Open and Relational Theologian, Dr. Thomas Jay Oord, has long argued for the primacy of love in the logical order of God’s essential nature. Love comes logically first in God’s nature. Thus, we should filter everything we believe through this filter. This includes what we believe about the Bible.
In his latest book The Death of Omnipotence and the Birth of Amipotence, Oord answers the question, “Does omnipotence jive with uncontrolling love?” From the title of the book, I’m sure you can figure out where Oord lands.
Death of Omnipotence is a great book. Just as his work God Can’t adequately solved the problem of evil, Death of Omnipotence solves the problem of squaring an “all mighty” God with a divine nature founded on uncontrolling love. Simply put: omnipotence is unbiblical and does not align with uncontrolling love.
Oord offers, in my opinion, a very satisfying alternative he calls “amipotence.” I won’t spoil it here because I think you all need to read that for yourself. That said, amipotent describes a God whose influence is greater than any other but that does not contain “all power.” If that seems ungodly to you, then I urge you to read the book. Oord clearly lays the foundation for a biblical and intelligent understanding of amipotence. You may not agree with it, you may even argue against it, but you’ll not be able to truthfully say it isn’t viable.
In the end, I will add Death of Omnipotence as one of the “must reads” when people ask me for book recommendations. With my theology being fairly unorthodox for most people, I get asked how I got here more than you might think.
Death of Omnipotence and the Birth of Amipotence: 10/10 for readability, clarity, and healing/life-giving theology.
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