The Uncontrolling Love of God - by Thomas Jay Oord (Paperback)

About the Book

Rarely does a new theological position emerge to account well for life in the world, including not only goodness and beauty but also tragedy and randomness. Drawing from Scripture, science, philosophy and various theological traditions, Thomas Jay Oord offers a novel theology of providence--essential kenosis--that emphasizes God's inherently noncoercive love in relation to creation.

Book Synopsis

Rarely does a new theological position emerge to account well for life in the world, including not only goodness and beauty but also tragedy and randomness. Drawing from Scripture, science, philosophy and various theological traditions, Thomas Jay Oord offers a novel theology of providence-essential kenosis-that emphasizes God's inherently noncoercive love in relation to creation.

Review Quotes

"A much-discussed option on the contemporary theological scene is so-called open theology. Working within the framework of open theology, and with some truly horrendous examples of evil constantly in mind, Thomas Oord develops a fresh and original doctrine of providence, the central thesis of which is that it belongs to God's nature to offer to creatures non-controlling, other-empowering love. Anyone who subsequently writes about providence will have to engage Oord's cogently argued and lucidly presented account."

"A work of a mature thinker, this book secures Oord's legacy as the theologian of love. It is a comprehensive theological response to the age-old question of how genuine evil exists even assuming the omnipotent and omnibenevolent God of Christian faith, and is all the more compelling given its biblical, philosophical and scientifically informed tapestry-no mean feat! The faithful across all Christian traditions will be encouraged to live a life of love even as skeptics will be invited to think again and again."

"Although it is worthy on its own terms, The Uncontrolling Love of God is perhaps best digested in dialogue with other voices. . . . Oord fills a critical gap in the literature of open and relational theology, and he offers a clear, biblically sound, cruciform answer to the problem of evil and God's providence, while avoiding the pitfalls of divine culpability that previous models of providence fall into."

"Can we reconcile a biblical understanding of divine love and creativity with the universe of human experience and scientific understanding? Not a new question, of course, but one that requires fresh faith and intellectual subtlety. Tom Oord's new book offers both. And it is written with a clarity and passion that should appeal to a wide range readers."

"Can I believe in the providence of God without making God responsible for evil? Open and relational theology answers yes, combining biblical and philosophical resources. Here Thomas Oord, the leading open and relational theologian, makes a powerful case for miracles and the providential care of the self-emptying God. His remarkably clear book offers readers a compelling theodicy and a welcome gift to personal faith."

"Oord's work is a constructive attempt to provide answers to very complex questions in a way that seeks to satisfy human experience, findings from contemporary science, and doctrines of the Christian faith."

"The book is beautifully and clearly written."

"This is a scholarly and readable book arguing that God is essentially a God of self-giving love, and that this provides a way of seeing how evil can exist in a world created by God. It is an important theological work, and continues Oord's project of constructing a fully Christian 'open and relational' theology."

"Thomas Oord's The Uncontrolling Love of God is an ambitious book offering a new account of divine sovereignty, divine interaction with creation, a new response to the problem of evil, and other issues needed for a plausible model of God. This account is presented in accessible prose, suitable for any college educated reader."

"Written in his characteristically winsome style, Oord's account of The Uncontrolling Love of God is a highly accessible yet richly sophisticated affirmation of God's providential engagement with creation that takes seriously the insistence on randomness and novelty in recent science. Oord sprinkles throughout pastorally wise advice on how Christians might think about and engage the undeniable evil and ugliness in life by probing the implications of our fundamental commitment to the self-emptying love of God as manifest in Jesus Christ. Highly recommended!"

About the Author

Thomas Jay Oord (PhD, Claremont Graduate University) is professor of theology and philosophy at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho. He has written or edited more than a dozen books, including Defining Love: A Philosophical, Scientific, and Theological Engagement. He is an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene.