7 Comments

Love Stinks! and other Love Lyrics

I’ve often thought it would be fun to write a scholarly essay on love using song lyrics.  Music plays such an important part of our lives, and I confess that music has profoundly shaped the way I see the world.

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8 Comments

Extra Mile Love

I challenged my university students to go “the extra mile” this semester to show love.  I was impressed with how they responded!

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19 Comments

Emergency Intervention and Good Sam

A tragic death forty-six years ago launched an intriguing field of love research: emergency intervention. I’ve been wondering what it means for imitating the Good Samaritan.

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26 Comments

Beyond Wynkoop’s Love Language

Mildred Bangs Wynkoop’s magnum opus, A Theology of Love, presents a powerful argument for love as the Christian's theological priority.  But her work would have been more powerful had she been consistent in her language of love.

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24 Comments

The Nature of Love - Excerpt

I sent the final proofs for one of my new books, The Nature of Love: A Theology, to Chalice Press. I’m very excited for this to come out in June!

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20 Comments

The Well-Being of Love

We use “love” in our everyday speech to mean many things. I think love is best understood and defined in terms of promoting well-being.

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26 Comments

Is Love an Irrational Mystery?

The typical Christian seeks to honor God with his or her mind. Unfortunately, some consider love and reason hostile or at least incompatible. Such Christians think love is a mystery.

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4 Comments

Praise for Defining Love

I ventured to the Brazos Press website to see how promotion of my forthcoming book, Defining Love, was developing. I was tickled pink (a phrase my Father liked) to find kind words from the book's reviewers.

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9 Comments

RE: Zamuda, God, and Evil

The problem of evil needs an answer – not just a response. I am writing a book that offers a multi-faceted answer.

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19 Comments

Defining Love

The word “love” has many meanings.  Defining love well seems more important now than ever -- especially for Christians.

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21 Comments

Affection isn’t love

"Love” is used in popular culture and occasionally in the Bible to describe affection or fondness for an object, person, or group. But I don't think love is the same as affection or fondness. Being clear about our love language can alleviate confusion.

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About this website

You’ve reached the online home of Thomas Jay Oord, a professor, author, and theologian from the Pacific Northwest. Read more