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Thomas Jay Oord

Thomas Jay Oord is a theologian, philosopher, and scholar of multi-disciplinary studies.  He is the author or editor of a dozen books and professor at Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, Idaho.  Oord is known for his contributions to research on love, relational theology, science and religion, Wesleyan/Holiness/Church of the Nazarene thought, Evangelical theology, and postmodernism.

Oord was raised on a farm in the small farming community of Othello, Washington. He attended Northwest Nazarene College and graduated in 1988.  After four years in pastoral ministry in Walla Walla, Washington, he attended Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. Upon graduating with a Masters of Divinity, he attended Claremont Graduate University in Southern California.  He earned a Masters of Arts in Religion and a Ph.D. at Claremont.  While pursuing graduate studies, he was a part-time associate pastor in Bloomington, Ca. Oord taught philosophy at Eastern Nazarene College for four years.  In 2002, he returned to the Northwest to teach at his undergraduate alma mater.

Oord is an ordained elder in the Church of the Nazarene and attends the Nampa First Church of the Nazarene. He serves in various consulting and administrative roles for academic institutions, scholarly projects, and research teams. He and his wife, Cheryl, have three daughters.

Thomas Jay Oord

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