FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Book Unveils Whitehead’s Profound Relevance For Spiritual And Planetary Transformation, Announces Bruce Epperly’s Healing The World
CANTONMENT, FL – September 3, 2025 – Energion Publications is proud to announce the release of Healing the World: Whitehead, Francis, Clare, and Bonaventure on Spiritual and Planetary Transformation by Bruce G. Epperly, a leading voice in process theology. Released yesterday, this groundbreaking work offers a profound integration of Alfred North Whitehead’s philosophical vision with Franciscan spirituality, presenting new insights for addressing contemporary global challenges through a process-relational lens.
Epperly’s book champions Whitehead’s philosophy as essential for understanding a dynamic, interdependent, value-oriented, and purposive universe. Whitehead describes God as the reality “in whom our lives and all things live, move, and have their being” (Acts 17:28), making his metaphysics deeply mystical in spirit and encouraging a quest for self-transcendence and world loyalty. The author elaborates on Whitehead’s vision of a relational God—both infinite and intimate, personal and global—who is a “fellow sufferer who understands” and a “joyful companion who celebrates.” This God is depicted as the “most moved mover,” constantly creating the universe and influencing, and being influenced by, every moment of experience. Epperly notes that Whitehead’s philosophical vision integrates spirituality and social change, honors the environment, and provides hope by affirming God’s aim to heal.
Healing the World uniquely frames Whitehead’s insights by posing the fundamental question, “Is nature lifeless or alive?”. Epperly argues that a living, experiential, and value-laden universe—where “God is in all things. All things in God.”—invites respect and ethical treatment for all creatures, challenging authoritarian views of God and narrow understandings of revelation. The book explores Whitehead’s “Galilean vision,” which posits that the divine operates through persuasive agency, not coercion, promoting mutuality, communication, and a “democracy of revelation”. This perspective is critical for fostering an ecological civilization and inspiring a crucial shift from self-interest to world loyalty. The text further highlights Whitehead’s assertion that the “teleology of the universe is aimed at the production of beauty,” encouraging a “creative transformation” as a response to the perpetual perishing of life.
Epperly synthesizes Whitehead’s three “natures” of God—the primordial (the unbounded realm of possibility and ideals), the consequent (God’s infinite and evolving experience of the world, embodying “tender care that nothing be lost”), and the superjective (God’s love flowing back into the world as relevant possibility and inspiration for action)—to provide a comprehensive framework for spiritual and planetary transformation. By integrating Whitehead’s philosophical vision with the wisdom of Francis, Clare, and Bonaventure, Healing the World offers a holistic approach that unites mysticism, social change, and environmental ethics for our challenging times, directly supporting efforts to “repair” the body of Christ and “heal the Earth”.
Bruce Epperly, a noted process theologian and author of over eighty books, states, “My philosophical, spiritual, and theological journey as a process theologian has been shaped by my encounters with both Thurman and Francis and Francis’ spiritual companions Clare and Bonaventure”. He adds, “Whitehead provides a metaphysical vision that complements, supplements, and integrates Franciscan spirituality with the modern world… His vision of God provides a contemporary vision of the Franciscan spirit, which inspires our commitments to heal the planet”. Epperly’s work calls readers to “become agents of new creation and God’s partners in healing the Earth”.
About the Author: Bruce G. Epperly is Theologian in Residence at Westmoreland United Church of Christ, Bethesda, MD. Over the past four decades, he has served as a seminary and university professor and administrator, university chaplain, and congregational pastor. He is the author of over eighty books, including Saving Progressive Christianity to Save the Planet; Jesus: Mystic, Healer, and Prophet; Homegrown Mystics; and Whitehead and Teilhard: Metaphysics, Mysticism, and Mission. His extensive work in process theology makes him uniquely qualified to present these profound connections and insights.
About Energion Publications: Energion Publications is a publisher committed to providing resources that nourish the spirit and engage contemporary theological questions.
Contact: Henry Neufeld, henry@energion.co, (850) 525-3916
