ORT Shorts

In this episode, Dr. Oord engages with some key paradigm shifts compatible with Open and Relational Theology in the book Evolution and Divine Love: The Eternal Becoming of God, Soul, and Matter written by Gaudiya Vaishnava monk, scholar and spiritual teacher Swami Bhakti Pranaya Padmanabha.Drawing from Hindu Devotional Vedanta, psychology, modern science, and mystical insights from multiple traditions, this bold and tender work reimagines the spiritual journey as a process of ever-deepening relationship—with the Divine, with the world, and with our evolving selves.

In this episode, Dr. Oord interacts with the new book from Greg Boyd and Scott Boren entitled God Looks Like Jesus: A Renewed Approach to Understanding God.In this accessible introduction to understanding the character of God, author Gregory A. Boyd, with M. Scott Boren, lays out the radical truth at the heart of this movement: the conviction that God looks like Jesus. In other words, in the life, ministry, and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, we see the embodiment of God’s very essence—a love that is humble, other-oriented, and self-sacrificial.

In this episode, Dr. Oord engages with God and Faith: Thinking About God with Keith Ward, a collection of essays from distinguished scholars with responses from one of our generation's most important theologians.Perfect for students, scholars, and anyone interested in deepening their understanding of theology, philosophy, and science, this book offers a comprehensive and thought-provoking exploration of faith and reason.

In this episode, Dr. Oord engages with the new book written by Paul E. Johnson entitled, Talking With God:  Imagination, Inspiration, and Prayer in the Age of Neuroscience. Offering a fresh, integrated perspective for those who struggle with the dissonance between their experience in the physical world and a healing spiritual life, this work navigates a path to reconcile religious spirituality with science. It also sheds light on an integrated view of science and religious belief, accepting the physicality of consciousness while allowing for spirituality in the form of divine inspiration. Talking with God is an original academic contribution to the field of science and religion and an indispensable read for researchers and readers interested in the concept of belief and belief change from a neuroscientific perspective.

In this episode, Dr. Oord uses the 2024 presidential assassination attempt, as a case study to discuss and critique unhealthy ideas about God's relation to creation in response to violence, suffering and evil.In his new book, Is It God's Will:  Making Sense of Tragedy, Luck, and Hope in a World Gone Wrong, journalist and author Brandon Ambrosino argues that theologians have been poorly equipped to confront these questions, because many hang on to an omnipotent model of God.  In his book, Ambrosino provides us with the tools to understand and process grief but also presents a refreshing portrait of less a God of power, and more of one of persuasion, who can still provide a residue of hope in a world gone wrong.