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Love is More than Desire or Devotion

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In various publications and recently in Pluriform Love, I define love. My definition says love acts intentionally, in relational response to God and others, to promote overall well-being. Perhaps the most common alternative to my definition says love is desire. We find theologians and philosophers […]

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God’s Pluriform Love for Us

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Most Christian theologies restrict divine love. According to many, God only expresses agape. According to others, God only expresses eros. Some theologies may say God expresses hesed but cannot affirm divine ahavah. Other theologians mix and match love, depending on their philosophical and […]

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The Story Behind Pluriform Love

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I've written a book that ties together many of my primary thoughts about God and love. It's called Pluriform Love: An Open and Relational Theology of Well-Being. The preface of Pluriform Love gives the background story to its writing. And it provides a taste of some of the book's primary ideas. I […]

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Love and the Timeless God

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Philosophy always plays a role in Christian theology. This isn’t a bad thing; philosophy isn’t inherently evil. We’re all philosophers, in the general sense of thinking about things, and all theologies have philosophical assumptions. In fact, every statement about love – scholarly or not – […]

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Six Dimensions to the Problem of Evil

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An adequate Christian theology of love offers a plausible solution to the problem of evil. Rather than appealing to mystery, it offers answers to the issue most atheists say prevents them from believing God exists.[1] Those answers also help theists make sense of God’s love in light of personal […]

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Essential Hesed

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In my forthcoming book, Pluriform Love, I propose a new theological category: Essential Hesed. In this essay, I offer an excerpt from the book. Much precedes this and much comes after. But I offer this as a taste of what Essential Hesed says... God's Steadfast Love Is God’s covenantal, loyal, and […]

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God’s Omniscience Grows

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Open and relational thinkers say the future does not exist. Because it does not, God can't know with certainty what will happen in the future. Does this contradict the idea God is all-knowing? In Open and Relational Theology: An Introduction to Life-Changing Ideas, I say that God can't foreknow with […]

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God’s Knowing Isn’t Causal

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Open and relational theology says God doesn't foreknow everything that will happen in the future. If God did foreknow all with certainty, the future would be settled. A completely settled future is incompatible with our making free choices. Some hear this and think open and relational thinkers are […]

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Partnering with God

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I'm happy to announce the publication of a new book, Partnering with God: Collaboration in Open and Relational Theology! The title itself will strike some readers as audacious. After all, who can really claim to “partner with God”?! Partnering with God answers that question by claiming collaboration […]

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God’s Power in Open and Relational Theology

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Open and relational theology says we best understand God’s power in ways consistent with our experiences and the world. It draws from scriptural stories and passages that speak of God acting without controlling others. In Open and Relational Theology: An Introduction to Life-Changing Ideas, I […]

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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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