{"id":93018,"date":"2021-12-21T05:33:07","date_gmt":"2021-12-21T10:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=93018"},"modified":"2021-12-21T05:33:07","modified_gmt":"2021-12-21T10:33:07","slug":"interview-with-niq-ruud-author-of-only-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2021\/12\/interview-with-niq-ruud-author-of-only-love.html","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Niq Ruud author of Only Love"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I had the opportunity to talk\u00a0 just these past few days with Niq Ruud about his book Only Love<\/em><\/a>. Here is the interview:<\/p>\n

What led you to write\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Only Love<\/span><\/span>?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"I think initially it was story<\/span><\/span> which led me to write this book\u2014<\/span><\/span>because narrative is what sticks<\/span><\/span>. I grew up in rather fundamentalist Christian circles which had me inherit a worldview <\/span><\/span>that<\/span><\/span> elevated the stories of scripture well above the lived experience <\/span><\/span>those of us living in the modern world<\/span><\/span>. It was as if God only worked in and moved through ancient spaces. But<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span> as time progressed, I began seeing God <\/span><\/span>alive <\/span><\/span>in <\/span><\/span>my own narrative: <\/span><\/span>W<\/span><\/span>hen, while living in my car, someone gave me a<\/span><\/span> key <\/span><\/span>so as to<\/span><\/span> shower in their<\/span><\/span> new home. W<\/span><\/span>hen, after accidentally<\/span><\/span>, and quite publicly, <\/span><\/span>disrespecting a teacher in high school, they displayed the item which had caused them so much pain<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span> in their classroom<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span> long <\/span><\/span>after I <\/span><\/span>had graduated<\/span><\/span>. When, while exhausted after a long day in the mountains, my <\/span><\/span>climbing partner<\/span><\/span> tirelessly cheered me on until <\/span><\/span>I<\/span><\/span> reached <\/span><\/span>the safety of our car<\/span><\/span>. It was these <\/span><\/span>and many other <\/span><\/span>stories from my own life which led me to write <\/span><\/span>Only Love. <\/span><\/span>Because<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span> if <\/span><\/span>God moves in the world now,<\/span><\/span> I think it means that<\/span><\/span> our stories matter. As in your and my experiences are just as important as the experiences of those recorded in scripture\u2014how love interacts and intersects with you and your life is just as valuable as how love interacted and intersected with ancient authors of millennia ago. <\/span><\/span>And <\/span><\/span>so<\/span><\/span> t<\/span><\/span>he narratives <\/span><\/span>I\u2019ve shared in the book are ones which <\/span><\/span>have helped frame who and what God is for me, and <\/span><\/span>it has been my hope that<\/span><\/span> they may do the same for<\/span><\/span> those who read it<\/span><\/span>. Sometimes we give <\/span><\/span>a<\/span><\/span> collection of ancient texts far more weight than we really ought. Jesus even goes so far as to bash those who think they have found God in the academic exercise of studying scripture. I think he saw the holy collection as a launching pad through which we can ground our own holy experience\u2014not something which we worship as <\/span><\/span>god<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

W<\/span><\/span>ho are some of the thinkers that have influenced you?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m indebted, as we all are, to a great number of people who have <\/span><\/span>greatly impacted my worldview without their ever knowing it<\/span><\/span>\u2014many <\/span><\/span>of whom<\/span><\/span> I\u2019ve never met or who have already passed<\/span><\/span>. They <\/span><\/span>include:<\/span><\/span> Abraham Joshua Heschel<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span> for his<\/span><\/span> work on the God-human connection.<\/span><\/span> Bren\u00e9<\/span><\/span> Brown<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span> for her scholarship on vulnerability and courage.<\/span><\/span> Diana Butler Bass<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span>for her <\/span><\/span>longstanding efforts to articulate that <\/span><\/span>what <\/span><\/span>often seems<\/span><\/span> to be a decline<\/span><\/span> in religious practice in the west is instead a <\/span><\/span>transformation in how <\/span><\/span>people think about<\/span><\/span> God<\/span><\/span>. <\/span><\/span>Greg Boyd, <\/span><\/span>particularly for his recent work dealing with <\/span><\/span>the <\/span><\/span>violence attributed to God in the Hebrew Bible. <\/span><\/span>Mahatma Gandhi<\/span><\/span> for his staunch nonviolent rhetoric.<\/span><\/span> Martin Luther King Jr <\/span><\/span>for his socio<\/span><\/span>political<\/span><\/span> ideals a<\/span><\/span>nd dedication to liberation as a theological lynchpin.<\/span><\/span> As well as <\/span><\/span>Richard Rohr<\/span><\/span>, for his <\/span><\/span>beautiful prose\u2014nobody writes a book quite like Rohr<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span> They have all taught <\/span><\/span>me from afar what God looks like up <\/span><\/span>close<\/span><\/span>; and my own voice is deeply bound to theirs.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What do you feel was your <\/span><\/span>biggest unexpected<\/span><\/span> discovery or \u201caha moment\u201d when writing?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I suppose<\/span><\/span> the biggest \u201caha\u201d moment<\/span><\/span> I had <\/span><\/span>centered around how, up until my writing this book, I had <\/span><\/span>always thought of God\u2019s love as something which was kept in check<\/span><\/span>, or even overshadowed<\/span><\/span> by God\u2019s power. But when researching for the book, all the while digging deep into my own story, I came to find God\u2019s power as being <\/span><\/span>situated squarely within <\/span><\/span>God\u2019s <\/span><\/span>love. <\/span><\/span>As in<\/span><\/span>, at least in my present persuasion,<\/span><\/span> God is all-powerful in <\/span><\/span>that <\/span><\/span>the love that God <\/span><\/span>is can do<\/span><\/span> most anything.<\/span><\/span> While for <\/span><\/span>many folks<\/span><\/span>, this may just be semantics, the distinction<\/span><\/span> here<\/span><\/span> is important. <\/span><\/span>The former view allows for God to operate outside of what I articulate as being God\u2019s character (<\/span><\/span>i.e.<\/span><\/span> love), meaning that God can be less than wholly good. Whereas the latter view has God\u2019s power <\/span><\/span>necessarily bound by the parameters of love itself<\/span><\/span>, meaning that God would then operate, as the book\u2019s title suggests, as only love.<\/span><\/span> This distinction changed everything for me and, subsequently, for the book.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What three things do you think would persuade readers of my blog that your book is one they should get, whether for themselves or as a gift for others (or both)?<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1) <\/span>First, t<\/span><\/span>he multitude of<\/span><\/span> stories <\/span><\/span>in <\/span><\/span>Only Love<\/span><\/span> are intended to be accessible to a wide swath of people\u2014<\/span><\/span>and <\/span><\/span>it\u2019s <\/span><\/span>their coupling with narratives and reasoning drawn from scripture which makes the book unique.<\/span><\/span> There is <\/span><\/span>even a Christmas story<\/span><\/span> tucked in<\/span><\/span> for the present season<\/span><\/span>!<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
2) <\/span>Also, t<\/span><\/span>here<\/span><\/span> i<\/span><\/span>s no way to objectively know if the t<\/span><\/span>heology <\/span><\/span>espoused in my book (or, frankly, any other <\/span><\/span>book or work<\/span><\/span>) is \u201cright.\u201d <\/span><\/span>Because of this<\/span><\/span> uncertainty<\/span><\/span>, I worked to frame <\/span><\/span>God as being of the highest and most complete good\u2014which, frankly, is the most encouraging portrait of the divine I think can be articulate<\/span><\/span>d<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
3) <\/span>Lastly, <\/span><\/span>that way of seeing God as wholly good lends itself to modern social transformation. Because, if we\u2019re to take seriously the image-bearing nature of humanity in scripture, <\/span><\/span>how we think about God lends itself <\/span><\/span>towards seeing each other as only love too.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

If Only Love<\/em><\/a> sounds like the kind of book you and\/or a friend or family member would enjoy reading there is still time to get it for Christmas. If you\u2019re among the many who have been discovering that it is too late to order from Amazon for Christmas, an ebook<\/a> is a gift that can be delivered instantly to someone\u2019s phone or ebook reader!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had the opportunity to talk\u00a0 just these past few days with Niq Ruud about his book Only Love. Here is the interview: What led you to write\u00a0Only Love? I think initially it was story which led me to write this book\u2014because narrative is what sticks. I grew up in rather fundamentalist Christian circles which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":93023,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review"],"yoast_head":"\nInterview with Niq Ruud author of Only Love<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I had the opportunity to talk\u00a0 just these past few days with Niq Ruud about his book Only Love. Here is the interview: What led you to write\u00a0Only Love? 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