religious Statement (with David R. Griffin, John B. Cobb, Jr,. Richard A. Falk), Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006.
• Ecospirit: Theologies and Philosophies of the Earth (with Laurel Kearns), New York: Fordham Press, 2007.
• Polydoxy: Theology of Multiplicity and Relation (with Laurel Schneider), New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group (2011).
• Entangled Worlds: Religion, Science, and New Materialisms (with Mary-Jane Rubenstein), New York: Fordham University Press, 2017.

See also

• Christian theology
• Feminist theology
• Theopoetics
• Postmodern Christianity

References

1. ^ "Catherine Keller: professor of constructive theology drew theological school". Archived from the original on 2016-04-04. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
2. ^ "Polydoxy: Theology of multiplicity and relation". Archived from the original on 2014-07-23. Retrieved 2014-07-15.
3. ^ "CURRICULUM VITAE of Catherine Keller". Archived from the original on 19 April 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
4. ^ "Catherine Keller: Professor of Construction Theology Drew Theological School". depts.drew.edu. Archived from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
5. ^ "Drew University Transdisciplinary Theological Colloquium: About".
6. ^ "Process Perspectives" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-07-15.

External links

• Keller's Homepage
• THEOPOETICS(dot)NET
• Works by or about Catherine Keller in libraries (WorldCat catalog)