There is a concept in Christianity and Hinduism call kenosis (i.e. self emptying). I think this concept is apt in that in God’s living aspect there is a limitation on God. The characteristics of life itself are finitude and temporality. If God is a living God then this is a limitation that God imposes on God’s self. The crucial concept in my theology is life. Life is constrained being but it is also becoming. What we see from science is that life is constituted by regularity and novelty. Science has good opportunities to characterize the regularities in life because its method requires repeatability. However, science has also discovered its limits with quantum theory where there is an indeterminacy in the very fabric of the cosmos. While the scientific implications of this indeterminacy are not fully fleshed out, it does provide a point where an attempt to coalign religious intuitions with what science is exploring. This coalignment is certainly speculative. The question is, should one wait for more confirmation from science on the possible practical consequences of this indeterminism or do some speculation. My approach is to see if religious intuitions are *reasonable* within the current context. This necessarily drives a certain amount of speculation. As long as one is willing to abandon certain speculative concepts when new information comes in, then I see no harm. (more…)

New theological perspectives often try to position themselves as being “naturalistic”. By this I mean they want to distance themselves from the supernaturalistic interpretations found in many traditions. Prayer is often a sticking point for “naturalistic” religious forms. This is because if prayer is efficacious beyond some psychological factor, it seems to violate naturalistic sensibilities. In this post I would like to explore a possible way of thinking about prayer that still fits well within a “naturalistic” worldview. However, before I continue what I mean by a naturalistic worldview does not mean the ontological naturalism that atheists espouse. What a theist who rejects supernaturalism can do as a “naturalist” is make a strong commitment to forming beliefs based on a nominal experience of life. This means that radical shifts away from the nominal order we experience are met with strong skepticism. It does not mean the rejection of divine providence but rather it accepts that God is faithful to the ordering of the cosmos. (more…)