Wounded Faith
The first of these essays was written in 1990, but the rest are much more recent. The phrase “wounded faith” is a quote from Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel.
A Process World Theology? (1990)
In this paper I argue: 1) that Wilfred Cantwell Smith's concept of faith may be understood within Whitehead's process metaphysics as a response to the consequent nature of God, 2) that Whitehead's conception of God as primordial and consequent may be useful in discussing how the common character of religious experience is expressed, and 3) that Whitehead's notion of creativity allows for a plurality of ultimate experiences.
Evolution, Mind, and God (2003)
The Big Bang story cannot explain consciousness and our intentional world unless whatever consciousness represents or reflects was present in some way at the beginning. To say that the intentional world we inhabit evolved from the "nothingness" at the origin of the universe is to make a statement about "God," whether we use the word or not. The cosmos is creative.
Faith in the Power of Good (2010)
Muslims have, since the 9th century, taught that Jesus said: "Charity does not mean doing good to him who does good to you, for this is to return good for good. Charity means that you should do good to him who does you harm." We may act in solidarity with this Muslim teaching by taking to heart the words of Paul: "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21)
Hopeful Realist (2011)
I am hopeful and pessimistic. As a realist, because economic, political and environmental trends seem discouraging, I am pessimistic. Yet, in my experience, love is also real, and so I embrace life with hope.
The Greatest Commandment (2013)
The wondrous challenge of Jesus is to discover the love of God by loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. We should be grateful for all worship and prayer that inspire and sustain this quest. But the greatest commandment does not call us to worship or to perform any other religious practice. The greatest commandment calls us “to love justice, and to do mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.” (Micah 6:8)
Faith in a Loving God of the Cross (2014)
What a loving God is doing in a world marked by suffering and death, as well as by beauty and joy, transcends our understanding, but also depends on what we are doing. Like Jesus, we may take up our cross and face death with faith and hope. We, too, may transcend our suffering in life with love.
Challenges to Our Faith (2015)
Andrew Greeley’s stories are sacramental, he says, because God is revealed more in "human stories than in texts based on human stories.” He does mine the New Testament for insights but primarily explores the tragic and comic aspects of family life and love. In particular, he presents the love of God in the shared love of persons, in marriage as wife and husband, and the love of parents for their children and children for their parents.
Celebrating the Birth of Jesus (2016)
At its best, Christmas expresses our hope for a world marked by love and justice. This is a fantastic expectation. A king born on a dark night, with angels singing, and shepherds and wise men kneeling before a manger? And a young woman proclaiming a time will come when the powerful are brought down, and the lowly are lifted up, and the hungry are filled!
Amazing Grace (2019)
Can we find the answer to our "wounded faith" in the spirituals? And in the near-death experiences of many of our contemporaries? Can we "do justice and love mercy," but find our hope in eternal life?
Essays on Laudato Si by Pope Francis (2015)
Pope Francis raises insightful issues about ecological living and human development, even as he reaffirms the creation of the Earth and the cosmos as crucial for God's purpose for all creatures.