Process Theology & Theodicy: How does process theology address the problem of evil?
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- Опубликовано: 7 окт 2022
- What is process theology? What is God in process theology? What does process theology say about the problem of evil? In this recorded lecture, Professor Galindo introduces students to process theology by reviewing the process philosophy of Alfred Whitehead, describing how this relates to quantum mechanics, and discusses how a process view of God relates to the problem of evil. This is from Professor Galindo's Introduction to Philosophy of Religion college course.
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Wish i had you as a teacher!
Thankyou for highlighting some points of Whitehead's ideas on Process-Philosophy that for most people are "not-so-easy" to understand : that (i) The Universe is (probably) not made of THINGS but made of EVENTS, and that (ii) REALITY is not 'full-of-nouns' but 'full-of-events' ...
very good! thanks
Thank you. Fascinating. If God is in the process, what do we make of galactic collisions, destruction of planets, and disease and death… cancer, and the disordering of molecules in a decaying corpse … is God then also in this decay?
Waves are an action. Things are a static observation.
As someone who has experienced and is experiencing and struggling with a lot of tragedy and suffering,this means nothing.
What are you struggling with?
Is this a science lesson?
The answer is that the question "Is it still possible to believe in an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent god?" Misses one of the central ideas of proccess theology: God in process theology is not omnipotent. Dr. John Cobb discusses this very well in his introductory speech on Process Theology, which can be found in an MP3 format online still.
The typical atheist argument follows this line of logic "You cannot have an omnipotent and omnibenevolent god which has grand plan and a world in which great amounts of evil and destruction take place. Those two concepts together are contradicted by the presence of evil and suffering in the world." This is very logical and makes a lot of sense, however in Process Theology the "Almighty" interpretation of God's name is not used, so God is not described as Omnipotent, but rather one that makes nudges here and there. The reason this answers the contradiction of omnipotence, benevolence, and evil existing together is because that logic is only based on the presupposition of an omnipotent god.
Thus asking "How can evil and suffering exist in a benevolent God's world who nudges and calls to people to act?" Thus the answer would be "Just because God calls to you, does not mean that you cannot ignore that call." And thus people chose to ignore the opportunities and guidance provided to them, and the world becomes worse every time someone decides to ignore those calls and nudges.
This is how it side steps the problem of evil, because the original translations did not emphasize an omnipotent god in the same sense as the new wording.
I suppose it's worth saying that there are different forms of Process Theology. I don't think the problem of evil, particularly natural evil, is solved here. I think this presentation only moves the problem one stage back. Namely, yes I agree that 'process' is a better description than 'things'. And I agree that God is participative in the overall process and only knows what could happen (we need freedom to be fully human). But none of this removes a creator-God's responsibility for creating 'this' process. I think that the answer is around God not being the creator or omnipotent at all, but instead something more like an archetypal loving process in reality, that we interact deeply with. More like a maximally loving Buddha type becoming.
This is a talk without meaning
The cosmic process is also a 'Monster of energy"... are earthquakes, a sign of God's love? How about Covid...process theology is just another way to rationalize God's cruelty....antidote to Whitehead: Nietzsche.
And the antidote to Nietzsche is Gnosticism.
1. Covid was not created by God, but rather by a leaky lab engaged in illegal Lethality Hardening funded by Fauci.
2. Process Theology does not rationalize God's Cruelty, but instead suggests that God is not omnipotent, and as such is not controlling all outcomes, but rather only nudges things and people behind the scenes. Your statement "rationalize God's cruelty" is still based on the very presupposition that God is omnipotent and responsible for each and every occurrence in the universe, which is fine, but it completely misses (or purposefully ignores) one of the most important concepts of Process Theology.
3. Nietzsche is not the antidote to Whitehead, as his ideas implied that in some way we would need to overcome nihilism. Nihilism is a stage to be overcame, not a desired end.
"Nietzsche asserts that with the decline of Christianity and the rise of physiological decadence, nihilism is in fact characteristic of the modern age, though he implies that the rise of nihilism is still incomplete and that it has yet to be overcome."
4. Earthquakes are signs of geothermal activity and the movement of tectonic plates, though the process theology god could "nudge" those to rub together and quake earlier, or later, but for the most part most of those plate movements are just plate movements.