There is nothing more important for those who believe in God than their understanding of the nature of the deity they believe in。 On this hinges not only the robustness of their own faith， but any real ability to help communicate that faith to others。 This reality has been pointed out many times。 In “Open and Relational Theology”， Thomas Jay Oord pulls together the main ideas from his numerous books about God’s nature and presents them in a manner easily understandable by any interested lay pers There is nothing more important for those who believe in God than their understanding of the nature of the deity they believe in。 On this hinges not only the robustness of their own faith， but any real ability to help communicate that faith to others。 This reality has been pointed out many times。 In “Open and Relational Theology”， Thomas Jay Oord pulls together the main ideas from his numerous books about God’s nature and presents them in a manner easily understandable by any interested lay person。 His style is didactic in the best sense。 The book’s structure， and study aids， will allow for its natural inclusion into discussion/teaching programs， including those for youth。Freedom and love， two complex ideas that cannot be disentangled， are at the core of open and relational theological thinking and therefore of this book。 To give a flavour of the author’s direct writing style here are a few quotes regarding freedom and love:“Belief in freedom is most compatible with the belief God loves us。 A loving God would give freedom to creatures rather than controlling them。”“God necessarily expresses self-giving and others-empowering love， because that’s what divine love does。”“A loving God nurtures。”Thinking about God in an open and relational way naturally leads to thinking about how such a God might relate to the great evils we suffer， witness or hear about in this world。 Again， let’s let the author speak:“Evil is not part of a divine master plan。 God doesn’t send pointless pain to teach us a lesson， build our character， or micromanage creation for some greater good。 But God works with us moment by moment to create beauty from ashes。”“Our lives are significant， in part， because we make an essential difference in God’s ongoing endeavors to overcome evil with good。”Creation and what it really means for us is a natural part of open and relational thinking about God and ourselves。 Oord， who is also an outstanding nature photographer， treats creation in very moving prose:“……God is a necessary cause in the moment-by-moment emergence of all things， but not the only cause。”“As co-creators， our actions make a real difference。 How we treat one another， other species， and the earth matters。”“An omnipresent God experiences creation in each moment and knows all that happens through immediate experience。”Critical realists insist that all things， including their view of God， God’s action and divine revelation， fit as closely as possible with what we currently know to be true， provided by all the ways of knowing available to us。 The most thoughtful critical realists do not believe that what we currently know from all sources are likely to remain constant。 This inconstancy is not the fault of truth but a necessary symptom of imperfect understanding and interpretation。 Tom Oord is a most thoughtful critical realist。 Especially in the field of theological thinking， he is willing to challenge both hubris regarding how well we know what we know and to question interpretations that require us to overplay mystery cards when reality challenges our narratives。 While accepting the authority of scripture， he rejects the practice of bringing human derived views of God to scripture and looking for ways to make scripture tell us what we would like to hear。 He would advise going to scripture first to see what we might learn about God and try very hard to avoid approaching scripture with any pre-conceived notions。 In short， act in all ways like a thoughtful critical realist。The open and relational theology presented in Chapters 1-3 accepts that God knows all that happened in the past with complete accuracy; He knows all of the thinking/motivations and other causes for those events。 God also knows all future possibilities and their probabilities such that the near future （when it comes into existence as the present） is far more predictable for Him than it is for us。 And， large scale， population level realities are naturally far more predictable， in a broad brush sense， than predictions regarding individuals and individual events （just ask any statistician or actuarialist）。 Of course， compared to us， God is far better able to predict how people will act， or what great， population level， event will transpire some distance into the future。 But， even for God， there are serious limits on knowing a future that is yet to come into existence。 Thinking of this yet-to-be-determined future， people often fail to see the necessary link between possibilities and probabilities。 The further out we （or God） try to project from the present into the not-yet-existent future， the messier the probability matrix becomes。 This is not a weakness in us or in God， but it is a feature of the universe God decided， in His wisdom， to create， sustain and enter into with us。 For the believer， this non-deterministic， realistic view of creation leaves us dependent upon and in partnership with the divine。 In Oord’s words， “An open and relational God influences all creation， all the time， forever。”There is a strong connection between our view of creation and how we respond to the ideas described in “Open and Relational Theology”。 If we see creation as a once for all event， we miss the possibilities and probabilities inherent in a more dynamic view of creation。 The God who relates not only sustains what started at the beginning， but also continuously creates and sustains in response to what creation constantly is doing。 Not surprising for a loving God， creation is even empowered to participate - as free sentient beings， we are asked to be co-creators。 This loving， involved， co-operating holy and caring God is depicted clearly in scripture。 There is a “we are in this together” quality to the relationship between creation and creator。 Divine guidance is ever present and very real， but so are all the different responses of the creator’s creatures。 These responses are many and varied and too often not at all what the Creator would want。 Open and relational theology recognizes these kinds of realities that are so much a part of our lived experience， and so easily discerned in scripture。The penultimate chapter is entitled “Present”。 Here the nitty-gritty aspects of working out our own salvation are covered， along with atonement theory， heaven and hell from the open and relational context。 Toward the end of the chapter we find the crucial idea that ties it all together， namely， relentless， never-ending love。 This is what we should expect from a creator God whose very nature is love。 This is not a clever way to get off the hook without recognizing how far off the mark we too often are， or our need for repentance and changing our ways; it’s definitely not a cheap grace approach。 It does， though， refuse to put an arbitrary limit on the love of God toward his creation。 “Although God always loves， we can reject God’s invitations。 When we do， we suffer the natural negative consequences that come from saying no to the positive and creative power of love。”In his classic work “The Prophets”， Abraham Heschel’s soaring prose and inspiring vision in his short treatment of second Isaiah （Chapter 8） fits perfectly with the sense of what Oord is saying in his chapter。 The negative consequences of saying “no” to the Creator are dire for the captive people in Babylon， but， Heschel insists， the most important message is the never-ending love of God， and what His love for His people means for all humanity。 God will never abandon humanity。 Jewish people see the suffering servant， Israel， who suffers that all might be redeemed （including all of creation）， while， at the start of the Christian faith， a group of Jewish people， building on the older interpretation so familiar to them， were inspired to condense the suffering servant into one Jewish man who also represents the great love of God and the power of love to restore and redeem。 “Lift up your eyes to the heavens， and look on the earth below。 Though the heavens be scattered like smoke， and the earth worn out like a garment， and its dwellers like gnats die out， My rescue shall be forever， and my Triumph shall not be shattered。” Isaiah 51:6 （translation of Rober Alter in “The Hebrew Bible”）。The final chapter is the most practical in the book， in the sense of， How then should we behave？ It is also very personal in places and in other ways serves as a practical summary of the entire book。 It does so through a meditation on the many aspects of love （far beyond what any of us might have learned from the agape， eros days in youth group）。 It also illustrates struggles and successes in believing and behaving through short vignettes from persons the author has met。 The whole chapter deserves to be read and re-read。 I’ll let the author have the last word。 “I don’t know if I admired Jesus because I first realized the priority of God’s love or realized God is loving because I first admired Jesus。 Chicken and egg， I guess。 But I think Jesus best reveals the God whose nature and name is love。”NOTE: This review is based on a pre-print ms。 sent to the reviewer by the author。 Bev Mitchell 。。。more