The first plenary session at Biola’s CCT this year was given by Thomas Jay Oord. Here is an outline of his talk.
Introduction
- Personal story: faith – atheism – faith
- At the core of what makes sense of Christianity is love.
Love
- Should we even attempt to define love? So many answers/possibilities
- Can we define love?
- Irving Singer’s series: The Nature of Love
- Answer: Language analysis presupposes too many things
- Answer: In Scripture, there are many normative claims about love, we should have some idea of what love means.
- Love is?
- Desire? Feeling? Choice? Relationships? Well-being? Somehow connected to God?
- Definition: To Love is to act intentionally, in sympathetic/empathetic response to others (including God), to promote overall well being.
Love is to act intentionally
- Try to do harm but end up doing well, not love… (not accidental)
- Motives matter
- Freedom involved
- Seen and unseen actions
In sympathetic/empathetic response to others…
View original post 108 more words
Talmidimblogging 