Beardslee, William. A House for Hope: A Study in Process and Biblical Thought. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1972.
Abstract
This is the first attempt to use process
theology in an explanation of the possibilities of hope for our era.
The author has made a radical interpretation of Jesus Christ in the
categories of Whiteheadian philosophy and panentheistic theology, yet
he stands firmly in the Judeo-Christian tradition. The whole effort of
this book is to sketch a way of restructuring our imagination so that
we can both be modern men and hope. Process philosophy offers a
perspective on the world which is not man-centered, yet takes value,
beauty, and the future seriously. It enables us to see how hope has
deep biological roots (with the child as the symbol of hope) and is
implied by man's restless creativity. Perhaps most important of all,
process thought provides a way of understanding the infinity of God in
which the infinite God does not swallow up the concrete and limited
realities on which we focus our creative effort and our concern, but
takes them seriously. From the perspective we can interpret a series of
central Christian concerns to show that God can still be the center of
trustworthiness (a trustworthiness essential for hope), even though we
must drastically rethink God's relation to the world and be ready to
see wonder in the world as well as in God.