Open and Relational Theologies claim to promote justice by endorsing equality and mutuality as fundamental. However, critics have accused Open and Relational Theologies of intellectual elitism and ethical irrelevance. In response, this panel will apply the principles of Open and Relational Theologies to contemporary ethical issues, particularly those of violence and marginalization. We will address such questions as: How does open and relational discourse recreate its own center-margin dynamic? For example, does relational discourse marginalize autistic persons who experience social anhedonia? And do relational theologies accidentally embrace the exclusivist power dynamics of traditional Christianity? With regard to concrete ethical situations, presenters will discuss the potential for Open and Relational Theologies to resist oppressive structures that impede returning citizens from successfully adjusting to life after incarceration. Finally, presenters will discuss the potential for Open and Relational Theologies to inform peace negotiations between warring factions in the Congo.
Healthy faith produces human flourishing, and healthy faith reveals that women, men, trans, non-binary, Black, Brown, White, Asian, able, disabled, rich, poor, middle-class, and more are all equal. They are equally created by God, infinitely loved by God, and universally called to lives of meaning, purpose, and joy. Recognizing this truth, ethical Christianity must model egalitarianism, universalism, and inclusion to the world, making use of all members’ talents and placing them in service of the common good. The tripersonal Trinity, in which distinct persons generate divinity through love, provides the conceptual ground for this inclusive disposition. Interpersonal uniqueness energizes the divine community, such that unity-in-difference is the very source of all reality, the image in which we are made, and the state for which we are intended, both ethically and politically.
What is a person? In the last 50 years, both psychology and theological anthropology have moved from a rational model of personhood to a relational model. From a disability perspective, relational models of theological anthropology represent an improvement over models of anthropology and psychology which place rationalism at the locus of personhood, emphasizing instead that personhood is most appropriately understood in relationship to the whole community. Yet, autistic persons often struggle with sensory processing disorders and social anhedonia that make relationality challenging. This paper challenges theologians to rethink the definition of relationality and of the imago dei by exploring unique features of the autistic experience and how those features express the imago dei as mediated by the Holy Spirit.
Power is affective and consequential: its material effects often serve as evidence of the relations of a particular cultural context, historical period, or geographical location. Conceptions of divinity, often envisaged as ultimate or total power, affect both human-divine and human-human relations; further, if divine power is imagined as Christian, then relations between Christians and religious others will be duly influenced. Thus, I aim to explore “violence, nonviolence, and the margin” through attention to the ways that open theologies and process thought, in the lineage of Alfred North Whitehead, can both disrupt hierarchies that materialize relations of margin-center but also, perhaps unintentionally, reify or reinscribe similar relations. With reference to feminist process theologians, as well as queer and affect theorist Sara Ahmed, I will contend that a reification and consolidation of uncreative, violent, and/or destructive forms of power might occur especially if Christian theological imaginings are at play.
For this research, we will bring into conversation: 1) a literature review of the challenges of social and economic violence for returning citizens; 2) some anecdotal data about the challenges of re-entry for formerly incarcerated people; 3) the experience of spiritual renewal while incarcerated within the tradition of Christianity; and 4) the perspectives of open and relational theology on the work of God within the flourishing or the floundering life of a returning citizen.
The goal of this conversation is to compare the effectiveness of classical views of God's love and justice versus the effectiveness of open relational views of God's love and justice when addressing the challenges of returning citizens who have deepened their consciousness about God and about themselves while incarcerated.
More than six million lives have been lost to violence in the last thirty years (worst since WW II) in the African Great Lakes region. Open Theism can begin to provide a theodicy for the past and a framework for future hope.
If the God you worship is violent, then violence will seem to you to be an acceptable way to resolve conflicts. The gravitational pull of God’s love draws open theists towards Jesus-centrism. Jesus modeled and taught nonviolence. Love works for reconciliation. I’m going to show video that illustrates what reconciliation can look like in the DR Congo.
I’ve heard, “Congo has no prophet.” Open theism—with its emphasis on a future that has many possibilities—can see a future where violence is renounced, where there is labor toward reconciliation and economic justice, and mutual thriving becomes what people are striving for in the power of the Holy Spirit.