George, in response to Dave:
> Perhaps one thing you're missing is that use of the term "Providence"
> in describing Howard's view may be misleading. He has expressed some
> approval of the process theology views of Griffin, which differ significantly
> from traditional doctrines of providence in which God is omnipotent. In
> process thought God is "lures" the world toward the goals God intends, but
> one can't say that "all [is] within the will of the Almighty. Everything
> works, and works out, as God intends."
> But probably Howard will want to speak for himself on this.
Correct. From the process theology perspective, God is "supreme in power"
but not omnipotent. Not all that happens is within God's will. God's
persuasive action cannot override or supersede the action of creatures to
force a particular outcome.
That does not eliminate the idea of God's acting in a way that has the needs
of God's creatures in mind, but it does modify it. I'm still evaluating the
process theology perspective; it is strong on a concept of divine action
that does not entail the standard problems of theodicy but other features do
indeed need to be considered.
Howard Van Till
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