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Models of God’s Action

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A few podcast hosts have asked me to "locate" my theology in relation to other views of God. This is natural, and I like to compare views of God. Comparisons help me explain my Uncontrolling Love of God theology, which I also call Essential Kenosis. In my book The Uncontrolling Love of God, I […]

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A TimeFull God Creates & Acts with an End in Mind

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Many people think a timeless God created the universe and is its eschatological hope. By contrast, I think we make better sense of creation and eschatology if we think God is timefull rather than timeless. In a previous essay, I identified four dimensions of an open and relational […]

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A TimeFull God of Providence

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Most Christian theologies assume God is essentially timeless. By ‘essentially timeless,’ I mean they assume God does not experience in relationship with others moment by moment. Many assume God ‘sees’ history – beginning to end – from an eternal now, without engaging in giving and receiving […]

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God Doesn’t Punish

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I don't think God ever punishes. But I do think there are natural negative consequences to sin and evil. I spell out what this means in my book, God Can't: How to Believe in God and Love after Tragedy, Abuse, and Other Evils. Although the idea God punishes is largely absent in the New Testament […]

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A Bodiless God Can’t Prevent Evil

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In my recent writing, I have argued that God's love is uncontrolling. Consequently, God can't prevent evil by controlling others. I've also been saying that we should embrace the idea that God is a universal Spirit without a localized body. Embracing this idea is crucial too.

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The Shack is Right, But…

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Wm. Paul Young’s best-selling book, The Shack, tackles questions about God, love, and evil. Young weaves positive themes to offer helpful answers. The book (and movie) continues to spark helpful conversations. (Click the video photo for my theological review). The Plot The plot of Young’s fictional […]

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John Wesley Says God Can’t

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My recent book, God Can’t, makes the claim God can’t do some activities. Although this strikes some as unprecedented, John Wesley said it before I did. God Can’t in the Bible Biblical writers said “God can’t” before John Wesley and me. In various books and blogs, I’ve listed biblical passages that […]

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Does God Relate by Choice or by Nature?

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A "Four Views" book has just been published exploring God's im/passibility (IVP Academic). I wrote one of the four essays. Instead of "passible" or "impassible," most people today use the words "relational" or "nonrelational" to talk about whether creatures influence God. Relational […]

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25th Anniversary of The Openness of God

This year marks the 25th anniversary of a book that continues to influence many: The Openness of God: A Biblical Challenge to the Traditional Understanding of God (IVP). By "openness of God," the authors mean God experiences the ongoing flow of time. Like us, God faces an open and not yet settled […]

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An Experiencing God Knows All that’s Knowable

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Open and relational theologies say God enjoys moment-by-moment experiences in relationship with others. This important idea affects how these theologies think about God's knowledge. Open and relational theologies take seriously the reality of time's forward flow. Not only is existence fundamentally […]

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About

Thomas Jay Oord is a theologian, philosopher, and scholar of multi-disciplinary studies. He is the author or editor of more than twenty books and professor at Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, Idaho.

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