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Postmodern Youth Ministry Under the Influence of Whitehead

Tripp Fuller leads a seminar titled "Postmodern Youth Ministry Under the Influence of Whitehead." Fuller is a graduate of Campbell University and the Divinity School of Wake Forest University. He is currently finishing his PhD in Philosophy of Religion and Theology at Claremont Graduate University. Fuller is an ordained minister and serves as the Minister of Youth at Neighborhood Church of Palos Verdes, CA. He is also the co-founder of the very successful Homebrewed Christianity Podcast.

Date Recorded: Jan. 25, 2012 Location: Claremont School of Theology Date Added: January 2012

AAR - Open and Relational Theologies Session
Creatio ex Nihilo: Arguments For and Against

The Open and Relational Theologies session at AAR included a panel and conversation on Creatio ex Nihilo: Arguments For and Against. The panel included: Philip Clayton, Claremont School of Theology, Claremont Lincoln University; Monica A. Coleman, Claremont School of Theology, Claremont Lincoln University; Catherine Keller, Drew University; Michael Lodahl, Point Loma Nazarene University; Richard Rice, Loma Linda University, and Marit Trelstad, Pacific Lutheran University.

Date Recorded: Nov. 20, 2011 Location: Claremont School of Theology Date Added: November 2011   Philip Clayton [For] Michael Lodahl [For] Monica Coleman [Against] Marit Trelstad [Against] Catherine Keller [Against] Richard Rice [For]

Buddha Statues: Symbol of Faith or Interior Decoration?
Featuring: Ven. Chanju Mun, Ph.D.

This event included a lecture by Ven. Chanju Mun, Ph.D., titled "Buddha's Statue as the Symbol of Faith vs. As Interior Decoration: What is the Difference?" The event was in conjunction with the "22nd Anniversary of Modern Buddhism of America and the 15th Exemplary Buddhist Faith Award."

Date Recorded: Nov. 14, 2011 Location: Claremont School of Theology Date Added: November 2011

Identity and Religious Conflict
Featuring: Helmut Maasssen

Dr. Helmut Maassen's lecture titled “Identity and Religious Conflict,” addressed particular theories of truth, and their role in establishing religious identity. Not only so, but Maassen contends that some theories of truth and identity are geared toward conflict. Maassen concludes that a Whiteheadian understanding of truth can provide a peaceful alternative.

Date Recorded: Nov. 14, 2011 Location: Claremont School of Theology Date Added: November 2011

Conversations about Whitehead and Category Theory
Featuring: Michael Epperson, Gary Nelson, Granville C. Henry, and Kevin Clark

After writing Principia Mathematica with Bertrand Russell, Whitehead seems to have lost interest in the formalization of his system. However, some believe that new developments in mathematical logic, in particular "category theory," make possible such formalization. This discussion explores what is involved and what value such a project would have.

Date Recorded: Nov. 2, 2011 Location: Claremont School of Theology Date Added: November 2011 Session 1 Session 2 Session 3

Conversations with Rupert Sheldrake
Featuring: Rupert Sheldrake

These discussions involve Sheldrake's ideas broadly, with special attention on his theory of “morphic resonance,” and how it relates to Whitehead’s conceptuality.

Date Recorded: Oct. 31 - Nov. 1, 2011 Location: Claremont School of Theology Date Added: November 2011 Session 1: Rupert Sheldrake on The Failure of Materialism Session 2: Discussion of The Failure of Materialism Session 3: Rupert Sheldrake on Morphic Resonance and Morphogenesis Session 4: Discussion of Morphic Resanance and Morphogenesis, led by Brian Henning Session 5: Rupert Sheldrake on Memory Session 6: Discussion of Memory, led by John Cobb Session 7: Rupert Sheldrake on Causation and response by Dr David Griffin Session 8: Discussion of possible futures, retrocausation, precognition, clairvoyance, telepathy and cosmic connectivity

Religion and Neuroscience: Decoding Religious Beliefs
by Dr. Thandeka and Dr. Georg Northoff

Dr. Thankdeka and Dr. Georg Northoff presented a double lecture on the topic of Religion and Neuroscience. Watch or listen to the lecture below!

Date Recorded: Thursday, October 6, 2011 Location: Claremont School of Theology Date Added: October 2011 Length: 2 hrs 5 min

Letter of Alfred North Whitehead
by Roland Faber

Roland Faber, Executive Co-director of the Center for Process Studies and director of the Whitehead Research Project, presented the keynote lecture at a symposium to commemorate the donation of a letter written by Whitehead to his research assistant Henry Leonard.

Date Recorded: Thursday, February 17, 2011 Location: The Library of Congress Length: 40 min Visit the LOC website to view the entire symosium, which opens with Faber's lecture.

Process Theology and the Future of the Planet
by Philip Clayton

In this timely presentation, Clayton argues that a process-relational worldview provides an highly compelling metaphysical framework within which to adequately understand and care for our world during this era of ecological crisis.

Deep Postmodernism: Whitehead, Wittgenstein, Merleau-Ponty, and Polyani
by Jerry Gill

Jerry Gill, professor emeritus of philosophy and religious studies at the College of Saint Rose (Albany, New York) provides an insightful and accessible summary of his view of constronsuctive postmodernism as expounded in his recently published book, Deep Postmodernism: Whitehead, Wittgenstein, Merleau-Ponty and Polanyi.

Prayer in Troubled Times: A Process Perspective
by Marjorie Suchocki

Marjorie Suchocki, co-director of the Center for Process Studies and director of the Whitehead International Film Festival, offers a profound reflection on the meaning and significance of prayer in the contempoary context. Given a world that is filled with so much pain, ugliness, and turmoil, can prayer really make a difference? Why does prayer matter?

I'd Rather Be Dead Than Be a Girl
by John Sweeney

John Sweeney, Adjunct Professor of Process Theology and Managing Director of the Center for Process Studies, discusses the background and main points of his recently published book, I'd Rather Be Dead Than Be a Girl. Through an analysis of the thought of Jean Piaget, Benjamin Whorf, and Alfred North Whithehead, Sweeney reviews his three-fold thesis that language influences how human beings perceive reality, that the development of theoretical constructs can help explain resistences to and possiblities for inclusive language, and that the implementation of inclusive language is an important goal for religious education.

The Practical Importance of Metaphysics
by John B. Cobb, Jr.

In this provocative presentation, John Cobb offers a critique of the dominant metaphysics of modernity, and argues that metaphysics does not simply have occasional practical consequences, but "that it is the most practical kind of thinking in which anyone ever engages."

Topics in Process Theism
by John B. Cobb, Jr.

John Cobb discusses a variety of questions about process theism with students at Claremont School of Theology. Questions include the following:

• What kind of freedom does a process God have, given that it is not extreme voluntarism? For example, could God have chosen not to run the risk of human beings?
• How do Process Naturalists (for example, Mesle) handle the issue of “ordered novelty” without a Divine “guide” involved? How is lapsing into chaos prevented?
• How might “contrast” demonstrate itself in a molecule, or in other very small individuals? How do actual occasions compare with subatomic events like quarks?
• Is process theology is at a crisis and a crossroads? Where do you feel God is luring process theologians today? What possibilities do you see for process theology over the next century or so?
• Please explain your understanding of Whitehead’s “everlastingness” as the context on which finer religions are built.
• Under the heading, “PEACE” and what Whitehead calls, “the spiritual consummation of our lives here and now,” how should this be interpreted by someone who is in the process of making peace with himself?