A Response to Power

One of you, obviously, tried to post on power here.  Since it was sent to me, and since I try
to publish all responses that make any sense at all, here it is.  well written, I might add:


I had a reply but wasn't able to post it, not sure why.  I think animals are acutely aware of power

relationships.  The servility or aggression  displays of dogs reflects their self-awareness of their 

place in the power structure.  They behave like children with their 'masters', who feed and house them

but can become easily violent and even lethal towards strangers.

Kids quickly learn about power and make it the cornerstone for understanding the world. Can Superman 

kill Godzilla, who or what is more powerful?

The Garden of Eden story is very obtuse, but someone brought up the power of God in declaring a tree off limits.

The forbidden door, book, food, person, article of clothing is a common mythological device.  Tempting and exciting, 

the forbidden thing always leads to ruin or punishment.  Since children learn from the Bible, God as 'the angry parent'

was bound to occur as a theme, 'wait until your father gets home'.

A frequent theme in what is known as 'process theology', based on the ideas of Alfred North Whitehead's process

philosophy, where the process is more fundamental than the usual 'essence' of things or events, is the idea of two

kinds of power.

The one we're most familiar with is power over someone, parent over child, boss over employee, God over creation.  

But in the process view, the power to hold things together, to lure, to attract into a higher unity is primary.

God the Father may manifest the first kind of power, but God the Son, Jesus of Nazareth demonstrates the more

significant attractive power.  In the vacuum of his absence the Church was formed through the attractive power of 

love and forgiveness.

Studying attractive power can be done without resorting to theology of course.  But Christian theology does offer

an interesting example of both types.