Process Theology A Short Course Michael A. Soderstrand Wellspring UCC Wednesday Morning Group June 11 August 27, 2014 Based on the textbook: C. Robert Mesle, Process Theology A Basic Introduction, Chalice Press, St. Louis, MO, 1993 (final chapter by John B. Cobb, Jr.) 1
Lecture 6 Part III: A Liberating Theology Ch 10: Women s Experience and Process Thought Ch 11: Revelation, Scripture and Liberation If we use the model of GOD as parent, then the Process GOD seems to include the qualities of a mother far more than do traditional models. (Mesle, p. 81) 2
Ch 10: Women s Experience and Process Thought As we noted last week, Christian Feminist Theology has the following main tenants: 1. God does not discriminate on the basis of biologically-determined characteristics such as sex and race. 2. Major issues. a. Ordination of women b. Male dominance in Christian marriage c. Recognition of equal spiritual and moral abilities d. Reproductive rights e. Search for a feminine or gender-transcendent divine 3. Major authors (Note: Both are Roman Catholic) a. Mary Daly b. Rosemary Radford Ruether 3
Two Major Exponents of Feminist Theology Mary Daly (1928-2010) was Prof. of Feminist Theology at Boston College in Boston, MA. Rosemary Radford Ruether Prof. Emeritus Pacific School of Religion and Visiting Prof. at Clarement School of Theology 4
Ch 10: Women s Experience and Process Thought Bible translations that reflect Feminist Theology span over 100 years. 1. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, The Woman s Bible, IndyPublish.com, 2004. 2. Here are some excerpts from the book that give you an idea of what this ground-breaking book contained when it was originally published in 1895. NOTE: This book is a bit unusual in that the commentary is the text and the Bible is in the footnotes! Here is comments on Genesis: AS the account of the creation in the first chapter is in harmony with science, common sense, and the experience of mankind in natural laws, the inquiry naturally arises, why should there be two contradictory accounts in the same book, of the same event? It is fair to infer that the second version, which is found in some form in the different religions of all nations, is a mere allegory, symbolizing some mysterious conception of a highly imaginative editor. The first account dignifies woman as an important factor in the creation, equal in power and glory with man. The second makes her a mere afterthought. The world in good running order without her. The only reason for her advent being the solitude of man. 5
Ch 10: Women s Experience and Process Thought Process Theology and Feminist Theology: 1. Process Theology, like Feminism, puts relationships at the center of the meaning of our lives. 2. Process Theologians, like Feminists, dislike unilateral power and desire to reformulate the whole notion of power so that it is relational. 3. Process Theology and Feminism stress power with instead of power over. 4. Process Theology, like Feminism, does not treat suffering as an ennobling condition that inevitable leads to growth. 5. Process Theology stresses wringing good from pain without ever calling the pain good. 6
This section is written by Barbara Hiles Mesle, wife of the author C. Robert Mesle. EDUCATION: University of Kansas, Ph.D. with honors, 1992 4.0 in all course work, honors on dissertation, Department of English University of Chicago, MA, 1975 "A" on M.A. exams, Department of English Graceland College, Lamoni, IA, BA, 1972, summa cum laude Majored in English and secondary education Minored in German TEACHING EXPERIENCE: Professor of English, Spring, 2000 to present. Spring, 2003. Visiting scholar, Claremont University, Claremont, CA. Co-taught a graduate class. Barbara and Robert Mesle 7
Ch 10: Women s Experience and Process Thought Feminist Theology: 1. Feminism seeks the social, economic, and political equality of both sexes. 2. Feminists generally agree that women s culture needs to be recovered and celebrated. 3. Feminists engage with others in seeking a safer, gentler world for all of creation. 8
Ch 10: Women s Experience and Process Thought Since Process Theology and Feminist Theology agree that we need to rid our thinking of dualistic and hierarchical categories, how can we talk legitimately about difference? 9
Ch 10: Women s Experience and Process Thought Since Process Theology and Feminist Theology agree that we need to rid our thinking of dualistic and hierarchical categories, how can we talk legitimately about difference? 1. If we ignore differences, we may expect women to function well in male-dominated structures. 2. If we ignore differences, it is easy to miss the talents of individuals whose natural propensities do not match the norm. 3. If we ignore differences, it is too easy to assume the male perspective is the natural and correct one. 4. The world feminism seeks is a more tolerant one that values diversity at the same time it affirms the common ties that bind us. 10
Science has Found Significant Differences Between Male and Female Brain Function Seven differences between Male and Female Brains: 1. Male brains are about 10% larger than female (but this is simply needed because males are bigger). 2. Males are left-brain dominant while females use both sides of the brain (this results in females being more relational, better communicators and socially adept while males concentrate better and are more task oriented). 3. The inferior-parietal lobule, which controls numerical brain function, is larger in males than in females (thus males are better at mathematics and spatial abstraction). 4. The two brain areas that deal with language (Wernicke s and Brocas area) are larger in females (thus females are better at language). 5. Women have a larger limbic system (thus they are in better touch with their emotions) 6. The parietal region is thicker in the female brain, making it harder for them to mentally rotate objects an important spatial skill. (thus women have difficulty with spatial tasks, both on tests and in real life). 7. Men are more likely to be dyslexic or have other language disabilities, since they re more often left-brain dominant. Males are also more prone to autism, ADHD and Tourette s Syndrome, while women are more susceptible to mood disorders like anxiety and depression. http://www.brainfitnessforlife.com/brain-anatomy-and-imaging/9-differences-between-the-male-and-female-brain/ 11
http://bit.ly/dklnjk 12
Science has Found Significant Differences Between Male and Female Brain Function Imaging studies consistently show that the region of the brain called the hippocampus, which is crucial to memory storage and spatial mapping of the physical world, is larger in women than in men. 1. This might explain why, for example, men and women navigate differently. (Yes, that includes why "men don't stop and ask for directions!") 2. Research suggests that men tend to navigate by estimating distance in space and orientation, while women use monitoring landmarks. 3. Having a larger hippocampus may explain why girls generally have an easier time remembering what they learn. 13 http://www.greatschools.org/parenting/social-skills/gender-differences-learning.gs?content=1121
Science has Found Significant Differences Between Male and Female Brain Function In girls, the corpus callosum, which connects the two hemispheres (or halves) of the brain, is generally larger than in boys. 1. This enables more "cross talk" between the hemispheres of the girl s brain. 2. Boys' brains are structured to compartmentalize learning. 3. As a result, girls are usually better than boys at multitasking and can make quick transitions between lessons and tasks (Havers, 1995). 4. On the other hand, a boy's ability to compartmentalize learning might result in better clarity and focus in certain situations. http://www.greatschools.org/parenting/social-skills/gender-differences-learning.gs?content=1121 14
Science has Found Significant Differences Between Male and Female Brain Function Boys and girls use their brains differently and have different requirements for optimal learning: 1. Girls tend to use the areas of the brain devoted to verbal and emotional functioning. 2. Boys generally use the areas of the brain geared toward spatial and mechanical tasks. (Moir and Jessel, 1989; Rich, 2000). 3. The male brain needs to recharge and reorient by entering what brain scientists call a rest state. a. Boys may naturally drift off or "space out" during a lesson. b. However, boys are able to stay engaged in visual or hands-on learning that involves symbols, objects, diagrams and pictures. c. Boys zone out when too many words are used (Gurian, 2001). http://www.greatschools.org/parenting/social-skills/gender-differences-learning.gs?content=1121 15
Different but Equal Some MRI studies seem to indicate that males and females can perform equally well at certain tasks while using their brains very differently Girls understand language in a more abstract way and boys in a more hands-on way yet can perform equally well (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/200 8/03/080303120346.htm) Reverse finding exist for math. 16
Different but Equal Mark Gungor, Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage http://www.grinningplanet.com/embed/funny-brain-video/mens-brains-vs-womens-brains-mark-gungor.htm 17
Ch 10: Women s Experience and Process Thought The text brings up a critical question for both Process and Women s Theology: 1. How do we recognize differences between men and women in such a way as those differences become positive instead of negative? 2. How do we recognize differences between men and women such that those differences do not become excuses or the basis for discrimination? 3. How do we recognize differences between men and women while also recognizing the similarities? 18
Ch 10: Women s Experience and Process Thought How we use our theological models bears on how we see differences between men and women: 1. The traditional model has often been used to justify discrimination against women. a. God the Father is used to justify a hierarchy in the family and in the church that favors males. b. Jesus as the Son of God is also used to justify male dominance. c. Even the Holy Spirit, which is often thought of as feminine, has improperly been seen as a lesser part of the trinity or even as masculine. 2. While there are certainly ways to misuse the Process Theology model, it is much more conducive to Feminist Theology a. God is love reality is relational (usually associated with female) b. The future is open shaped by the past and free-will choices influenced by the universe and God (makes it harder to argue that the status quo is ordained by GOD). 19
Ch 11: Revelation, Scripture, and Liberation Traditional Theology supports the idea that GOD reveals truth directly to individuals or religious institutions in an unambiguous way: 1. This claim to speak for GOD has served directly as one of the most effective religious tools for oppression. 2. Both single individuals and religious institutions are guilty of claiming to speak for GOD while really speaking for their own interest. 3. Victims of this oppression are left with no recourse because of the claim that their oppression is directly sanctioned by GOD. 20
Ch 11: Revelation, Scripture, and Liberation Using Revelation to justify oppression is a misuse of Traditional Theology: 1. The Roman Catholic Catechism attempts to guard against such revelation claims by stating that revelation ended with Jesus Christ: The Christian economy, therefore, since it is the new and definitive Covenant, will never pass away; and no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 66). 2. The Catechism recognizes private revelation but attempts to prevent misuse: Throughout the ages, there have been so-called "private" revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ's definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 67). 21
Ch 11: Revelation, Scripture, and Liberation Process Theology stresses the interweaving of GOD s revelation with the world: 1. Scripture (Public Revelation) is understood to be a recording of human response to this interwoven revelation and the culture, theology, social and economic setting and other world influences. 2. Private revelation is acknowledged, but understood to be very difficult to extract from influences of the world. 3. Process Theology calls us to look for GOD s revelation in everything and at all times, but to recognize that it is corrupted by the world. 22
Ch 11: Revelation, Scripture, and Liberation Process Theology states: 1. God is revealed to every creature in every moment in every place in the universe. 2. God does not single out a select few prophets to talk to while excluding billions of others. 3. God s self-revelation is the ground of person s freedom. 4. However, this does not mean that all people are equal in insight, sensitivity, intelligence and responsiveness to the divine. 23
Ch 11: Revelation, Scripture, and Liberation Process Theology recognizes there are prophetic people: 1. Prophetic people are people: a. with greater love, broader vision, and greater foresight, b. with greater relational power to feel the sufferings of the oppressed, agonize over the injustice they see, and call us to transform our world, c. who are able to push beyond their cultural conditioning. 2. However, this does not mean that ONLY prophetic people have insight, sensitivity, intelligence and responsiveness to the divine. 3. God calls us all to be prophetic, but we are not all equally able or willing to respond. 24
Ch 11: Revelation, Scripture, and Liberation Process Theology recognizes there are prophetic people, but even the most prophetic people see God through a glass, darkly : 1. That dark glass is the influence of the world around us. 2. We all experience God, but God is but one of many treads that we weave together. 3. God s unique power in the world is to be eternal, universal, and infinitely patient. 4. God is always there while voices in the world come and go. 5. But the world s voices have the advantage of being louder, more coercive and often more attractive to our selfishness and insecurity. 25
Ch 11: Revelation, Scripture, and Liberation Process Theology recognizes there are many voices calling us many directions. 1. There are many voices in the world calling us toward good things. 2. God always calls us to love. 3. While the voices of the world may call us to good, they often call us to selfish love. 4. God calls us to take risks for love. 5. The world often calls us to play it safe. 6. God calls us to a long-range vision of a better world. 7. The world often calls us to sacrifice the future for present desires and fears. 26
Ch 11: Revelation, Scripture, and Liberation Process Theology recognizes the difficulty of discerning God s call. 1. We easily mistake our own desires for God s call. 2. We distort God s vision by forcing it to conform to our own selfish plans. 3. Each person hears God s call, but within a cultural context that distorts and narrows that vision. 27
Ch 11: Revelation, Scripture, and Liberation We shall see in Chapter 14 that Process Theology models Christ (not the historical Jesus) as the ideal human response to God s call. 1. While the historical Jesus may or may not have fully responded to God s call, the Christ model that Jesus points to is fully responsive to GOD. 2. Even if the historical Jesus as well as the model Christ pointed to by Jesus was fully responsive to God, Scripture is written by humans in the context of their culture and thus suffers from some of the same distortions that we do in discerning the call of God. 28
Ch 11: Revelation, Scripture, and Liberation Process Theologians see scripture of paramount value in identifying ways in which humans misinterpret GOD s call: 1. In Galatians 3:28 Paul correctly recognizes GOD s call: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. (also see Colossians 3:11) 2. But other New Testament Scripture shows culture s warping of GOD s word: a. Matthew 8:9; 10:24-25; 18:23-34; 20:27; 22:3-13; 24:40-51; 25:14-31; Mark 10:44; Luke 12:32-51; 17:4-15; John 8:30-40; 1 Cor 7:16-26; and Ephesians 5:33-6:10; were used to argue that Jesus supported slavery. b. The much quoted comments of Paul in 1 Cor 14:29-39, and 1 Tim 2:4-15 and of Peter in 1 Peter 3:1-6 were used to justify women as second class citizens. 29
Ch 11: Revelation, Scripture, and Liberation Process Theologians take the Bible seriously, not literally: 1. In Scripture we see the misinterpretation and contradictions that result from the interweaving of the world with GOD s word. 2. John 14:11 16:12 explains how the advocate, the Holy Spirit, will be with us to help us properly interpret God s call. a. Process theology associates the Holy Spirit with the relatedness of the universe and God to every entity in the universe. b. Hence, while we all are called by GOD, it is only with the help of the entire universe working together that GOD s will can be properly found. c. Inclusiveness is essential to be able to discern the call of GOD. 30
Ch 11: Revelation, Scripture, and Liberation Process Theologians see revelation as an ongoing process of divine call and human response: 1. There are moments of greater insight by people who articulate that vision to us with greater clarity than most. 2. But those moments and those people are always within a historical context. 3. We must never think of revelation as final and complete, but always as continuing. 31
Ch 11: Revelation, Scripture, and Liberation Be careful of those who claim to talk directly to God https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klbdfe3mdtk&list=uudywzuw_u0tbnraoacvg0jw 32
NEXT WEEK Chapters 12 and 13 of the text Now time for discussion http://class-notes.us 33