The Nature of Love

Dr. Tom Oord, professor of Theology and Philosophy at my alma mater Northwest Nazarene University has succeeded in what he set out to do - provide a Biblical, rational, and most certainly thought provoking and intriguing theological perspective into the ontological nature of God. By effectively tackling long standing misnomers about love in the first couple of chapters, and by drawing upon specific theological and philosophical models consistent with a Wesleyan Arminian understanding of free will and the truly synergistic relationship we have with God initiated by divine grace, Dr. Oord paints a picture of God who remains fully omnipotent yet non coercive while granting His creatures genuine freedom, without which, Dr. Oord would argue, would nullify the true essence of love (both divine and human). His Essential Kenosis theory relies directly upon the full revelation of God in Christ which Holiness theology has always affirmed. The challenge for preachers and theologians has always been to reconcile several of the seemingly “unloving” portraits of God in the Old Testament which would have been helpful had Dr. Oord delved into and would have only strengthened his theory. It would have also been helpful for Dr. Oord to expand further the idea of promoting the well being of God even as we promote the well being of others by our love. While our definitions of love might differ from Dr. Oord’s, and while we might not be as convinced that he has definitively resolved the problem of evil (of which he seems fairly certain he has), you will definitely appreciate Dr. Oord’s innovative and ambitious pursuit of discovery into the heart of what it means when the Bible emphatically proclaims that “God is love.”