Monday's thoughts

The sermon for Sunday, August 17Th will focus the Process Theologian Alfred North Whitehead. Whitehead was a mathematician until he was in his 80's. He began to think beyond his discipline to try to determine how the universe was put together. He came to a new understanding of God.

Whitehead believed that God has two basic nature. There was the primordial nature of God and that is the creator aspect of God. That is the creative force that put the universe together and set up the laws of nature. Secondly, he believed that God has a consequent nature. The consequent nature of God is that part of God that is in the matrix of creation in an ongoing basis.

Whitehead finds God in the natural processes of life and in the midst of the world as we know it. God, for Whitehead, is not a distant creator but an ever present part of creation itself.

He believes everything is part of everything else. He didn't know about DNA because that was not something that was understood when Whitehead lived, but his theology would have grasped the idea of DNA as a part of the fabric of God. Just as the DNA that is the signature substance of a person and every part of that person has the same DNA so God is the DNA of which we each possess the same. We have the same DNA of God; God is the DNA in the human species and in all of the universe. He called this "actual entity" and he believes that God is the ultimate "actual entity" but that each of us is a part of the "actual entity".

In other words we are part of God and God is part of us. The universe and all of creation is not something "other than" the God who created it, and God is not something "other than" the very substance of creation.

One of my favorite Whitehead quotes will be the basis upon which the sermon is written. Whitehead wrote, "That religion will prosper that can render to the common good some degree of eternal greatness." What I plan to explore is the "eternal greatness" we are rendering to the common good.

Whitehead is not an easy theologian to understand. His terms and idioms require a separate dictionary. He invents words if he cannot find words that fit what he's trying to say. His understanding of God is completely unconventional and, I am sure, I won't be able to do much in a 20 minute sermon beyond giving a superficial introduction. I would like the opportunity to teach a class on Whitehead here. Maybe that can happen if there are people interested in learning more about Process Theology and this Process Theologian.

If you have questions or thoughts on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your ideas click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.


Charles Schuster