Coming from the stream of recent theology called \u201copen\u201d\u009d or \u201crelational\u201d\u009d theism (which holds that God cannot predict or predetermine the choices we make), he\u2019s not satisfied with traditional accounts of God\u2019s providence. They don\u2019t help him make sense out of life, especially the problem of \u201cgenuine\u201d\u009d (purposeless, gratuitous) evil. At some point, they all have to appeal to mystery, and so they offer no \u201cexplanatory consistency.\u201d\u009d In their place, Oord offers a winsome, clear, and charitable exposition of his own providential framework, drawing on philosophy, the sciences, and biblical wisdom to fill the gap.<\/p>\n
In a nutshell, his thesis is that evil exists, quite simply, because \u201cGod cannot unilaterally prevent genuine evil.\u201d\u009d Theologians have long recognized that God can\u2019t do all sorts of things\u201d\u201dlike create a round square, or lie, or be faithless. Oord simply expands the list of divine \u201ccannots\u201d\u009d to the reality of controlling evil.<\/p>\n
Building on his particular reading of the Christ-hymn of Philippians 2, he \u201cconsiders the self-giving [kenotic], other-empowering love of God revealed in Jesus Christ to be logically primary in God\u2019s eternal essence.\u201d\u009d And that sort of love is, by its nature, uncontrolling. Putting those two claims together, he draws two conclusions: first, that \u201cGod\u2019s loving nature requires God to create a world with creatures God cannot control\u201d\u009d; and second, that it also prevents him from interrupting the \u201claw-like regularities\u201d\u009d of the natural world.<\/p>\n