Metamodern Spirituality | Christianity as Process (w/ Jay McDaniel)

Process theologian Jay McDaniel joins me to discuss the contributions of process thought to the Christian tradition. What points of similarity and dissimilarity are there between process thinking and traditional, modern, and postmodern lenses?

0:00 Introduction
1:06 What Does Theology Look Like from a "Process" Lens?

Relationship with Traditional Faith
5:44 A Feeling, Responding God
8:40 Not All-Powerful
14:40 A Dynamic, Living Whole

Relationship with Modern Thought
19:41 The Naturalistic Paradigm and (the) Beyond
24:30 A Theology of Organism and Complexity
29:30 "God" as Counter-Entropic Lure and Preserver of Good
39:33 A Modern Gestalt for Christianity?
49:31 Looking Forward, Not Back
54:52 The Pathos of God

Relationship with Postmodern Thought
1:04:38 Play, Beauty, Reality

Relationship with Metamodernism
1:10:33 Lineages, Legacies, and Futures

1:14:40 Conclusion

Jay's essay relating process theology to metamodernism can be found here:

[RichardCosci]

Awesome conversation ! As well as being a Progressive Christian, I also study and embrace Process Theology! So pleased to see Jay here. I “feel “ lots of good coming down the line and moving into the culture/internet sphere. Thanks very much for helping it along Brendan!
I learned a lot about Process Christianity & Theology in this talk. Process thought can be a heavy lift, this helped so much, concise and understandable.

[jennysteves]

Beautiful conversation! I will continue to learn from the many rich directions and possibilities offered here.
Thank you! 🙏🏽

[DaestrumManitz]

The concept of “God as Counter-Entropic Lure”, and opening up the whole potentiality for creativity and novelty is very appealing to a searching Christian mind. But the desire to align with the advancements made in physics and biology are also very enticing. Process philosophy/theology has helped to bridge the two worlds together in to a cohesive whole. But I still find a need to wrestle with such areas as scientific determinism, meaning the biological and environmental realities are causal and that there are no random causes or free will. Am I alone in this struggle?

[jnxmaster]

Fantastic conversation!

I would be very interested in hearing more about "Beauty first" as spoken about by both Jordan Hall and now also Jay. For a long time, I've thought about Truth, Good and Beauty as a triality which ought to be put in balance or in some kind of self-stabilizing tripartite relationship. To have Truth instead be in service of the other two has started to resonate with me lately, but to also go further and put the Good in service of Beauty is foreign to me. I would love to hear a further exploration of this.

[narcowake]

Brendan have you interviewed Bernardo Kastrup yet ? I think a conversation by you both would be great!

[narcowake]

I love what process has to offer and very appreciative of how it includes modern science and evolution but what’s a stumbling block for me is their belief in a personal god, how can you prove it ? God if anything seem more impersonal to me like a ground of being or no being at all

[amurdo]

God having feelings is not new to Whitehead of course. Neither is uncreated eternal agents that can choose or that God in some sense is not all powerful. For example, Joseph Smith taught the same things in the early 1800s.

[williambranch]

Every individual development from birth to death is a process.

[narcowake]

I like Jay’s explanation for reconciling Christ of faith with Jesus of history but the doubter in me keep nudging me to say that it’s a fictionalization of many peoples and institutions over time