Problem of Evil & Suffering GRIFFIN: PROCESS THEOLOGY Flashcards
David Griffin
Griffin is a 20th century scholar who developed ideas in process theology.
He was strongly influenced by ideas from quantum mechanics, particularly the idea that at the sub-atomic level, the universe is in a constant process of change
This led him to believe that creation being a “one off” event made no sense
The basics of process theology
The universe has always existed; it is eternal and uncreated
God has always existed; God is eternal and uncreated
Therefore the universe was not created by God
The relationship between God and the universe is PANENTHEISTIC - this means that God is in the universe and the universe is in God
Think of it like human bodies and minds: we may understand them separately but they exist together
GRIFFIN: PROCESS THEOLOGY
God cannot ‘intervene’ to prevent evil. He is not transcendent and he has not created evil. Instead, as the soul of the universe, He shares in all suffering.
-GOD DID NOT CREATE THE UNIVERSE
OUT OF NOTHING (Creation Ex Nihilo)
-GOD IS NOT OMNIPOTENT
DAVID GRIFFIN
God is not transcendent and cannot intervene to eliminate evil.
• God did not create everything but ‘fashioned’ pre-existing matter
• God is powerful but not omnipotent. He cannot control the physical aspect of the universe any more than the human mind can control the internal workings of its body.
God can PERSUADE chaotic matter into organised forms, over time
• God does not intervene directly (e.g. miracles)
• The evidential problem of evil does not arise; God cannot intervene
• There is simply a long process of divine persuasion
So what is God’s role, if he didn’t create the universe?
Griffin sees God as persuading the universe into a state of order rather than chaos. This attempt has been going on for around 13.8 billion years, and uses the processes of the Big Bang and evolution.
God has a certain amount of influence over the universe, but because the universe was not created by God it has the ability to resist his attempts to change it
Why does Griffin think that?
Griffin believes that Genesis 1 has been mistranslated / misinterpreted.
He believes the correct translation of the Hebrew text is “the earth being without form and void - this supports the view that God did not create the universe from nothing - instead, the universe and God have always existed together with the universe being in a chaotic state.
God tried to bring order to the chaos, but he did not create it
Therefore the Christian understanding of “creatio ex nihilo” is wrong
Probable, not definite
Griffin is not arguing that this is definitely the nature of God, or that the claims of process theology are factually correct - he knows that this is unprovable
He is simply arguing that given what we now know about the universe, it is simply more probable that God is not omnipotent and that the universe and God exist panentheistically
The argument that the universe is in a constant state of change makes sense in the context of quantum mechanics, so there is scientific support for some of Griffin’s claims
