Abstract

The philosophical system of Charles Hartshorne is arguably one of the most comprehensive and persuasive metaphysical systems worked out in the twentieth century. His a priori approach to resolving metaphysical questions is as original in the context of modern thought as it is compelling. He has clarified and fortified a Whiteheadian alternative to traditional substantivalist thinking as well as the Neo-classical alternative to traditional theism. ;At the same time, the work of Hartshorne presents what must be regarded as one of the most forceful challenges to the traditional Christian world view. As we argue in this work, such traditional Christian ideas as special revelation, creation and salvation by grace, as well as the Incarnation are necessarily ruled out within the framework of his system. The most fundamental reason for this conflict, we argue, is that Hartshorne's system necessitates a God who must relate to the world out of metaphysical necessity whereas the traditional Christian view of God portrays God as self-sufficient in this One's triunity, and thus relating to the world not out of necessity but out of grace. ;The question this work attempts to answer is this: is it possible for one to retain the many positive features of Hartshorne's metaphysics while avoiding the radically unorthodox implications of his system? ;It is the central thesis of this work that one can answer this question in the affirmative. We here argue that when a few corrections, modifications, and supplementations are made in the fundamental a priori structure of Hartshorne's system, the system ends up actually requiring a view of God as internally related and self-sufficient rather than the Neo-classical view of God as di-polar. And what is more, these alterations, far from compromising the explanatory capacity of his system, actually improve its capacity. Hence, Hartshorne's metaphysical system can be reconstructed in such a way that it actually lays the groundwork for a triunitarian metaphysics