In this book, Thomas Oord continues his ongoing explorations of, to borrow the title of Daniel Day Williams's classic work, The Spirit and the Forms of Love. In previous works—such as Defining Love: Philosophical, Scientific, and Theological Investigations; The Science of Love: The Wisdom of Well Being; and The Uncontrolling Love of God: An Open and Relational Account of Providence—Oord has explored the importance of love in a variety of contexts. Pluriform Love focuses on the ways in which love has been portrayed in much of the classical Christian tradition, both in traditional Christian theology and in the various biblical words for love (eros, agape, hesed, etc.).
Chapter 1 presents the case that, for the most part, in Christian theology love has been ignored, misrepresented, or worse. All this downplaying of love has occurred despite the many, obvious scriptural references to love:...
