By Doug Scott, LCSW The following is my attempt at imagining some of the elements of Alfred North Whitehead’s process thought. Process philosophy and process theology might just be the best w…
In Whitehead’s scheme, God has both a primordial and a consequent nature. The primordial side relates to the universe’s tendency toward harmony rather than total chaos, offering an “ideal lure” to every creature. This ideal does not determine our choices but provides a sense of contrast and possibility. The consequent nature of God responds to our... See more
Process theologians like John Cobb also emphasize a Biblical basis for the view of a God who is not “Almighty” in the traditional sense of omnipotent but might be better described as “all-nourishing” (a better translation of אֵל שַׁדַּי/El Shaddai)—suggesting that patriarchal scriptural translations have often overshadowed more relational or... See more
To address both the frame problem and the fine-tuning conundrum, I propose that the continuum of possibilities is itself structured by what we may as well call a divine act. This is not the notion of God as an external watchmaker who meticulously designs each actual outcome. Rather, I draw on Whitehead’s process philosophy to argue that the divine... See more