Process Thought And Roman Catholicism

This collection of essays explores convergences and divergences between process thought and Roman Catholicism with the goal of identifying reasons for why process philosophy and theology has not had the same impact in Roman Catholic circles as in Protestantism, and of constructively navigating avenues of promising engagement between Process thought and Roman Catholicism. In creatively considering the Roman Catholic tradition from the vantage point of Process thought, different theoretical perspectives are brought to bear on Catholic characteristics of historical theology, fundamental theology, systematic theology, moral theology, social justice, and theology of religions. While the contributors draw upon a broad range of resources from the disciplines of the physical and social sciences, philosophy, and ethics from a process perspective, the primary methodology employed is theological reflection.

The primary objective of this book is to understand Roman Catholicism and the church objectively, including an analysis of the religion of Catholicism from a wide variety of perspectives. The Spiritual Life First Foundation accomplishes this goal through the identification, analyzation, and selection of scholarly sources. By ensuring that wherever possible the content in this book comes from peer-reviewed sources, this process enhances the quality of the finished product and adds a degree of credibility to the source. One can be reasonably certain that this book's content has value. And, further, should an interest emerge to explore any specific topic further, the book has an extensive list of research sources to track for additional learning. The information in this book provides clarity, insight, understanding, knowledge, and hopefully some wisdom by providing a single platform for highly specific source content to create an overarching vision of reality that is often difficult to find and time consuming to identify, collect, analyze, and report on information obtained from various formats and for various purposes. We do not alter the meaning of text from our research results in any way. We are especially careful to ensure that any underlying subtle nuances and intent remain in this book. In essence, this book is the culmination of collecting scholarly research to answer important and relevant questions and address topics related to Roman Catholicism. You can be certain that this book represents our best efforts at trying to achieve the highest levels of integrity, professionalism, objectivity, and confidentiality. The process includes a high-level mind set, a consultative approach leading to deep meaning and understanding of reality in an uncompartmentalized real-life manner. When you read the essays in this book, you are reading from the most highly-respected professionals, scholars, and subject matter experts we can find. One primary function of the Spiritual Life First Foundation is is the identification, analyzation, and selection of the best published answers to our modern-day questions and approaches to life, including the impact of Roman Catholicism dogma on the unspoken beliefs, thoughts, and behaviors of humanity. Studying Roman Catholicism covers the range of human thought from history, philosophy, theology, and religion to the application of science compared to the dogma of Catholicism. This book provides a base, a higher-level understanding, an awareness or consciousness so that the reader, like an explorer, can apply the critical thought processes of the material to come to his or her own conclusions based on what is reality for you at this moment it time. This is why we chose to self-publish, there are no political forces at play in the background. Our goal is to present the truth as we find it, in as an objective and straight-forward manner as possible; realizing that, all perception is a mere illusion anyway, we do our best to set the debate on an appropriate pathway. The first and most important fundamental criterion for this book is the must elusive: To tell the undeviating truth. With this primary objective in mind, we set out to discover and prove a two-thousand year historically significant underworld organization with a long history of corruption, murder, deceit, illusion, and power plays to support imperialism and authoritarianism. You will find within these pages that the major Christian organizations are anything but Christian.

Process Catholicism offers an imaginative alternative to the present Catholic ecclesiology that the church in the U.S. currently struggles with, which derives from a one-sided determination of how church relationships should be understood, structured, and carried out. Process thought consists of a dynamic, organic, empirical, aesthetic, and panentheistic worldview that is applied to Jesus' relationships and Vatican II's treatment of the church, utilizing the basic concepts of Alfred North Whitehead's notion of a society. Kinast develops the concept of process Catholicism in terms of an ecclesial environment, a preferential option for novelty, a presumption in favor of new developments and movements within the church, and a process treatment of the major test cases facing the Catholic church, such as the ordination of women, inculturation, and public theological dissent.

“If someone were to ask, ‘Where is God?’ how would you respond?” Joseph A. Bracken, SJ, uses this question as a springboard to introduce the process-relational metaphysics of Alfred North Whitehead and other process theologians as he tries to reconcile the sometimes-conflicting views of traditional Christian doctrines and the modern scientific world. To present this material in an accessible manner to a broader audience, Bracken reworks Whitehead’s “model” of the God-world relationship, showing that God is involved in an ongoing, ever-changing relationship with all creatures. He also discusses the work of other contemporary theologians to help Christians come to terms with their role in our multi-dimensional pluralistic society. Bracken examines divine and human creativity, the collective power of good and evil, divine providence and human freedom, prayer, altruism, and the fundamental question, “What is truth?” He shows how Whitehead’s process thought approach to these issues could “harmonize” traditional Christian beliefs and contemporary culture, benefiting faith and reason. Understanding the God-world relationship subtly influences our attitude toward ourselves, toward other human beings, and indeed toward all of God’s creatures, says Bracken. His revision of Whitehead’s metaphysical vision in terms of a cosmic community shows how modern views of the world and God can be accepted and kept in balance with the traditional biblical views found in the Christian faith and how this balance can help Christians make better choices in a world shaped both by contemporary natural science and by traditional Christian spirituality. “If we truly believe that in God, we live and move and have our being and that, as a result, we share with the divine persons in a deeply communitarian way of life together with all of God’s creatures, we may be more readily inclined to make the periodic sacrifice of personal self-interest to pursue the higher good of sustained life in the community. In the end, it is simply a matter of seeing the ‘bigger picture,’ realizing what life is ultimately all about.”

Broad. Engaging. Accessible. Appealing. These are just a few of the words reviewers used to describe The Ongoing Renewal of Catholicism. In The Ongoing Renewal of Catholicism, Professor Brennan Hill has provided a wonderfully engaging, progressive look at Catholic theology for today. Dr. Hill's discussion introduces to readers the foundations of Catholic thought, follows the development of that thought, and looks closely at the issues of today's world and Catholicism's response. While firmly rooted in the Catholic tradition, the author takes an ecumenical approach by incorporating teachings and insights from other Christian churches and world faiths.

Where is God when a child runs in front of a car? This primer introduces the reader to a new way of understanding God that offers us a more meaningful and clearer vision of God and the world we live in.

David Currie was raised in a devout Christian family whose father was a fundamentalist preacher and both parents teachers at Moody Bible Institute. Currie's whole upbringing was immersed in the life of fundamentalist Protestantism - theology professors, seminary presidents and founders of evangelical mission agencies were frequent guests at his family dinner table. Currie received a degree from Trinity International University and studied in the Masters of Divinity program. This book was written as an explanation to his fundamentalist and evangelical friends and family about why he became a Roman Catholic. Currie presents a very lucid, systematic and intelligible account of the reasons for his conversion to the ancient Church that Christ founded. He gives a detailed discussion of the important theological and doctrinal beliefs Catholic and evangelicals hold in common, as well as the key doctrines that separate us, particularly the Eucharist, the Pope, and Mary.