September News

What's New in Salem?

We're happy to announce that the Center for Process Studies is getting settled in its new office space at the MICAH building in Salem, Oregon. The facilities are being leased by CST and Willamette University from the First United Methodist Church of Salem, and are a significant upgrade from our former Claremont space. There's a library and reading room (picture here), several offices spaces, an archive room, a kitchen space, and a large seminar room. Read More

Renowned Hartshorne Scholar, George W. Shields, Passes Away

George W. Shields passed away on August 13, 2020. George had recently completed The Mind of Charles Hartshorne: A Critical Examination (Process Century Press 2020), co-authored with Don Viney, a work of which he was very proud and which he was able to see in print. In 2017 he wrote concerning his family, friends, and career, “I . . . feel most, most blessed. My life has been so filled with unanticipated joys and dreams fulfilled; in many respects it has been oddly perfect, at least perfect for me.” Read More

Conversations in Process: A New Podcast!

This new process podcast, brought to you by the Cobb Institute and Open Horizons, is hosted by Jay McDaniel, and aims to understand and explore a process outlook on life, with its emphasis on inter-becoming; the intrinsic value of all life; the presence of fresh possibilities; and the need create communities that are creative, compassionate, diverse, inclusive, and participatory; humane to animals, and good for the earth, with no one left behind. Learn More

A World Without Racism?

This engaging panel was part of the EcoCiv Dialogues on Global Systems Change. In this series, Andrew Schwartz moderated a discussion among leaders from around the world for a constructive conversation about systemic racism, injustice, and strategies for transitioning away from an exploitative system to one that is built on the foundations of equity, inclusion, and peace. Featured panelist included Mamphela Ramphele, Nafeez Ahmed, Muhammed Lamin Saidyhkan, Vanessa Nakate, and Richard Rose. Watch Recording

International Research Project on "Reality and Process"

"Reality and Process" is an international research project that seeks to deal transdisciplinarily (from philosophy, physics, social sciences, natural theology) with the problem of the dynamism of reality. For this online activity, we are convening a limited number of researchers of any age and grade: students planning their undergraduate, master's or doctoral thesis, professors, or graduates, who wish to live this experience. Participation is free and the organizing committee will select the candidates. The language in a first phase will be Spanish but we will be planning activities in English after the first six months. Learn More

Sept 10: Values & Worldviews: Ecological Civilization as Mutual Flourishing

A new kind of collaboration, toward a new kind of civilization, is needed if we are to shift humanity away from the current civilization that is indifferent to the needs of the most vulnerable and that predominantly has lifestyles and production patterns that destroys the life support systems that sustain life on Earth. As the first part of a 4-part webinar series, panelist will discuss the kinds of values and worldviews necessary for building an ecological civilization. Featuring Mary Evelyn Tucker, Karenna Gore, and Meijun Fan. Register Here

Sept 26: Dreaming an Ecological Civilization

Join John Cobb and Matthew Fox for an exploration of different paths towards a common goal--a world of beloved communities. How might religious and spiritual leaders help us realize this hope? What visions are needed? What forms of religious experience are needed? How did we get so off track in the first place? We will hear two different voices on this topic and how we can take different paths to arrive at the same destination: Love for our planet. Learn More

Depths As Yet Unspoken: Whiteheadian Excursions in Mysticism, Multiplicity and Divinity
By Roland Faber
Edited by Andrew M. Davis

Whitehead’s thought continues to attract attention in mathematics and metaphysics, but few have recognized with Roland Faber, the deeply mystical dimensions of his philosophy. “If you like to phrase it so,” Whitehead states, “philosophy is mystical. For mysticism is direct insight into depths as yet unspoken.” Where, however, do these unspoken depths speak in Whitehead, and what are their associated themes in his philosophy? Watch the video trailer. Read more

Salvation: Jesus's Mission and Ours
By John B. Cobb, Jr.

In this book, Cobb argues that Jesus’s mission was to save his people from their bent toward a violent, military-style attempt to overthrow their Roman occupiers. Jesus believed this attempt would be self-destructive, so his mission was to teach the way of nonviolence. Saving his people from Rome and from themselves was the most inclusive mission possible at that time. To follow Jesus today is to adopt the most inclusive mission of our day. That is, our mission must be to save the world from its self-destructive path to climate chaos and to establish instead an ecological civilization. The existential stakes have never been higher. Read more

Divine Self-Investment: An Open and Relational Constructive Christology
By Tripp Fuller

Fuller constructs a powerful Open and Relational Christology. At the heart are three pairings of contemporary thinkers who share a thematic center with distinct trajectories. Fuller weaves each into a vision of God’s self-investment in history and the person of Jesus. The constructive proposal not only uses an Open and Relational vision but reshapes it in light of God’s self-investment in Christ. The significance of Fuller’s proposal is wide-reaching, engaging revelation, divine power, evil, the cross, hope, the imago dei, and the Spirit. Read More

Process Metaphysics and Mutative Life: Sketches of Lived Time
By Wahida Khandker

This book provides a survey of key process-philosophical approaches that, in conversation with selected concepts across the biological and physical sciences, help us to think about living processes, or ‘lived time,’ at different scales of functioning. From Whitehead and Bergson to Hartshorne and James, this newest volume in the Palgrave Perspectives on Process Philosophy Series covers a range of process insights. Read More

Questions and Answers for God Can't
By Thomas Jay Oord

In his best-selling book, God Can't: How to Believe in God and Love After Tragedy, Abuse, and Other Evils, Thomas Jay Oord solves the problem of suffering. Oord offers five aspects of a real answer to why a loving God doesn't prevent pointless pain. The most helpful: God can't stop evil singlehandedly. In this follow-up, Oord answers questions God Can't readers asked about his ground-breaking proposals. The answers are in this book, and they solve age-old conundrums. Read More

A Process Spirituality: Christian and Transreligious Resources for Transformation

By Sheri D. Kling

A Process Spirituality synthesizes theoretical, empirical, and practical resources to construct a hopeful and holistic understanding of God, the world, and the self. Interweaving Alfred North Whitehead’s vision of a relational cosmos with Carl Gustav Jung’s integrated, relational psyche, and a powerful spiritual praxis of dream work creates a generative matrix through which to perceive a God-world reality characterized by value, relationality, and transformation in which individuals matter, belong, and can experience positive change. Read More