Thomas Jay Oord's "Amipotence"

In her sermon last Sunday, Alison shared some frameworks to help us think about God's power in the world. One of those frameworks was theologian Thomas Jay Oord's concept of God's "amipotence" — a term he coined by combining a Latin word for love with a Latin word for power.

According to Oord’s conception of amipotence, God is neither omnipotent (all-powerful) nor impotent (powerless). Instead, God’s power in the world is the non-controlling, non-coercive power of Love.

​Oord (and co-writer Tripp Fuller) says this:

“Amipotence describes God’s uncontrolling love for all creatures and all creation. It’s an amipotent God’s nature to love everyone and everything without forcing anyone or anything. An amipotent Spirit will be neither overriding or absent, neither inactive nor the sole cause of everything, neither utter mystery nor an impersonal force. Like a good mother who neither manipulates nor neglects her children, God can be seen like a universal Mother always influencing for good. The idea that God can’t control better fits our experience of making free choices among limited options. We aren’t controlled; we really choose. It fits the agency, spontaneity, randomness, and indeterminacy of the universe. We think existence isn’t entirely determined by the Creator, nor by creation. Rather, moment by moment, creation is made free, and creatures can work in tandem with God.”  —Thomas Jay Oord and Tripp Fuller in God After Deconstruction 

To learn more about "amipotence," and open and relational theology, check out these and other writings from Thomas Jay Oord!