The Spirit as a Relational Person Who Feels
It’s obvious to many believers that God is personal, relational, and experiences emotions. Christian, Jewish, and Muslim scriptures routinely describe deity in this way.[1] These abilities and attributes also seem required if the Spirit is loving, because lovers are persons who act and feel in […]
3 Reasons It Matters to Believe God is Relational
“It doesn’t matter whether we think God is relational,” a friend recently quipped. “God is just God.” Well… I disagree! In recent blog essay’s I’ve explored what it means to say God is relational. In this post, I want to briefly note 3 reasons why it matters to believe God is relational. A […]
God’s Love is Relational in Three Forms
The theo-logic of God’s love says divine love is relationally full-orbed rather than one-dimensional. Three forms of love — agape, eros, and philia — demonstrate this theo-logic. And the Bible gives witness to them. AGAPE God expresses the agape form of love by responding to sin with forgiveness […]
The Jesus Argument for God’s Relationality
Christians often say what they know best about God comes from the revelation of Jesus Christ. In Jesus, God is specially incarnated (Jn. 14:9). Those of us who think God is relational believe Jesus reveals a relational God. Jesus’ Compassion Scripture tells us that Jesus himself had compassion for […]
What Does “God is Relational” Mean?
If you read many theology books, you’ve likely come across many theologians who say God is relational. But it’s not always clear what being “relational” means. I believe God is relational, and here’s what I mean… In the past, theologians used various words as or near synonyms with “relational.” […]
God IS Relational!
It’s obvious to me that God relates with creation. It will come as a surprise to some, however, to hear that many Christians in the past and present DON’T think God relates with creation! By “relate,” I mean God influences creatures and creatures influence God. God is passible, to use the ancient […]
What is Relational Theology?
Many Christians find the ideas and language of relational theology helpful. But many also appreciate relational theology without really being clear about what it is. Misunderstandings emerge.