BLOG POSTS
A Month of Peace
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Revaluing the Values of Science, Religion, and Education
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May Musings
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ARTICLES
In this essay, Oord suggests that the categories of love might help us coherently conceive of divine action in and with the world. When asking questions related to science and culture, we best conceive of God’s action and creaturely response if we adopt a metaphysics of love. He further argues that God’s grace encourages and empowers a creaturely response in support of a life of love for all of His creations.
In this essay, I endeavor to accomplish three tasks. The first involves briefly introducing the creative and complex constructive postmodernism of David Ray Griffin. Given that Griffin has written and/or edited massive amounts of material in advancing his distinctive postmodern proposals, I cannot cover many pertinent ideas in our present time constraints. I will, however, focus on one notion that Griffin believes crucial to his postmodern proposal: nonsensory perception. This focus amounts to the second task I endeavor to accomplish. My third task entails briefly exploring how this insight – nonsensory perception – relates to a central element in Wesleyan philosophical theology: prevenient grace. I am convinced the hypothesis that we perceive prevenient grace through nonsensory perception can aide theists in general and Wesleyans in particular as they traverse the unpredictable postmodern epistemological terrain.
The bulk of this paper provide descriptions of four elements in a typology. It describe types of Wesleyan philosophy in terms of interests that those in the Wesleyan Philosophical Society might pursue. When discussing the final element, the direction Oord sketches the direction he would personally like to pursue in his own Wesleyan philosophical scholarship. Part of the rationale for this essay amounts to an apologetic for the Wesleyan Philosophical Society. And part of the reason this essay was written is to encourage those with philosophical inclinations seriously to consider becoming active in this fledgling society of Wesleyan scholars.
BOOKS
(ENTIRE BOOK) The path that through the centuries led Christian theology away from the dynamic and interactive God of the biblical writings to the immutable deity of classical theologians also involved a de-emphasis upon divine love in favor of divine power. David Polk traces this path with great care in remarkably accessible language, showing how at numerous points the ideas of creative thinkers, pointing to a better way, were largely ignored. With equal care and lucidity, Polk traces the eventual turn, still in progress, toward a new understanding that recovers what was lost and provides the groundwork for a creative resolution to age-old theological conundrums appropriate to our contemporary situation. Concluding with a resolution of the love-power question through a concept of empowering love, the book makes an important contribution to contemporary theological reflection. I can heartily recommend it not only as a textbook for college and seminary students but also as material for advanced-level adult study groups in local churches. It is not an easy task to speak to such a wide spectrum of persons, and we should be grateful to Polk for having done so.
~Russell Pregeant, Professor of Religion and Philosophy and Chaplain, Emeritus, Curry College
(ENTIRE BOOK) Dr. Pittenger emphasizes process thought as a way of looking at ourselves, our world, and God. He stresses areas of education, the arts, humanities, science, morality and religious issues. Attention is also focused on the way in which Christian faith may be illuminated and its basic affirmations made intelligible.
AUDIOVISUALS
Reflections on a Long Career
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Special Lecture by John Cobb
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