Relational Holiness: Responding to the Call of Love

The authors embark on the bold assertion that love is "the core notion of holiness", the sum of all theological, philosophical, historical, practical, and ultimately Biblical expressions of holiness. In his book "The Theology of John Wesley," Kenneth Collins says that the deficiency of Oord and Lodahl's position is that holiness is not on equal par with love. I do believe however that Oord and Lodahl are on track with giving us a glimpse of what a postmodern holiness theology can look like, as well as grounding holiness in the concept of love, specifically, relational love. I did feel the book was far too simplistic for what they were trying to accomplish. Realizing that the book was not intended to be scholarly by any means, it still easily could have been three times longer so as to better assist the adventurer/traveler (their motif) where the authors wanted to take us. I look forward to more from this dynamic duo.

an interesting exploration of what it means to incorporate the nazarene doctrines of holiness into one's daily life. more than an obsolete abstraction or a rigid following of rules, the easiest way to understand holiness is to understand that god's primary purpose is to love...

This is absolutely the best book explaining Holiness that I have ever read. It fit my needs to a tee and I have given several copies to interested friends.

As the doctrine of Christian Holiness moves well into the background of popular western culture, a few die-hards still wonder what it all means (or meant). Oord and Lodahl take Mildred Wynkoop's view of holiness and develop it for the evangelical mind. They maintain that holiness is a God-centered relationship based on Divine Love. It is working for well-being in each and every one of life's situations. In advocating this approach, they avoid the extremes of Richard Taylor's insistence on holiness as a spiritual crisis that drives the believer into radical self-abandonment and total surrender to the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit. While Taylor may have been a bit of a radical, no one who ever knew him ever doubted his passion. For their part, Oord and Lodahl make holiness seem attainable and, one may say, even reasonable(?). A worthwhile read.

This book helps take Wynkoop's theology of love into the real world. Great book.