Editing Process theology (section)

== Themes  ==
* [[God]] is not [[omnipotent]] in the sense of being [[coercive]]. The divine has the power of persuasion rather than coercion. Process theologians interpret the classical doctrine of omnipotence as involving force and suggest a forbearance in divine power instead. "Persuasion" in the causal sense means that God does not exert unilateral control.<ref>[[Charles Hartshorne]], ''Omnipotence and Other Theological Mistakes'' (Albany: State University of New York, 1984), 20—26.</ref>
* Reality is not made up of material substances that endure through time but serially ordered, experiential events. These events have both a physical and mental aspect. All experiences (male, female, atomic, and botanical) are important and contribute to reality's ongoing and interrelated process.
* The universe is characterized by process and change carried out by the agents of [[free will]]. [[Self-determination theory|Self-determination]] characterizes everything in the [[universe]], not just human beings. God cannot totally control any series of events or individuals, but God influences the creaturely exercise of this universal free will by offering possibilities. To say it another way, God has a will in everything, but not everything that occurs is God's will.<ref>John Cobb and David Griffin, ''Process Theology: An Introductory Exposition'' (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1976), 14—16, chapter 1.</ref>
* God contains the universe but is not identical with it ([[panentheism]], not [[pantheism]] or [[pandeism]]). Some also call this "theocosmocentrism" to emphasize that God has always been related to some world or another.
* Because God interacts with the changing universe, [[Theomorphism|God is changeable]] (that is to say, God is affected by the actions that take place in the universe) over time. However, the abstract elements of God ([[Goodness and value theory|goodness]], [[wisdom]], etc.) remain eternally solid.
* [[Charles Hartshorne]] believes that people do not experience ''subjective'' (or personal) [[immortality]], but they do have ''objective'' immortality because their experiences live on forever in God, who contains all that was. Other process theologians believe that people do have subjective experiences after bodily death.<ref>Hartshorne, 32−36.</ref>
* [[Dipolar theism]] is the idea that God has both a changing aspect (God's existence as a Living God) and an unchanging aspect (God's eternal essence).<ref>{{cite web |author=Viney, Donald Wayne |title=Charles Hartshorne: Dipolar Theism |url=http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/biographies/charles-hartshorne-dipolar-theism/ |publisher=Harvard Square Library |date=August 24, 2004<!-- https://web.archive.org/web/20040824225940/http://harvardsquarelibrary.org:80/Hartshorne/Viney/12.html --> |access-date=March 15, 2018}}</ref>