Sonntag, 27. April 2014

Process Theology

In process theology, God—or the spirit of life, or the creative spirit, or goodness, or love—insert whatever word works for you—God works like the scent of pancakes in the morning, to awaken longings deep in the heart, luring not just people but all of creation forward in a continually unfolding process of growing and becoming.
The father of process theology is Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947). Trained in mathematics and science, he had a spiritual bent, as well as interests in educational philosophy and epistemology (the philosophy of knowledge and belief).
In the early 20th century, Whitehead watched the laws of Newtonian physics become insufficient for understanding the universe. New scientific knowledge and advanced paths of inquiry revealed complexity and contradictions. As quantum mechanics emerged, the image of God as divine watchmaker, who set the world in motion and then let it do its thing, no longer worked.
First of all, in observing experiments it became clear that things on the smallest level were not as predictable as they should be. On a molecular, atomic, and subatomic level, it seemed almost as if these particles were choosing whether to follow the rules or not. It also became clear that the act of observing had an effect, changing the results of any experiment.
Coming at things from an epistemological standpoint, Whitehead especially struggled with the implication that reality is subjective. Descartes’s declaration “I think, therefore I am” expresses doubt about the existence of an objective reality outside of our perception. (As the joke goes, at a cocktail party someone offers Descartes a drink, he answers, “I think not”—and disappears.) Taking in all of this and quite a lot more, Whitehead formulated a metaphysic that more accurately reflected what he saw in the natural world, as well as what he understood about human nature and the creative spirit.
Process theology begins with the assertion that the world exists. The universe really is the universe. There’s no possibility that it’s all some elaborate delusion. Then ask yourself, what is the universe made of? Whitehead proposes a universe made up of something called “actual entities.” We know that organisms and matter are made up of molecules, and molecules are made up of atoms, and atoms are made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons, as well as whatever holds them together. Protons and neutrons are made up of quarks plus something that holds them together. We have no way of knowing what quarks are made up of...yet. So to define actual entities, first you have to break matter up into the smallest possible particle. We don’t know yet where, or even if, there is an end—a fundamental building block which isn’t made up of smaller somethings—but we don’t really need to. Just imagine the smallest particles
there are.
Now, these theoretical tiny somethings exist in space, but they also exist in time. They are fundamentally temporal somethings. And just as matter can be broken down into infinitely small pieces, so can time.
Take an infinitely small particle in an infinitely brief moment of time, and you have an actual entity. Everything that exists is made up of these actual entities, which organize themselves into quarks, atoms, molecules, cells, plants, animals, on up to larger, similarly temporal bodies that Whitehead names systems or organisms or societies. The actual entities that make up the systems or societies or organisms choose to work together in a specific way, and in this choosing, they create the universe as it is.All of the actual entities and systems are in relationship. Everything has an effect on everything else. That effect might be negligible, or it might be profound. But we are all connected, and so we respect the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
Perhaps the simplest way to access process theology is to embrace the notion that we are part of a universe of free choosers, a universe that is in the process of becoming what the participants in the universe are choosing to become. In a very fundamental way, we are our choices. Our choices define us, and they also define and determine what the universe becomes. We are co-creators of the universe.
So where does God fit in?
To Whitehead, God is a word for the actual entity—in relationship with all other actual entities—that is supreme in seeing and comprehending the complexity of all that is, and supreme in imagining outcomes. God, then, is what keeps pulling the universe forward, pulling it toward life and love and peace and connection, keeping it from descending into entropy, stagnation, and collapse.
God is like the smell of pancakes, luring you downstairs to where you’ll be nourished.
The God of process theology isn’t in charge. In a universe of free choosers, God can’t make anyone or anything do anything, but God pulls on the heartstrings, and activates deeper, life-giving and love-filled longings. The God of process theology doesn’t make rules. Morally, God is ambiguous.
As for the end of the process, God doesn’t know how it’s all going to turn out. God is not all-knowing. God hopes and lures and loves, but God is in the thick of it, just like the rest of us. God is powerful and essential to the continuance of life, and God is helpless to actually concretely do much of anything beyond luring the universe toward wholeness, toward ultimate goodness, toward unconditional love.
So if God is an actual entity, what are human beings?
Our bodies are made up of societies of actual entities, organized into a society we call the individual self. Individuals are then organized into societies of people, which are integrated into the society of the biosphere, which is integrated into the society of the universe—you get the idea. Everything is connected all the way down to the infinitely small and all the way up to the infinitely large.
Matter is not eternal, just the choices. The choices we make, the understanding we glean, the experiences and the narrative that we claim as our own—they define the individual.
And what are the implications that grow out of understanding the universe this way?
Ripples in waterBecause our choices are so important, process theology calls us to be very careful in making them. In making choices, we are aware that our actions have an impact on the world around us. We know this is true because the world has an impact on us. How much of an impact depends on two variables: proximity and intensity. If we imagine an event which takes place very far away, but that is extremely intense—say, the tsunami of 2004—we are affected to approximately the same degree as we are by something which is less intense—say, changing jobs. In the first case, proximity is low, but intensity is higher. In the second, we have close proximity, but the intensity of the experience is lower. Of course, events which are both proximal and intense, such as losing a loved one, have the largest impact.
Similarly, our choices have the most impact on people who are closest to us, but the impact ripples out, and the strength of the ripples depends on the intensity of the original experience. In this way, if I tell you about a friend who has been diagnosed with cancer, you feel the impact even though you have never met the person personally. The consequences of our choices ripple out in all directions, as do the consequences of the choices everyone and everything else makes. Amid the interdependent web, touch one part and the whole web shimmers.
Understanding, in your bones, that everything you do affects everything else can be almost paralyzing. The limitations of reason become pronounced. After all, no one can possibly understand fully all of the ramifications of our actions, of our choices. At some point, you have to trust your heart.

If you believe that God is active in the universe, working like the smell of pancakes to instill longings in our hearts that lure us to the places we need to go, it becomes a little easier. All you have to do is lean into the longing. You listen to your heart for the direction life is luring you, for the choices you can make that help in the creation of a world that is more just, more beautiful, and more loving. And then you follow.
Pancakes and Processt Theology, by Elizabeth Stevens, Quest, April 2014.

Dienstag, 15. April 2014

Das Blatt wenden

Der sich hingibt, hört den Herzschlag des Himmels
Der sich zuwendet, erhält Antwort
Der berührt, wird bewegt
Der hält, wird gehalten


Die auf der Flucht ist, bettet sich in Atem
Die in der Luft hängt, schlägt Wurzeln
Die ins Leere greift, wird in den Arm genommen
Die ohne Namen ist, wird hereingeholt


Der nicht sät, darf ernten
Der Hunger hat, erfährt Gerechtigkeit
Der die Nacht bewohnt, stösst auf Licht
Der das Brot teilt, wendet das Blatt


Jacqueline Keune, Brot für alle 2014.

Samstag, 5. April 2014

Die Bibel - Gottes Wort

"Die ganze Schrift ist von Gott inspiriert und nützlich zum Lehren, zum Zurechtweisen, zum Richtigstellen der Dinge, zur Erziehung in [der] Gerechtigkeit, damit der Mensch Gottes völlig tauglich sei, vollständig ausgerüstet für jedes gute Werk." (2. Timotheus, 3:16-17).
"Denn was an Weissagung einst ergangen ist, geht nicht auf den Willen eines Menschen zurück, vielmehr haben, getrieben vom heiligen Geist, Menschen im Auftrag Gottes gesprochen." (2. Petrus, 1:21).
Die Botschaft der Bibel stammt nicht von den Männern, die sie niedergeschrieben haben, sondern von Gott. Deshalb kann man sagen, dass die gesamte Bibel in Wirklichkeit "Gottes Wort" ist. "Deshalb danken auch wir Gott unablässig dafür, dass ihr das von uns verkündigte und von euch empfangene Wort Gottes nicht als Menschenwort aufgenommen habt, sondern als das, was es in Wahrheit ist: Gottes Wort, das in euch, den Glaubenden, wirksam ist." (1. Thessalonischer, 2:13).
Die Bibel ist harmonisch und genau und bietet Weisheit fürs Leben. Sie wurde über einen Zeitraum von 1600 Jahre geschrieben. Die Schreiber lebten zu verschiedenen Zeiten und gehörten den verschiedensten Gesellschaftsschichten an. Einige waren Bauern, Fischer oder Schafhirten. Andere waren Propheten, Richter oder Könige. Der Evangelist Lukas war Arzt. Trotz der unterschiedlichen Herkunft der Schreiber ist die Bibel ein harmonisches Ganzes.


zwei Erklärungsversuche:
a) Naturwissenschaft: Evolutionstheorie -> Erklären.
b) Weisheitsgeschichten der Bibel: Glaube und Liebe -> Verstehen.


Gottes Wort ist im täglichen Leben anwendbar. "Ich, der Herr, dein Gott, bin es der dich lehrt, zu deinem Nutzen, der dich den Weg betreten lässt, den du gehen sollst." (Jesaja, 48:17).
"In der Hoffnung auf ewiges Leben, das Gott, auf den Verlass ist, vor ewigen Zeiten verheissen hat." (Titus 1:2).
Gottes Verheissungen in der Bibel werden sich ganz bestimmt erfüllen, (4. Mose, 23:19).