God Cannot Sit on a Nest

The Death of Omnipotence and the Birth of Amipotence, by Thomas Jay Oord. Published by SacraSage, 2023.

I've been following the work of Thomas Jay Oord for at least a decade. One of the things that I've noticed over and over again in his work the careful work of a scholar, theologian, philosopher, and excellent academic who is aware of the historical and intellectual sources, but also the ramifications and the consequences of the work that he has committed himself to. Additionally knowing him personally, I know his personal concern for the good news of the gospel and the practical pastoral realities that ministers, priests, rabbis, elders, and spiritual leaders in the church face as they work and walk shoulder to shoulder with people who are struggling, grieving, and questioning trying to understand how this God works.

I was happily surprised to read in The Death of Omnipotence and Birth of Amipotence another voice coming from Dr Oord. A political voice.

Dr Oord, in The Death of Omnipotence and Birth of Amipotence speaks in a political tone. By politics I don't mean anything having to do with elections or partisan positions on issues but simply in that idea of power. Power over, under, and with creation.

I know in my life when I felt I needed God's power to be made known, and I felt powerless, up against a situation for which I didn't have the resources nor the insight, I have waited for God to act because God is the one with all power. And then as those fears come to pass and something bad or some suffering occurs either in my life or that of someone else, I wonder what piece of the formula I not gotten right in my petition. How did I not pray correctly to release the all-powerful god? In relation to this god, I have felt powerless. But in relation to the amipotent God, the God of love, I am empowered.

Thus, The Death of Omnipotence and Birth of Amipotence has a sense of manifesto about it. Without the Aristotelian and philosophical omnipotent god, we can become aware of how actually seeks to relate to God’s creation. One can almost hear a chant between the lines, “the omnipotent god is dead, long live the amipotent God.”

The death of omnipotence should be celebrated. Its demise helps us understand scripture better and overcomes conceptual conundrums that stem from thinking God exerts all power, can do absolutely anything, or can control. Abolishing omnipotence makes it possible to trust God as loving when we suffer. We need not sit passively on life’s sidelines -- like helpless damsels in distress -- waiting for “the Almighty” to show up and rescue us. We have an essential role to play to promote flourishing…Omnipotence is dead. Long live amipotence!  (Oord, 2023)

As Dr Oord releases God from the confines of philosophical labels defining God’s power, he relies on the Hebrew bible and the narratives which give shape to the God known most fully in Jesus. In looking at the biblical descriptions of God and God’s power, Dr Oord writes,

A robust description of divine power must account for what a loving God does and doesn’t do. It must explain the mighty acts of salvation history and the history of suffering and evil. It must explain why sometimes God can rescue and sometimes can’t. (Oord, 2023).

Ending that previously quoted with the word “can’t” hearkens to Dr Oord’s earlier book provocatively titled, God Can’t. Within The Death of Omnipotence, one will find even more depictions of what God cannot do. There are a lot of things God cannot do, and Dr Oord gets specific:

“God cannot lift a pebble. God cannot bench press 50 pounds. God cannot sit on a nest. God cannot chew licorice. God cannot do pushups. (Oord, 2023)

One god has been dethroned to make room for the kenotic, self-emptying God who has always been there. As a result, the power of God is revealed as a power in relationship as a co-laborer and as a collaborator. Neither we, not evil, is under God’s control. The power do subdue evil and to alleviate suffering is in our relationship with God and God’s purposes for creation. As Oord writes,

“An amipotent God creates alongside creatures and creation rather than overpowering or conjuring something from nothing” (Oord, 2023). In the face of evil, God comes alongside and continues to create.

Saying God has to love does not mean God is altogether without freedom. Open and relational theologians like me believe God loves moment by moment, facing an open, yet to be determined future. Consequently, God freely chooses how to love in each moment, given the possibilities and circumstances. Because God cannot be certain how free creatures will respond, God freely selects among the best options and calls creatures to choose.  (Oord, 2023)

This freely and creatively loving God is the amipotent God. “Amipotence, by contrast, is inherently uncontrolling. An amipotent God necessarily loves and cannot singlehandedly determine outcomes. Amipotence can’t control” (Oord, 2023).  Because love does not control.

This book continues Dr Thomas Jay Oord’s reflection on the open future and the uncontrolling nature of the God of love. With its empowering tone and it’s reference to the biblical descriptions of the type and character of God’s power, this book provides guidance for pastors and those seeking to learn more about our God whose primary description is love.