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| Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a philosopher who trained as a paleontologist and geologist (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Process theology is a type of theology
developed from Alfred
North Whitehead's (1861–1947) process philosophy,
most notably by Charles
Hartshorne (1897–2000) and John B. Cobb (b. 1925).
Process theology and process philosophy are collectively referred to as
"process thought." Process theology is unrelated to the Process Church.
For both Whitehead
and Hartshorne, it is an essential attribute of God to affect and be affected
by temporal processes, an idea that conflicts with traditional forms of theism
that hold God to be in all respects non-temporal (eternal), unchanging (immutable), and unaffected
by the world (impassible).
Process theology does not deny that God is in some respects eternal, immutable,
and impassible, but it contradicts the classical view by insisting that God is
in some respects temporal, mutable, and passible.[1]
Although process
theologians all share certain similarities (particularly a stress on becoming
over being and on relationality), there continue to be ongoing debates within
the field on the nature of God, the relationship of God and the world, and
immortality.
Construed in a wide
sense, process theology might be understood to refer to all forms of theology
that, for the metaphysical foundation of existence, look to creative activity
rather than passive matter, and to evolutionary becoming rather than changeless
enduring. Such a construal would include, for example, the theology of Pierre Teilhard
de Chardin, or theology influenced by Hegel.[2][3] Nevertheless, the term is generally
understood as referring to the Whiteheadian/Hartshornean school.
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