| Professor Henry Nelson Wieman (1884--1975) was an American philosopher of religion who tried to reconstruct religious inquiry and Christian theology in light of the method of science. He rejected both supernaturalistic theism and atheistic humanism as guides for humanity in an age of tremendous power. His philosophy of naturalistic theism views God as a process of creativity that is superhuman but not supernatural. This divine process operates on the human level as the process of creative interchange between diverse perspectives. This process creates, sustains, saves, and transforms our humanity in ways we cannot do ourselves. It is the role of philosophy and the sciences to discover the required conditions for this process of creative interchange to work most effectively, and it is the responsibility of families, the religions, educational systems, industries, and governments to provide those conditions.; After explaining the main elements of Wieman's religious philosophy, this dissertation examines his arguments for the following claims: that commitment to creative interchange is the only basis on which enduring peace can be achieved; that the process of creative interchange is the foundation for morality; that creative interchange is the proper method and goal of interreligious dialogue and cooperation; that creative interchange is the necessary ground for vibrant democracy, freedom, and justice; and that the world community needs to develop a democratic system of governance that would create, enforce, and adjudicate global laws in order to manage conflict between large groups of people, outlaw war, and prevent genocide.; In addition to presenting the contribution of Wieman's concept of creative interchange to the problems of world community, this study offers several other ways for making our world more peaceful: spreading the attitude of humatriotism, promoting the conditions for successful democracy within nations, supporting preventive diplomacy, and reforming international organizations. |
