Pluriform Love: An Open and Relational Theology of Well-Being

Abstract

In this book, Thomas Oord continues his ongoing explorations of, to borrow the title of Daniel Day Williams's classic work, The Spirit and the Forms of Love. In previous works—such as Defining Love: Philosophical, Scientific, and Theological Investigations; The Science of Love: The Wisdom of Well Being; and The Uncontrolling Love of God: An Open and Relational Account of Providence—Oord has explored the importance of love in a variety of contexts. Pluriform Love focuses on the ways in which love has been portrayed in much of the classical Christian tradition, both in traditional Christian theology and in the various biblical words for love (eros, agape, hesed, etc.).Chapter 1 presents the case that, for the most part, in Christian theology love has been ignored, misrepresented, or worse. All this downplaying of love has occurred despite the many, obvious scriptural references to love: Corinthians 13, The Great Commandments, “God is love” (1 John 4.8, 16), and so forth. In chapter 2, Oord presents and explains his definition of love as follows: “To love is to act intentionally, in relational response to God and others, to promote overall well-being.” Oord regularly refers to this definition in showing how traditional Christian views of love have met the criteria implicit in the definition.Chapters 3–6 provide critiques, both positive and negative, of various figures and perspectives in traditional Christian theology with regard to their views on the role of love. For example, in chapter 3, Anders Nygren's views on agape are evaluated, and in chapter 6, Augustine's views on eros are examined.In Chapters 7–9 Oord presents his constructive proposals for recovering the role of love as the primary attribute of the divine. Among these proposals are open and relational theology, essential kenosis, amipotence, and essential hesed, all of which lead to a theology of pluriform love.Oord has been, and remains, a leading figure in the open and relational theology movement. In this book, he describes open and relational theology as a broad movement that includes within it a variety of forms: process, feminism, free will theism, personalism, and more. While there are differences in detail, there are some commonalities among the various open and relational theologies, such as (1) a concern for an open future (the future is not predetermined by the divine or any other creatures), (2) an experiential relationship between the divine and the rest of creation—the divine influences creation and creation influences the divine, and (3) the belief that love is the most important characteristic of the divine.Essential kenosis involves the notion that the divine is both self-giving of its love and other-empowering in its actions and intentions, and that both self-giving and other-empowering are inherent traits of the divine and divine love. God does not choose to be loving; God cannot help but be loving. Essential kenosis shows itself in God's uncontrolling love.Amipotence is a proposal Oord suggests for dealing with the issue of God's omnipotence, or God being “almighty.” In keeping with his emphasis on uncontrolling love, Oord suggests combining the Latin prefix for love, “ami,” with “potent,” the Latin root for potential or potency; hence “amipotent” refers to all the power that divine uncontrolling love can produce. Essential hesed is used to describe the steadfast love that the divine has, necessarily, for all of creation, including human beings. The divine cannot leave or forsake creation but will always be involved in self-giving and other-empowering relations.There are two caveats: First, since Oord is discussing traditional Christian theology, and since the tradition has been dominated by men, it is no surprise that God is male in much of the discussion historically. More recent work from feminist theologians is referenced in footnotes and can be found in Pluriform Love's extensive bibliography. Second, for those who believe that God's omnipotence (almightiness) and God's absolute independence (voluntarism) are the most important divine attributes, Oord's constructive proposals (essential kenosis, essential hesed, amipotence, etc.) may not be well received. Saying that God must love, has no choice but to love, could well seem like a limitation that traditional theologians may not appreciate.My own experience, from more than twenty years of teaching philosophy and theology in a variety of settings, suggests that many (perhaps most) persons find that altering their belief in God most difficult. Belief in an all-powerful being who is in total control, and who chooses when to cause a miracle, who to “bless,” and so forth, is very strong. Many people would rather give up believing in God than change their traditional beliefs about God, even when the problem of evil and suffering confronts them in their personal lives. Perhaps Oord's biblical approach, as found in this book, can help people understand that divine love is always there, helpful, persistent, and patient and that the divine is not the source of suffering and evil.Pluriform Love, given its focus on the forms of love found in the Bible, is a worthwhile addition to the growing open and relational theology literature, and by extension to process theology with its emphasis on the centrality of divine love.