Hate Cobb!

This is the book which codified the theological ideas of Whitehead and Hartshorne into a cohesive theological method. Because of this book, there is a Center for Process studies; because of this book theological schools offer Process studies as a viable degree option. The language might be a little thick at times, but what it has to say is well worth the effort. If you get too confused, there is help with terminology at www.ctr4process.org.

The book is not without its critics, who cite departure by Cobb and Griffin from ideas established by Whitehead as a problem endemic to Process theology. Many worry that this theological method does not take God's sovereignty seriously, and elevates humans as their own creators. While this is a fair evaluation which Process thinkers must always address, Process thought points out and stands to combat the human tendency to make God look very much like ourselves. Another critique leveled at Process is that it does not take sin seriously. “Not so,” says the Process thinker. Our faults and failures stand to become incorporated into the very fabric of God. I doubt one could take the problem of sin more seriously than that.

What Process theology offers is a view which sees both God, the universe, and humanity as involved in a process of growth and change which many of us may experience, but be unable to articulate in a theological sense. All things participate in the process of becoming, and are connected with one another through that process of becoming. It is because of this comfort with the radical interconnectedness of life that many Jewish and Buddhist thinkers have incorporated ideas from Cobb and Griffin’s book into their own religiosity. ( )