Leslie King
requested access.
received thank you!
Dear Jason and Charles – Thanks for the time that you have put in your responses. Jason, I must apologize for my failure to articulate. I meant to say more plainly that some branches of process thought have traditional notions of God costumed in Whiteheadian language. (had to work in some seasonal language). It was not meant to be a critique of your post. Charles I appreciate your generous reminder regarding harmony and beauty. Jason thanks for a beautiful final paragraph in your second post. I resonated deeply with it regarding subjective immortality and striving. I too need Whitehead less as a system and appreciate him as a provocateur.
Speaking of systematics and tradition, as a Presbyterian informed by Calvin, I’m convinced he was overly systematized by those who appreciated his work. I am exploring a hunch about Calvin his theological paradigms and exercises were a great caution against overreaching and asserting to know something about the mind of God. Whether God can or can’t….imagining to understand how God works (even as we long to) puts us dangerously close to asserting how God works. I’ve been guilty of it often enough and I experience agony from that fact.
Appreciate the precious time that you all have given.got it! Thank you!
Charles thank you for the pdf. That’s generous.
Thanks Jason for a provocative post. You’ve articulated brilliantly. Even so, there is, I must admit, something difficult for me in the notion of God overcoming evil. I wonder how the post might read to someone who has had a brush or collision with evil. Would they be able to declare an experience wherein transformation and redemption of evil is accomplished in relation to the perfect harmony of actuality in God? Is that within their experience or is this assertion a projection into God’s experience. (I’m a little fuzzy if God has an experience).
Additionally, I am stuck that Whitehead’s God is so obviously a solution to complete the philosophy of organism. The philosophy of organism is so helpful in its grounding in experience. I think I see how Whitehead reverse engineers to his concept of God. I may be thinking wrong but the discussion of God seems nothing more than a traditional notion of God with some Whitheadian language. For example, the above notion of transformation and redemption does not seem so different than what has been said of God in Christ overcoming evil on the Cross by dying for our sins.
Whether in traditional or process thought, there seems a pattern of overreach into the mind of God regarding sin, suffering and evil perhaps because these notions give our communities such anxiety. How could they not give us anxiety? Within process thought’s overreach, we seem to lose sight of creativity unless creativity is what’s at work in the unification of all things into divine concresence but then that is atemporal and quite removed from our experience.
Again, thank you for your post that helped me to get to some of the things that have been challenging me since the reading and lecture. Appreciate what you have laid out for us all.
Thank you very much Eric. Very helpful.
Thank you all for the honor of your responses. Lu Wei-dong, I am so glad to know about the Organizational Evolution Forum in China. I’m thinking this might be the focus of my final paper. Organizational development is fascinating and Whitehead’s philosophy could anchor the evolutionaly change model in organizations perhaps contributing to a shift in expectations that gives the world a more sustainable industrial complex for workers, creation and the mind and heart of leaders.
Charles…I would love to get a copy and so appreciate this thread….this group makes me.wish I had more time…..work makes this all a crunch but so worth! Lking@firstpreswaco.org
Rolla – thank you! It’s great to have some continuity and see you here. Also appreciate the novelty you bring to our discussions.
Weidong – Its great to see you again in this course.
wonderful post!
your message is received. We are holding you in our spirit…go easy. We look forward to your slides. Take care.
Thought your pharoah example was quick and good. I was thinking of an example that I did not actually share…just sharing in the chat that it came to mind.
I think my hesistancy on the hierarchical frame is it really does try to declare a superiority in knowing. I’m not sure of that. As I said above…not sure I have better language for it…I’m thinking about a framework that provides a range from grounded knowing to expansive knowing…..
Thank you for your post. I can’t overstate the importance of your sentence: “I’m so glad after so many years of metaphysical searching….a real conversion in my heart and restored [to] me the ‘charm’ of the world.” As I read it, I superimposed the word wonder. It caused me to remember a physicist in my congregation who passed away just this last spring. He often articulated his experience of miracles to be the daily physical occurances that made life possible. I resonate with your mystical description of deep intimacy and broad relationality.