Fifty years ago, a little-known theologian named Mildred Bangs Wynkoop published a provocative book. That book, A Theology of Love: The Dynamic of Wesleyanism, still sparks conversation and controversy today. It presents a powerful argument for love as Christian theology’s priority. Love as Central The first third of A Theology of Love offers the heart of Wynkoop’s […]

I recently wrote a chapter for a book celebrating the work of Keith Ward. My argument is that Ward offers a metaphysics that supports both a conceptual basis for love and a basis to view God as loving. God is Love Keith Ward believes an adequate account of love requires an equally adequate account of […]

I’m excited to announce a new book project! Along with co-editors Annie DeRolf, Christy Gunter, John Loppnow, and Lon Marshall, I’m inviting therapists, psychologists, and counselors to write essays on their work in relation to uncontrolling love. What is Uncontrolling Love? The “uncontrolling love” label is found in several books, including The Uncontrolling Love of […]

I recently gave a lecture in Vancouver, BC at an event co-hosted by Vancouver School of Theology and St. Andrews Wesley United Church. In my lecture, I explored seven obstacles to love and how we might overcome them. My book, Pluriform Love, provided the details for my arguments. Of the 25+ books I’ve written or […]

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 from the past and present defining love as desire. In […]

Many biblical scholars and theologians fail to affirm the priority of love. In this essay, I focus on the final of five reasons why many fail to make love a priority. I’ll simply list the first four before addressing the fifth. Get a copy of Pluriform Love to read the explanations I give to the […]

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 theological assumptions. In my new book, Pluriform Love, I argue that God […]

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 thought I’d share […]

I think about love every day. As a Christian, l think love is the center of who God is and what God calls of me and others. As I see it, Jesus reveals love most fully. I also think love is pluriform. It’s not just helping the helpless, as important as that is. It’s not just […]

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 – incorporates philosophy, at least in the broad sense. Some philosophies […]