Open and Relational Theologies Unit
Open Call
The Open and Relational Theologies Unit promotes academic research and discourse on open, relational, and process methods and perspectives (including those of open theism, process philosophy, and other relational and personalists traditions). These explorations tend to be constructive in nature, regularly involving theological and philosophical speculation about the nature of God, freedom, power, relationality, materiality, love, and more. Our Unit's inquiries also explore the implications of open-relational methods and perspectives on a wide range of social, scientific, and spiritual topics. We welcome contributions from across religious traditions.
For the 2025 Meeting, the Open & Relational Theologies Unit invites proposals on the following themes:
Eschatology and Hope in Open and Relational Theology
Open and Relational Theology deems God to be persuasive not coercive, a lure not a puppeteer. But if God's love precludes God's control of individual persons and our collective history, then how hopeful can we be? Such freedom would seem to imply our ability to resist God's love forever, resulting in everlasting self-exile from salvation. It would also seem to imply the ability of evil to triumph in time, if God is unwilling to coercively hand goodness a victory. Yet, interpretations of God as all-controlling seem to deny human freedom and responsibility. This panel will explore the relationships between eschatological hope, divine love, human freedom, and the destiny of time. The unit invites proposals from a wide variety of theological perspectives.
The Legacy of Jürgen Moltmann
Jürgen Moltmann's passing in 2024 called forth a wave of remembrance and appreciation, highlighting once again his place in the firmament of contemporary theology. The Open & Relational Theology Unit invites submissions for papers exploring the ongoing influence of Moltmann's life and thought, especially in application to open and relational spaces. Our areas of interest include but are not limited to:
- Social trinitarianism(s)
- Eco-theology/theologies of creation
- Providence and/or the temporality of the divine
- Interreligious dialogue and theological collaboration
- Christology and/or the passibility of God
- Universalism and the nature of religious hope
- The concept of freedom in theology and society
- The world as home
The Open and Relational Theologies Unit promotes academic research and discourse on open, relational, and process methods and perspectives (including those of open theism, process philosophy, and other relational and personalists traditions). These explorations tend to be constructive in nature, regularly involving theological and philosophical speculation about the nature of God, freedom, power, relationality, materiality, love, and more. Our Unit's inquiries also explore the implications of open-relational methods and perspectives on a wide range of social, scientific, and spiritual topics. We welcome contributions from across religious traditions.
The ORT Unit is committed to diversity and inclusion. In order to maximize the diversity of our panels, our proposal review process stipulates that proposer names be anonymous to chairs and steering committee members during review but visible to chairs prior to final acceptance or rejection. Further, a successful pre-arranged session or panel proposal must incorporate gender and racial-ethnic diversity; diversity of theoretical method and rank are also highly encouraged.
| Chair | Dates | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Janna Gonwa, Gannon University | jannakelly1@gmail.com | - | View |
| Jon Paul Sydnor | jonpaulsydnor@gmail.com | - | View |