Charles Hartshorne and the Case for Liberal Religion

This book offers the first sustained philosophical account of liberal religion through the lens of Charles Hartshorne, widely regarded as its most important modern exponent among philosophers. Situating Hartshorne as a philosopher rather than a theologian, Daniel A. Dombrowski presents liberal religion as a vital “third way” between authority-based orthodoxies and religious skepticism. Engaging central debates in process and neoclassical theism, the book integrates theism with an evolutionary worldview grounded in reason and experience rather than institutional or biblical authority. Through original analyses of omnipotence, finitude and infinity, religious experience, panpsychism, and Hartshorne’s dialogue with figures such as Matthew Arnold, Teilhard de Chardin, and Wesley Wildman, the study demonstrates the continuing relevance of liberal religion for philosophy of religion, theology, and religious studies today.