Schleiermacher and Process Theology: Points of Convergence and Differences of Opinion

In the ever-evolving landscape of modern theology, few ideas have stirred as much provocation as Friedrich Schleiermacher’s feeling of absolute dependence. Rooted in his 19th-century masterpiece The Christian Faith, this concept has become a cornerstone of liberal theologies.

But how does it hold up when placed alongside the dynamic, relational framework of process theology?

In this post, I want to explore how these two theological visions intersect—and where they part ways.

Schleiermacher’s Feeling of Absolute Dependence

At the heart of Schleiermacher’s theology is a radical re-centering of religion—not around doctrine or morality but around feeling. Specifically, he argues that the essence of religious experience is the feeling of absolute dependence, a pre-reflective awareness (Schiermacher would say an awareness that occurs in our immediate self-consciousness) that our existence is contingent on something greater than ourselves.

• This feeling is not an intellectual assent or a moral striving.

• It’s a deep, intuitive consciousness of being grounded in the Infinite.

• Schleiermacher identifies the object of our dependence as God—not as a metaphysical deduction, but as the experiential source of our being. In fact, he boldly states that our personal experience of God "takes the place of all the other so-called proofs of God's existence."

In this view, religion is not about knowing or doing, but being—being aware of our finitude in relation to the Infinite.

Process Theology: A Relational Universe

Process theology, emerging from Alfred North Whitehead’s process philosophy, offers a very different metaphysical backdrop than other more traditional ontologies. Here, God is not the unmoved mover of classical theism, but a dynamic, relational presence who evolves alongside creation.

Key ideas include:

• God is not omnipotent in the classical sense, but works through persuasion, not coercion.

• Reality is made up of events, not substances—everything is in process.

• God is affected by the world and responds to it, making divine experience mutable and temporal.

• This leads to a panentheistic view: God contains the world but is not identical with it.

Process theology emphasizes creative transformation, freedom, and mutual interdependence between God and creation.

Points of Convergence

Not surprisingly, Schleiermacher and process theology share some intriguing common ground:

• Experience as foundational: Both reject purely rational or moral definitions of religion, emphasizing lived experience.

• Immanence of God: Schleiermacher’s God is intimately present in the feeling of dependence; process theology’s God is immanent in every moment of becoming.

• Dynamic relationality: Schleiermacher’s emphasis on the evolving nature of religious consciousness resonates with process theology’s view of a God who is constantly in relationship with the world.

Points of Divergence

Yet contrasts certainly exist and are noteworthy. Here's a chart to help you digest what distinguishes them:

Aspect	Schleiermacher	Process Theology
God’s nature	Transcendent source of dependence	Relational, evolving with creation
Human experience	Pre-reflective feeling of dependence	Free agents co-creating with God
Divine power	Implied omnipotence as grounding source	Persuasive, non-coercive influence
Metaphysics	Less systematized, more phenomenological	Explicitly metaphysical and event-based

Schleiermacher’s God is the subject of our dependence. Process theology’s God is the companion in the unfolding drama of existence. Distinct ideas that, in my honest opinion, are able to be wonderfully interwoven. Heck, the desire to weave together Schleiermacher and process thought compelled me to found this Center!

Final Thoughts

Schleiermacher invites us to listen inwardly to the pulse of our dependence. Process theology urges us to co-create with a God who listens and responds. Both offer profound alternatives to rigid dogmatism, and both challenge us to rethink what it means to be religious in a world that is always becoming.

Both affirm this key truth: God is not a distant idea, but a living reality woven into our experience.