This paper examines the theological connections and tensions between Paul Tillich's thought and process theology, drawing primarily on Tyron Inbody's comparative analysis in Theological Studies. It explains core process theology concepts — including God's creative love, divine non-coercion, and the rejection of classical theism's controlling God — and traces where Tillich agreed and disagreed with that framework. The paper then evaluates secular theology, particularly through Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christocentric ethics, against process theology's account of God's nature. It concludes with a reasoned personal assessment of which framework most plausibly accounts for human free will, the existence of evil, and the ongoing relevance of Christian ethics in the modern world.
Authors Cobb (professor of theology) and Griffin (professor emeritus of theology and philosophy) explain that process theology offers a way of "recovering the conviction that God acts creatively in the world," and that this pattern is God's way of expressing "divine love" for the planet (Cobb, 1976).
There is some question as to who launched process theology as a movement. Cobb is considered the "chief builder, thinker, and leader of process theology," according to Dorrien (2008). However, author Rob Haskell asserts that while "process theology is a philosophical religion" that does not "claim special revelation," the closest thing process theology has "to a founder is Alfred North Whitehead" (Haskell, 2012).
Notwithstanding the question of credit for its origins, process theology implies a departure from the traditional theist viewpoint that God controls "every detail of the world process," as Cobb explains (53). The implication for human relationships is significant: if humans truly love one another, they do not attempt to "control" each other or pressure others with "threats involving extrinsic rewards and punishments" (Cobb, 54). Some religious denominations tell participants that if they fail to behave in a prescribed way, or if they sin, they will go to hell — a simplified illustration of what Cobb means by "threats." According to Cobb, process theology is about God's "creative love," and God is not in "complete control"; in fact, His divine love "promotes enjoyment" rather than seeking to control and manipulate (Cobb, 55).
Tillich agreed with much of what process theology puts forward, according to retired professor of theology Tyron Inbody, whose essay in Theological Studies argues that Tillich criticized "classical theism" and instead promoted a "more philosophically adequate way" of approaching the subject of God (Inbody, 1975). For Tillich, there was a need to be creative when approaching the mysterious subject of God, and he accordingly rejected what Inbody calls "a hierarchy of levels" (Inbody, 473).
Delving deeper into Tillich's relationship to process theology, Inbody writes that Tillich rejected a "static hierarchy of being" and "static absolutes," embracing instead the "structure of present experience" (Inbody, 474). This openness to dynamic, lived experience placed him in meaningful dialogue with process thinkers, even as significant disagreements remained.
On the other hand, Inbody writes that Tillich disagreed with theologians who had embraced process theology. Either Tillich "misunderstood" some of its doctrines or he "inadvertently misrepresented" them (Inbody, 474). One specific point of apparent misrepresentation is that Tillich believed process theology proposes "a finite God" and that "life and death are equal" (474). Moreover, Tillich attempted to render God "fragmentary," and, Inbody concludes, Tillich was not actually trained in the philosophical language that permeates process theology (Inbody, 480).
While admitting that Tillich is "closer to the process viewpoint than he is to classical theism," Inbody proceeds — in language that can be challenging for a general reader — to criticize Tillich's position on "being" and "is." Tillich is quoted as saying: "Is means 'is not not'… you can deny anything particular whatsoever, but not being, because even your negative judgments themselves are acts of being and are only possible through being. Being is the basic absolute" (Inbody, 482). Inbody argues that Tillich's position "ignores the primordial intuition [that which has existed from the beginning] of all being and knowing" (482).
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"Personal assessment of process vs. secular theology"
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