986. In Hartshorne's view, "religion . . .

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In Hartshorne's view, "religion is much more than worship" in the sense of "conscious integrity, achieved through an inclusive integral object of love" (ANTOT: 102, 16). Why so? Because religion is "the particular, social-historical-institutional form of worship found on this planet, and in various countries and cultures" (103). Thus in religion, "immensely important empirical factors enter, entirely additional to worship merely as such, and to God merely as such" (103).

Elsewhere Hartshorne makes clear that he can understand "worship" not only in one sense but in two. On the one hand, "worship is loving God with all one's heart and mind and soul and strength," which can be said to be the "active" sense of worship, worship in the sense of loyalty, fidelity, devotion. On the other hand, worship "is the acceptance by a person of his or her own fragmentariness," which I should describe as the "passive" sense of worship, worship in the sense of trust, confidence, assurance. But, then, what Hartshorne means by "worship" is only verbally different from what I mean by "faith" in the sense of unreserved trust and unconditional loyalty, or what I could also call authentic self-understanding, or an authentic understanding of one's existence in relation to others and the whole. Thus his distinction between worship and religion corresponds exactly to my distinction between faith and religion, or authentic understanding of existence and religion.

Of course, Hartshorne holds—and I agree—that "every religious tradition is shot through with human—all too human—error" ("The Ethics of Contributionism": 106). But I take it that the measure of human error in matters of religion (aside from such nonreligious errors as a religious tradition may very well include) is the extent to which it fails to express and foster worship (or faith). On the contrary, a religious tradition is insofar free of error to the extent that it re-presents the gift and demand of worship (or faith), thereby generating it in the case of those who are not worshippers (or believers) and confirming it in the case of those who are.

25 October 1989