Latest Blog Entries

The T&T Clark Handbook of Suffering and the Problem of Evil has just been published. Editors Matthias Grebe and Johannes Grossl have an all-star lineup of writers contributing to this volume, a book with 80 chapters! Here’s a link. My contribution is called “Everlasting Creating and Essential Love.” To give you a taste of my […]

I recently gave a talk in Oxford at the British Society for the Philosophy of Religion. My lecture, “Three Bold Moves to Make Sense of God’s Love,” was well attended and well received. I thank my fellow session presenters Lina Langby and Philip Goff for the great interaction and the session chair, Fiona Ellis. Below […]

My friend Ryan Patrick McLaughlin sent good questions about my theology. I addressed a couple in a previous blog. In this essay, I address his question about God’s everlasting creating and eschatological fulfillment. Ryan: “Your position on creation maintains that God has always been creating out of that which God has already created (because God […]

When criticizing some of my ideas in The Death of Omnipotence and Birth of Amipotence, my friend John Sanders mentioned the work of another friend, Ryan Patrick McLaughlin. It had been years since Ryan and I had communicated, so I appreciate John alerting me to Ryan’s recent work. Ryan kindly responded with an email of […]

Theists in general and Christians in particular often worship a God they call “omnipotent.” This practice creates profound problems. In The Death of Omnipotence and Birth of Amipotence, I address those problems. In one chapter, I focus on lyrics and liturgies that proclaim God as all-powerful. My argument: they implicitly endorse abusive politicians and policies. […]

I want to thank my friend John Sanders for his thoughtful critique of my recent book, The Death of Omnipotence and Birth of Amipotence. See that critique here. In the following, I respond to John. His comments push me to be clearer, but I’m not convinced by his criticisms. I continue to find my arguments […]

In my book The Death of Omnipotence and Birth of Amipotence, I explain how omnipotence and almighty are not rightly associated with scripture. In this essay, I lay out the problem with English translations of the New Testament that call God “almighty.” Almighty Is Rare “Almighty” appears ten times as a translation of Pantokrator in […]

Evil The experience of evil leads millions to unbelief and most believers to bewilderment. Worshipping God as omnipotent implicates the Almighty as either causing or permitting horrendous events and unnecessary suffering. An omnipotent God is guilty. In my book, The Death of Omnipotence and Birth of Amipotence, I explore why believing God is omnipotent makes […]

At the conclusion of The Death of Omnipotence and Birth of Amipotence, I address the question in this essay title. It comes in my discussion of amipotence, which is the power of God’s uncontrolling love. The Spirit Gives Life The divine Spirit provides integrity, agency, self-organization, and freedom to all creation, depending on their complexity. God gives robust […]

(This essay was first posted in June of 2023 on lovingnazarenes.com.) Disingenuous That’s the most charitable word to describe your actions in recent days. Disingenuous. The actions to which I am referring are characterized by quotes like the following: In your (Caleb’s) review of Why the Church of the Nazarene Should be Fully LGBTQ+ Affirming, […]