love

Seventh Sunday of Easter

May 12, 2013
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Year A
Year B
Year C

Reading 1: 
Acts 16:16-34
Reading 2: 
Psalm 97
Reading 3: 
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
Reading 4: 
John 17:20-26
By Russell Pregeant

Jesus’ long farewell to his disciples in John begins at 13:31-35, with his declaration of the mutual glorification that obtains between himself and God and his statement of the “new commandment” to “love one another.” It ends with 17:20-26, which reiterates both themes, so that the discourse is framed by these motifs, identifying them as the dominant thread in the entire section.[1] Although part of the farewell, these verses are spoken to God in prayer, rather than to the disciples. The prayer begins at 17:1 and ends with v.

Proper 24

October 21, 2012
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Year A
Year B
Year C

Reading 1: 
Job 38:1-7, 34-41
Reading 2: 
Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35c
Reading 3: 
Hebrews 5:1-10
Reading 4: 
Mark 10:35-45
By Bruce G. Epperly

Job 38:1-7, 34-41

Then God answered through the whirlwind! We continue our journey through Job with a theophany, an auditory encounter in which the Holy One responds to Job’s indictment.

The Nature of Love: A Theology

The Nature of Love: A Theology

Author:

Thomas Jay Oord

Book Details

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 978-0827208285

Pages: 208

Publisher: Chalice Press

Year Published: 2010

Weight: 9.8 oz

Dimensions: 0 x 0 x 0 in

$24.99

God is love. Consequently, shouldn t love exist at the center of Christian theology? When love is at the center, theology is understood differently than it has typically been understood.

Some theologians have placed faith at the center, others God's sovereignty, still others-the Church, but Dr. Oord places the emphasis on love. God's love for us, revealed in Christ, in the Church, and in creation, and our love for God and others as ourselves must be afforded its rightful place.

Defining Love: A philosophical, Scientific, and Theological Engagement

Defining Love: A philosophical, Scientific, and Theological Engagement

Author:

Thomas Jay Oord

Book Details

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 978-1587432576

Pages: 225

Publisher: Brazos Press

Year Published: 2010

Weight: 13 oz

Dimensions: 0 x 0 x 0 in

$29.99

Some scientific studies suggest that human beings are innately selfish and that virtues such as self-sacrifice are a delusion. Thomas Jay Oord interprets the scientific research and responds from a theological and philosophical standpoint, providing a state-of-the-art overview of love and altruism studies.

Power of Love

Publication Month: 
June 2001
Author - First Name: 
John B.
Author - Last Name: 
Cobb, Jr.
Question: 
How does love work?

Dr. Cobb's Response

Nelson Stringer has been teaching and preaching about love for many years.  On Easter Sunday the church of which he is pastor was burned by an arsonist. Of course he has felt pain and sorrow about the loss. But, more important, he has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support that he and others in his church have received. He has discovered that love is an even more powerful force than he had realized. I'll reflect about that this month from a process perspective.

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God & Love

Publication Month: 
May 2000
Author - First Name: 
John B.
Author - Last Name: 
Cobb, Jr.
Question: 
"God is love," says the author of 1 John. How does process thought generally answer the issue at the basis of two questions: "Is love an abstract standard outside of Godself that God embodies perfectly?" or "Is love whatever God does, simply because God does it?"

Dr. Cobb's Response

This question harks back to the Realist-Nominalist debates of the later Middle Ages. The Realists, such as Thomas Aquinas, believed that human beings have some knowledge of the distinction between good and evil. God, they argued, is purely good. The Nominalists taught that good and evil have no existence in themselves. Such distinctions depend entirely on the point of view. We cannot place our preferences as absolute, and then judge God by them. On the contrary it is God's judgment that establishes what is good and evil.

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Whitehead and Freud's Theory of Eros (Love) & Thanatos (Death)

Publication Month: 
March 2010
Author - First Name: 
John B.
Author - Last Name: 
Cobb, Jr.
Question: 
In the later more sociological Freud, there is a great emphasis on Love (or Eros) which, as a newcomer to Process thought and theology, I cannot help but think of as a vision of the process God. Freud, however, found it necessary to balance Love with Death (aggression), and he describes the universe as the arena in which the battle of Love and Death takes place. I am reluctant to follow Freud in affirming this second power, but at the same time I find it difficult not to feel it is needed. In particular, I find it hard to understand why God's (Love's) persuasive power would not be more effective were there not this countering power. In fact, I find it difficult to understand why persuasion toward the good would not be completely effective minus some countering contrary power.

Dr. Cobb's Response

Of course, the categories that arise in one system are not likely to be identical with those that arise in another. But all systems must account for both coming into being and ceasing to be, both life and death, both construction and destruction. In Whitehead the pair of terms might be creativity and perpetual perishing.

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