I’m not surprised some people are blaming God. Maybe “crediting” God is more accurate. I’m reading social media posts saying the Coronavirus (Covid 19) is God’s will. Our current suffering is part of some predetermined divine plan. One post put it this way: “Sorry to break up the big panic, but the Coronavirus will not […]

An academic book of essays on love was recently published. My friend Kevin Vanhoozer wrote the first essay, and the second is my response. Kevin criticizes my theology of love in various ways, preferring instead John Webster’s theology. I address his criticisms in my full essay, but I thought I’d excerpt a portion here. For […]

I’ve been asking lately what fundamental ideas we need to establish a loving civilization. By “loving civilization” I mean what Christians often call “the kingdom of God.” I think it’s possible for civilization to become oriented around love. In a previous blog, I argued that the “kingdom of God” phrase has liabilities. I’m not the […]

The New Testament phrases basilea theou and basilea ouranos — the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven — play central roles in how Jesus thought about God’s activity in society. I think these words might best be understood today as pointing to a civilization oriented around love. English-speakers often translate the first ancient […]

My new book, God Can't: How to Believe in God and Love after Tragedy, Abuse, and Other Evils will be released in January!

The 2018 Parliament of the World’s Religions will be held November 1-7, in Toronto. I’m especially excited about the Parliament theme: “The Promise of Inclusion, the Power of Love: Pursuing Global Understand, Reconciliation, and Change.” With such a grand title, it’s not surprising representatives from diverse religions will convene to explore a diverse set of […]

In the book I’m currently writing, I address the question of heaven, hell, annihilation, and the afterlife. I take the logic of uncontrolling love to its eschatological end. And this process has led me to coin a label for my view, Relentless Love. The Usual Afterlife Theories The logic of uncontrolling love changes the way […]

The idea God needs our cooperation is more common in the Bible than most realize. Because many assume God can accomplish tasks and establish relationships alone, they overlook it. But sometimes translators are to blame. Romans 8:28 is a great example of translator decisions that hide the God-creature synergy present in Scripture. Those who know […]

If God’s love is uncontrolling, what does it actually do? Is God involved in our lives? Or is God like an object that inspires without directly affecting us? Something else? In a recent International Journal of Systematic Theology article, Kevin Vanhoozer offers a dialogue between John Webster’s views of love and my own. Kevin wonders […]

Some Christians believe God has no emotions. They believe this, in part, because they think only embodied beings have the capacity to express emotions. I think God can experience and express emotion. In a series of previous blog essays, I’ve argued that God is relational. By that I mean God gives and receives from creatures. […]