This section includes a brief overview of operational theology among Process- Relational adherents. The presentation of operationalized theology from a Process-Relational perspective is necessary to demonstrate that Process-Relational theology matured past speculative philosophy to become functional in both the church and society. The themes of creative transformation, the embrace of change, as well as the centrality of pan-experientialism to Process-Relational theology are explored. The means by which Process-Relational adherents respond to problems and concerns in the world are ultimately shaped by their worldview, which comprises an understanding of reality, experiences, and conceptions of God. Process-Relational theists contended that “those with power in society will shape God in their own image” (Mesle 1993:72). Thus a reformulation of how God works in the world and how persons are called to work with God is synthesized in this section through a review of the relevant literature.
Process-Relational theology experienced a resurgence of popularity in the late twentieth and early twenty first centuries, appropriated mostly by contextual theologians. The Handbook of Process Theology (2006) by Jay B. McDaniel and Donna Bowman, includes contributed chapters from a multitude of perspectives, from feminist to ecological theologians, all with a common affirmation of and interest in the advancement of Process-Relational theology. Even in the pluralistic, post-modern society, Bowman (2006:11) argued that human beings are not “immune to the tendency to enlarge and empower their God to the greatest possible extent”. According to the handbook, it is the task of Process-Relational theists to respond to the needs of the culture with a Process-Relational conception of God at work in the world. The response to such a need, Process-Relational theists argue, must be through gentle influence. Mesle (1993:14) argued that “Christianity is a religion built around a system of sacrificial love, not of coercive power”. In the tradition of Whitehead, Process-Relational theists seek to “identify
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God's function in the matrix of reality and to limit its descriptions of God to what is justified by that function” (Bowman 2006:11). Thus, in the Process-Relational traditon, theology is “operationalized” when people engage in “creative transformation” through persuasive love that leads to positive social change.
Whitehead argued that “the pure conservative is fighting against the essence of the universe” (Whitehead 1933:221), which he, along with other Process-Relational theists, see as processive and transformative. Whiteheadian Christians argue that the static moralism of conservative Christianity is inherently counter to the spirit of Christ, which they view in metaphysical terms as the primordial nature of God. The primordial nature, according to Process-Relational theists, is an “eternal urge to new creation, novelty, and intensity of life and value” (Geier 1994). The Process-Relational view of God challenges its adherents to meet new configurations of events with tolerance, openness, and sensitivity. Issues such as homosexuality, poverty, and feminism take on new value when informed by Process-Relational thought. Thus Process-Relational theology is most operationalized in response to social needs and concerns. The idea of a divine call of God toward an ideal initial aim informs the operational response of Process- Relational theists. Cobb (2003:89) argued that “the divine call would expand our horizons still further, but social expectations and pressures would work against a full response”. Although tradition and status-quo may inhibit creative transformation toward novelty and new possibilities, Process-Relational theology inspires its adherents to strive toward increased value and positive change.
Further, Process-Relational philosophers and theologians advocate a form of panexperientialism, which proposes that the most basic constituents of the universe possess primordial forms of “mind” or “experience”. Panexperientialiasm, in the context of Process-Relational thought, entails a firm rejection of dualism. Process-Relational theists do not maintain that there are two fundamentally different kinds of reality, one material and the other mental; rather, they assert ontological continuity. Human beings, according to Process-Relational naturalists, “share in the depths of experience” of the whole universe (Mesle 1993:130). Panexperientialists argue that all entities in the universe have a
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subjective frame of reference, from the smallest subatomic particle or wave to a sentient human being. Process-Relational philosophers and theologians affirm only a reality that is considered both “material” and “mental” regardless of the entity in question. However, such universal psychicalism does not imply consciousness as experienced by human beings. Nevertheless, Hartshorne emphasized more than Whitehead the category of “feeling” as a quality of every entity in the universe, which he described as “panpsychism”. Panexperientialism directly affects how Process-Relational theists interact with the world and thus, how their theology is operationalized. Because the idea that all entities have some measure of experience, the ways in which Process-Relational theists engage the world takes this fact into account, from the smallest particle to the earth’s entire ecosystem. The importance of experience shapes the Process-Relational view of reality and thus, the practice of religion.
Finally, Process-Relational theists recognize that their vision for creative love and transformation requires intentional effort. The “Christ as the Logos”, according to Cobb, challenges humanity to engage the problems of contemporary life fully. The Christ of Process-Relational theology is regarded as the consequent nature of God wherein total forgiveness and receptivity is found as “responsive love”. Process-Theists maintain that the consequent nature of God must objectify and immortalize every actuality, no matter how poorly it has achieved the ideals of the initial aim and the basic challenges of God. The passive acceptance of God becomes central to how Process-Relational theists react to cultural and ecclessial concerns. Process-Relational theists argue that although God passively accepts the conditions of the world, God also calls the world to new possibilities. Melse (1993:79) asserted that:
The world is not the way God wants it to be. Unjust social structures do not reflect God’s vision for us. Poverty, hunger, and violence are not trials intentionally put into the world by God for our education. They are evils against which God is struggling and against which God calls us to struggle.
Cobb (2003:105) argued that “as we live in more harmony with God’s purposes, we will act or pray as we are led, believing that what we do matters to others and
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to God as well as ourselves”. Process-Relational theology envisions God as at work in the world, but “most effectively, and most quickly” through human agents (Mesle 1993:79). Therefore, when Process-Relational theology is operationalized, it takes into account the value of change and transformation and the mutual dependence and relationality of all things, including human beings, God, and the whole universe. Far from its origins of speculative metaphysics, Process- Relational theology, when operationalized, offers proactive solutions to social and ecclesial problems contemporary to a rapidly changing world.
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