An Open Letter to Open Theists

I've just finished my first year of seminary at Claremont School of Theology. Claremont is known for being a locus of Process Theology/Thought. There are two centers devoted to it and many faculty who prescribe or are very sympathetic to it. From what I have been exposed to it, I find many facets appealing. I also have several questions.  So here is my experiment: I will post a series of questions centered on process theology and invite people to respond. Perhaps other students wiser than I, maybe some of our fine PhD candidates, or even faculty will weigh in. I welcome the input from wherever it comes.

True Autonomy
I just posted this question on the excellent blog: Ponderings on a Faith Journey.
But I will restate. To what extent does Process Theology advocate a free will? Process theology advocates an openness to both God and the future. However, is the best most creative imaginative off the wall thought a person could ever have, an actualized potentiality offered by the divine? If so - is it really that creative? Is it free? It doesn't really feel that free if the best we can be is already in the mind of the divine.

A corollary question: Is it only human sin, that is, humanity's tendency to not choose to live in accordance to what God's will that creates the openness of reality? In other words, IF all humans and all created beings were to choose to be fully in accordance to the divine lure would the future, in a sense be determined? Is it theoretically possible to "fast track it" to God's ultimate vision of reality?

Diminishing Returns
If each moment is open to influence by all past moments and also by a novel divine lure, does the quantitative power of that novel lure have to increase? Or do past moments diminish or disintegrate over time? This is to say, if the force of past moments do not diminish then as time moves forward all past moments will accumulate and grow larger and larger with each passing moment. Thus their force will grow by (+1) after every moment. Given an infinite amount of moments their force will have to be or will be (depending on one's conception of the origin of time) infinite. If this is the case, then any novelty suggested by the divine must also increase in force or appeal to have the capacity to overcome the weight of past moments. But can anything be bigger than infinity?  So it must be the case that past moments deteriorate in their force, if true novelty is a possibility at every instance.  This is obviously a more technical question, but I raise it because--correct me if I'm wrong--I've heard it said that past moments don't go away in process thought.  What say you?

A Logical God and the Role of Faith
Up to this point in my life there has always been a characteristic in my faith life that I learned to live with.  It is summarized in the great dictum by Anselm, "Faith seeking understanding."  To me this has meant that faith precedes understanding (which is why it is faith) and the task of theology is to seek to understand.  There is not promise that one will ever get there, to total understanding.  But the finer point is that faith precedes understanding.  For this reason any metaphysics that explains God in such a way as to seamlessly integrate into science, reason, and everything else we know about the world seems too good to be true.  What's the use of faith at that point?

Neo Neo Platonism
Is there a qualitative difference between a divine lure and a platonic form? If so please explain.

Hopefully this is enough to get some conversation going. Thanks for your consideration.

Pirates and Undocumented Immigrants

Yarr maytees - behold the Theology Pirate interviewing Jill on why her Christian faith leads her to protest the Arizona law SB 1070 and what she believes is a positive alternative.



What say you?

[Super]naturalism - friend or foe?

Okay, so it's not like I haven't been at work, but now that the semester is over and so is my first year of seminary, I am back in the office at Our Savior's.  It is a bizarre and welcome feeling, to be in a congregation doing ministry - during normal business hours. It's not as if I haven't been here...I've just been swooping in mostly during the evenings or on the weekends.  Now it is different.  But why and how does this affect youth ministry and theology?

Today I have experienced what some have called the maceration of the role of a minister.  There are so many jobs and needs that one must attend to, that it is hard to focus for very long on just one thing: like reading and thinking about theology, for example.

Theologians and ministers have a difficult task of thinking deeply and also doing so in such a way that is accessible and practical to religious people in general.  Content must not suffer. Form must be functional.  What a challenging task!  Already today I have read three very cool and interesting blog posts concerned with this very thing, and my brain is hard and work holding them together.

Philip Clayton wrote a piece on faith and science, hoping for a democratization of the conversation. He invites common religious folk would not eschew science, but participate with it, both for positive social change, and to rethink theological positions.

Bruce Epperly wrote on the resurrection being not just a parable or a supernatural event, but a physical reality made possible with a more immanent understanding of God.  Here is a prime example of how theological doctrines are really at stake in one's view of science.

Drew Baker has started a new phantastic blog all about ghost stories (and justice & post enlightenment thought).  He doesn't eschew supernaturalism but embraces it.  This could be a fascinating development.  Have religious folks tried so hard to be taken seriously by science and modernity that we have sold short the wonderfully supernatural stories that thoroughly modern folks believe in anyway?  Talk about ironic!

Wow, if all of these people keep it up, I will have just as much summer reading as I had during the semester (hahahahaha).

Tattoos as a Sacrament?

Alanna's understanding of communion focuses on an open table, and connection to Christ.  Her tattoo of the elements of communion helps me understand how through communion Chris is connected to the one who receives.  Thanks Alanna for this deep reflection!

The Hand of God

Bryan reflects on his journey to Los Angeles, Skid Row, and Pershing Square.  There he met a man by the name of Michael who was "wise without trying to be wise."  Bryan shares how he thinks the hand of God is at work in the world.  Thanks Bryan!

How to [Not] Talk to Youth

My friend Katie shares where she finds ultimate authority.  Advice and opinions can be helpful, but eventually God is the ultimate source. Our youth group watched this, talked about it, and then practiced it with some sweet Lectio Divina.  It was super powerful.  Thank you Katie!

Empowerment of Youth...a Dangerous Cocktail

I just finished reading "Flickering Pixels" by Shane Hipps.  What a compelling exhortation for people of faith to take a sober account of how "technology shapes your faith." I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the confluence of technology and faith, especially folks in the Theology After Google conversation.

Hipps' peace-making Mennonite Christian faith overlaps with his background in marketing/advertising/media.  He has a profound respect for community: face to face interactions, and makes their primacy clear for Christian faith.  Yet, he engages media and technology head on, with plenty of cautionary tales, but also a realistic conceit as to how they affect theology!

Hipps argues that the advent of the printing press and the proliferation of printed media were as influential to the Reformation as the content of theologians like Luther and Calvin.  He also argues that the ubiquity of images today with TV/internet changes the way persons think and theology too.  Here is a priceless quote: "The Internet makes a flat stone of the mind and skips it across the surface of the world's information ocean.  A book, by contrast, is a sturdy submarine, diving the mind deep into the sea" (pg 146).

Most fascinating of all was Hipps' insight into the “empowerment of youth.”  Because they learn and adapt to technology faster, argues Hipps, they become the ones in control--the adults, and adults become the marginalized—the young; thus a reversal of power.  He then goes on to highlight some forms of encrypted language people use for drug use and other illicit behavior. Another quote: “This unprecedented empowerment of youth, along with our image-fueled obsession with beauty, is a dangerous cocktail.  In a culture that worships youth, what incentive do our kids have to ever grow up?” (139)

What’s wrong with empowering youth?  I would argue that the problem exposed is not empowerment of youth; the problem/danger is the exploitation of youth. If young people are given the chance to be full participants in the body of Christ, they will. Youth are human beings. They are not deranged beings with insatiable appetites for drugs, sex, and rock and roll (ok maybe rock and roll). They have insatiable appetites for community! If kids invent language for drug use, this is in large part because they are being exploited by a network of drug dealers (probably with influential adults at the top), and not given proper oversight and boundaries. I agree with Hipps whole-heartedly that boundaries are essential for youth, just as they are essential for adults. I think that an emerging theology of the 21st century that openly recognizes the influence of media is one where young people are empowered to be full members of the body of Christ. The gospel for youth is that Jesus at 12 years old was in the temple teaching the adults.* Youth, who are empowered by technology have an opportunity to teach adults something about God, just as Jesus did, and Mary, David, Samuel, Ruth, Abel, Hagar, Ishmael…

Hipps’ cautionary notes are still perfectly valid. Technology can liberate, but can also be used to enslave. The task of the church is to take the advice of McLuhan seriously, “There is absolutely no inevitability as long as there is a willingness to contemplate what is happening” (182).

*Thank you Angelina, for reminding me of the story of 12-year-old Jesus.

Tila Tequila & Theology After Google

I read this article in the LA Times today about Tila Tequila.  I had never heard of her before, but maybe that's because I live in a salt mine (self snark).  She had her own show on MTV, and a cultish following on Twitter.  The story was a very provocative follow up to the recent Theology After Google (TAG) conference, also covered by the LA Times - which gives you a taste of the spectrum of life in southern California.


Sex.  It's a huge issue on the internet and in the post Google world, but I am just now realizing that the TAG conference mostly avoided it.  The Times article highlighted how Tila's sexuality had been exploited from an early age first by the online version of Playboy, then the magazine, Twitter, and MTV.  Tila very successfully built a loyal fan base, but seemingly at the cost of her own identity.  This is an extreme example of the dangers of becoming absorbed into online social media.  Tila said that she would be feeling horrible in the middle of the night, then get on twitter and reveal extremely personal information and images, which was a "temporary high."  The next day she would have to answer to the media who were having a heyday, sending her into another depression.

Tila is only 28 years old.  She is quite young.  I am concerned about how life after Google, can so easily exploit and enable young people to exploit themselves on the internet.  Theology After Google should speak prophetically, by that I mean: speak truthfully, honestly, and critically, to the places of power on the internet that enable this kind of exploitation.  Theology After Google should also speak words of Gospel to young people who geot caught up in such schemes and offer them an alternative way of living.  This means being honest with young people and exhorting them to have boundaries and value their sexuality as a sacred gift, not as a commodity.

Young people have the skills and the desire to make connections on the internet.  The church must ask itself if we are inviting the voices of young people to be a part of our conversation.  Are we?  What can the church do to offer a positive interaction and online community that values young people as children of God and vessels of grace?

Am I My Brother's Keeper?

Today our youth and young adults read Genesis 4, the story of Cain and Abel.  Abel is the younger brother and gives a better offering to God: the choice fatty cuts of firstborn livestock. Abel, however, just gives fruit of the Earth - not first fruits and not the best fruits.  God acknowledges Abel but not Cain.  Cain is jealous and angry, and despite a warning form God to master sin, kills Abel.

Many of the youth at the study were older brothers.  They shared what it is like to have the responsibility of being the older sibling.  One described it as being, "the Guinea Pig." I asked what it felt like to be "shown up" by a younger brother or sister?  Response: Depressing, because the older is expected to get things right and show the younger how to do it.  But I ask: Why can't the younger sometimes teach the older?  Everyone present acknowledged that they had at one point learned something significant from someone younger than themselves (myself included).

Later, God wonders where Abel is and asks Cain.  The response is classic: "Am I My Brother's Keeper?"  Even though the language is biblical, everyone present at the study knew what it meant, and admitted uttering the very same words about something similar to their parents.  I asked: What was your parents' response?  The answer was unanimous: Yes, as a matter of fact you are your brother's keeper! So God punishes Cain, but it was so severe that Cain requested mercy, and God showed mercy.

Why is it assumed that the only the old must teach the young about God?  God accepts Abel's offering and rejects Cain's because the one is appropriate, not because the person who gave it was older/younger.  It is tempting for some to think that age, sex, race, language, etc. entitles favoritism by God.  But this is not true.  All creatures are precious to God. Youth have just as much worth in the eyes of God as do adults.  Young people have a critically important role to play in the world.  What we do matters!  This is clear from the story of Cain and Abel: the choices and consequences of young people are widely felt.

If you are reading this blog right now, I hope you realize just how important you are.  The choices you make affect everyone around you.  If you think what you do doesn't matter, you are wrong!  It matters a great deal, young or old you are a child of God!

Note: Picture is from "Brick Testament."

Apple's 'Magical Realism' the Ipad

This week, in my Theology After Google class, one of our presenters (via Skype) Steve Knight shared some thoughts on the theological implications of social media. In particular, Steve brought up the issue of the sacraments--such as communion--which are best understood as liturgical rather than magical. Something that is magical is done for someone, the emphasis is on a one way action for an individual or group. Liturgical means "the work of the people," something that is done by a group of people for each other.

How Ironic that but two days later Apple launches its new iPad, and what is their ingenious marketing pitch: "Our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price."

So the theological question emerges: Does technology pull one ever closer to the magical or to the liturgical? If I were to innovate a new theology and market it with the power of Apple, perhaps my tag line would be: "Our most advanced theology in a liturgical and revolutionary community at an unbelievable price." The only question is...what is the price?