| From Religion in the Making by A.N. Whitehead 1926
From Chapter 1. Religion and History
"What is generally disputed is doubtful-and what is doubtful is
relatively unimportant. We avoid guiding our actions by general
principles which are entirely unsettled.
"Religion is a system of general truths which have the effect of
transforming character when they are sincerely held and vividly
apprehended".
"Religion is what the individual does with his own solitariness"
"In a communal religion you study the will of God in order that he may
preserve you. In a purified religion, rationalized under the influence
of the world-concept, you study his goodness in order to be like
him. It is the difference between the enemy you concilitate and the
companion whom you imitate. "
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| From Religion in the Making
Chapter II - Religion and Dogma
Christianity has retained the easy power of development. It starts
with a tremendous notion about the world. But this notion is not
derived from a metaphysical doctrine, but from our comprehension of
the sayings and actions of certain supreme lives. It is the genius
of the religion to point at the facts and ask for their systematic
interpretation. In the Sermon on the Mount, in the Parables, and
in the accounts of Christ, the Gospels exhibit a tremendous fact.
The doctrine may or may not lie on the surface.
Buddhism and Christianity find their origins respectively in two inspired
moments of history: The life of the Buddha, and the life
of Christ. The Buddha gave his doctrine to enlighten the world: Christ
gave his life. It is for Christians to discern the doctrine.
The life of Christ is not an exhibition of over-ruling power. Its glory
is for those who can discern it and not for the world. Its
power lies in its absence of force. It has the decisiveness of a
supreme ideal, and that is why the history of the world divides at
that point of time.
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| Religion in the Making
Chapter 4 Truth & Criticism
ON Dogma
A dogma is the expression of a fact as it appears within a certain
sphere of thought. To convey the dogma, you must also undertand the
system of thought.
A dogma in the sense of a precise statement can never be final; it can
only be adequate in its adjustment of certain abstract concepts.
A dogma which fails to evoke any response in immediate apprehension
stiffles the religious life.
Religions commit suicide when they find their inspirations in their
dogmas. The inspiration of religion lies in the history of religion.
Dogmas are only bits of the truth, expressed in terms which in some
ways are over assertive and in other ways loses the essence of truth,.
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Did you know, Patricia, that Whitehead, while arguing for the existence
of God, is not a theist but a panentheist?
Panentheism is the belief that God is in the world the way a soul or
mind is in a body. Some call panentheism finite-godism because, in
contrast with traditional theism, panentheism believes that God is not
infinite in nature and power but finite or limited. Others label
panentheism dipolar or bipolar theism since, in contrast to traditional
monopolar theism, it holds that there are two poles to God, an actual
temporal and a potential eternal pole.
In our day panentheism is represented in process theology, which holds
that the finite, bipolar God is in a continual process of change.
Panentheism is old. The pre-Socratic philospher Diogenes (5th century
B.C.) seems to have started it. Plato's Demiurgos and Aristotle's
Unmoved Mover were finite gods that would fit into the broad category
of panentheism. Of course, Whitehead and followers are the modern
panentheists.
Understanding panentheism as I do, it is impossible to support biblical
Christianity or even theism with process philosophy.
jeff
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