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Unreasonable Hope: A Critical Evaluation of Thomas Oord's Eschatology
Author(s) -
McLaughlin Ryan Patrick
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
modern theology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.144
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1468-0025
pISSN - 0266-7177
DOI - 10.1111/moth.12315
Subject(s) - creatures , eschatology , philosophy , victory , theology , order (exchange) , coercion (linguistics) , epistemology , consistency (knowledge bases) , law , history , computer science , linguistics , archaeology , finance , politics , political science , natural (archaeology) , economics , artificial intelligence
Abstract Drawing upon his theology of essential kenosis, Thomas Oord maintains that God can effect miracles, resurrect Jesus's body, and redeem the entire created order in a definitive victory over evil without using any form of coercion. The author explores Oord's theology in order to evaluate this claim. Based on the criteria of both internal consistency and rational viability, the author argues that Oord's notion of essential kenosis makes the bodily resurrection of Jesus an extreme case of good fortune for God and thoroughly undermines any reasonable hope in an eschatological future in which all creatures experience resurrection and redemption in an evil‐free existence.