One of the most clarifying books I’ve read in the last year is Alex Kocman’s Ordered to Love, out now from Founders Press.
The premise is simple but the implications are significant: love has a hierarchy. The ordo amoris, the order of loves, is embedded in the plain reading of Scripture, traceable from Genesis to Revelation, and it directly addresses nearly every contested question in the church and culture today. While some are cautious about it’s scholastic or Catholic associations, evangelicals would do well to heed the truth about God’s design for love.
When JD Vance brought this concept into the mainstream conversation a couple years ago, a lot of Christians were surprised to learn it had deep roots in Christian tradition. Liberals were very upset. Even some evangelical Christians were worried about the implications (probably because they are closet liberals). But the concept didn’t originate with Vance, or even with Augustine. You can find it in the pastoral epistles, the household codes, and even in the way Jesus himself ordered his affections even from the cross.
I endorsed Ordered To Love and I mean what I said: This work deals with some of the most contested ground in modern life with reasonableness and Biblical clarity.
Alex joined me on episode 194 of Full Proof Theology to walk through the book and talk about something I find particularly important: the danger of Christians using a supposed “love for the nations” as a socially acceptable cover for contempt toward their own people and culture (see also Roger Scruton on Oikophobia). Paid subscribers get early access below. Enjoy!
