The Doctrine Of God Is A Social Process

This paper is centered around Dr. Cobb’s essay, “Wesley the Process Theologian”, and matched with notes on John Wesley from Dr. Hughes lectures in Protestantism in the Modern World. Through the course of this paper, the concept of process theology will be discussed along with how John Wesley’s own thoughts and ideas compare to process theologies conceptions. Through comparing these two’s individual ideas, I will add my own insights and thoughts on the possibility of common ground between the two; from the view of an outsider whose own beliefs have been shaped considerably from my own experiences. Though I am in no way an authority on any of these subjects, I hope that my point of view will be enlightening. Along with this, I’ll strive to support many of my claims about God through scripture, for regardless of man’s interpretation of the bible, it’s one of Christianity’s main sources of authority.

The meaning of theology is simple; it is the study of God and religious belief. The definition is plain to see but it’s important to go beyond what is already known. On a deeper level, what is the meaning of theology in respect to a religious community and to a person trying to find themselves in God? How is everyone involved in doing theology all the time? In this paper, there will be an in depth analysis on what theology is, why it is important, and how people are engaged in theology all the time.

The author also addresses four themes to help the reader gain an understanding of the Christian world view which include creation, fall, redemption and consummation. Creation addresses the understanding of who humans are and how it relates to the world that we live in. The fall deals rebellion against God in the garden. Redemption speaks about the forgiveness of our sins that came through the savior of Jesus Christ. Finally Consummation pulls all three previous topics together and is the start of the integration at its core.

The process theodicy is a more modern theodicy. It arose from the views of A.N Whitehead and was further developed by David Griffin in his book 'God, Power and Evil: A Process Theodicy'. It is radical, and suggests that God is not omnipotent. This is radical because of how widely believed the idea of God's omnipotence is. Thus, he cannot stop evil. This, like the Augustine Theodicy, clears God from all responsibility of evil whilst still allowing him to be part of the earth and humanity, although it implies that God did not actually

Chapter four describes the theistic alternatives for naturalism. Bush mainly discusses the Process theology and Open Theism. These views are clearly in disagreement with the traditional position held by Christians. Process theology, that presents God as the source of fundamental structures of reality (55), hangs on a lot of scientific arguments and looks like a “mystical science” (58) more than a theistic worldview. The author poses that Open Theism, which affirms that God is fallible, is contradictory.

Liberal is a word whose meaning has multiple connotations. For many the word is synonymous with freedom and open-mindedness. For others, it refers to people and ideas that lack practicality and discipline. When the Puritans came to America in 1630, their leader John Winthrop told them to be liberal in spirit in a way that was like the prophet Nehemiah’s urgings and Matthew’s teachings of kindness. However, he also reminded his followers to balance benevolent generosity for strangers with prudent care for their families. He felt that kindness and liberality to the poor was the best way to show God’s love and grace. Winthrop felt that the Puritans should be willing to give up their desires to help provide the poor with the things that they needed. This is because materialism was thought to be counterproductive to the teachings of the Bible. The Bible teaches that one should have no god but God and that if a person focused too much on obtaining profit and materialistic pleasures they would perish. Since this period there has been a struggle in America to balance concern for oneself and one’s family with that of the community.

God is not only there-an actually existent being; he is personal and we can relate to him in a personal way” (Alin, 2015).

Process theism, as defined by Barbour, is the theological idea that God is the leader of our community (the world), and is the prominent being of this community, but does not have total control (p.615). According to process theism, the world is composed of individual beings who interact with one another, and God acts as the overseer who guides people rather than directs. On the contrary, the monarchical model is a more conservative, and classical model that views God as having absolute power over the world, and God is essentially unfazed by the world. Clearly, there are many reasons why this model is not ideal to gain a clear understanding of God, such as how it portrays God as superior to all, which makes all other beings seem almost useless, and utterly dependent on God. Additionally, Barbour explains that the monarchical model supports masculinity rather than femininity, and that God’s goodness is tainted by the portrayal of God as omnipotent (p. 589). It is for these reasons that the monarchical model must be rejected, and a reformed model to understand God and his interaction with the universe must be considered.

This paper is an attempt to assemble a comparative analysis of the various contemporary theologies presented by Paul Enns and Millard J. Erickson. In order to do a comparison we first need to understand the individuals involved and how theology is defined by each of these individuals.

A testament to the power of persistent and unmitigated faith in God, Shelly Kaufman’s debut novel A Life Established by Faith and Patience shares the story of her life’s trials, tribulations, and successes, in turn demonstrating how her reliance and belief in God’s plans for her life, led her to finding serenity and spiritual victory.

This paper is centered around Dr. Cobb’s essay, “Wesley the Process Theologian”, and matched with notes on John Wesley from Dr. Hughes lectures in Protestantism in the Modern World. Through the course of this paper, the concept of process theology will be discussed along with how John Wesley’s own thoughts and ideas compare to process theologies conceptions. Through comparing these two individual ideas, I will add my own insights and thoughts on the possibility of common ground between the two; from the view of an outsider whose own beliefs have been shaped considerably by my own experiences. Though I am in no way an authority on any of these subjects, I hope that my point of view will be enlightening. Along with this, I’ll strive to support many of my claims about God through scripture, regardless of man’s interpretation of the Bible, because it’s one of Christianity’s main sources of authority.

Paul Tillich has introduced some intriguing theological thoughts. He is regarded as one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century. His regards to life and the correlation to God’s existence,

St. Augustine of Hippo wrote On Christian Doctrine to teach how a person would interoperate and teach the Holy Scriptures. Augustine explains components of Scripture, talking about signs, interpretation, figurative and literal language of the Bible. Augustine claims that the people who will deny what he has to say either do not understand or they do and just do not want to adhere to it. The first three books of On Christian Doctrine are meant to give guidance to a person on how they are to accurately seek out the truth from the Scriptures. The fourth book teaches a Christian how to take what he has learned and effectively teach it to others.

Lohfink, Gerhard. Jesus and Community: The Social Dimension of Christian Faith. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984. Kindle.

There are going to be times in our lives when we disagree with what someone says or another person’s opinions on a particular matter. It’s unlikely that we will agree and be content with everything that happens in our lives as we do not live in a utopian world. It is also inevitable at one time or another that we will disagree with what the Church is teaching us especially when it comes to moral issues such as divorce, birth control, and abortion. This is called non-reception. When non-reception ensues in the Church, the teaching in question is ineffectively expressed or judged to be unbelievable by a large population of good, faithful Catholics (Kennedy).