Amipotence Confined
By Charles Atkins
The experience of spiritual renewal of consciousness while incarcerated can both affirm and deepen the idea of an amipotent God.
Would an amipotent God walk alongside souls in prison? Would the idea of an amipotent God offer comfort to those held captive by the state? The United States has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. While civil society has established prisons, those enclosed sub-societies consist of individuals who lack access to the same ideas that enable people to cope and thrive in the outside world.
This essay briefly considers the possibility of amipotence, an idea birthed out of the open and relational theology movement in the free world, being recognized as a source of comfort to those who live within the incarcerated world. A world well described by Lennie Spitale in his book Prison Ministry: Understanding Prison Culture Inside and Out:
Imagine a land where children are prohibited, where playgrounds are never built … Imagine a horizon of blue sky and cold gray cement in all directions … Conceive, if you can, of a country in which the citizens never procreate, nevertheless, the census continues to register enormous growth in the population … Here there are no bus stops, nor stations, nor parking garages … All the traffic is pedestrian but running is prohibited by law … money has disappeared and [credit cards] are forbidden … All of the clothes worn by the inhabitants of the extra-terrestrial landscape are identical … Each step and each position of the inhabitants are known and under surveillance. And even if the obscure “Orwellian” night has fallen, the lights are always on, somewhere.[1]
As a prison chaplain in this “extra-terrestrial landscape,” I encountered people who have acknowledged the hostile environment of prison but succeeded in expressing a composure that allowed them to live above it. They expressed a form of situational transcendence that overcame the prison forces of fear, craving, deprivation and dehumanization. In my 20 years of work in prison ministry, I have been deeply interested in those attitudes and perspectives that enable the incarcerated to live above their surroundings and become empowered to shift the direction of their lives. In this essay, I will explore the interplay between the spiritual renewal of consciousness during incarceration and the concept of amipotence, with the aim of deepening both ideas–each of which seeks to illuminate significant aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit.
Anakainosis-desmios is the spiritual renewal of consciousness that one experiences during incarceration.[2] This unique form of spiritual renewal was recognized during a qualitative study of effective religious practices for incarcerated young adults at a prison in New Jersey, USA. I came across this dynamic while studying the spiritual practice of Bible study among men incarcerated in a young adult medium security prison. Anakainosis-desmios is a term created to describe the state of being of practitioners of a Bible Study at the medium security prison where I served as chaplain. “Anakainosis” is a Greek word that has taken on profound meaning in Christian theology as the word for “renovation or renewal.”[3] Theologically it is the phenomenon of spiritual renewal or a change of heart that is achieved by God’s power.[4] “Desmios” is another Greek word found in the Bible which stands for “one who is bound or a prisoner.[5] “
Anakainosis-desmios occurs when a person, while residing in an environment of incarceration, has his consciousness renewed in such a way that his behaviors and attitudes do not conform to the hostile behaviors and attitudes that are expected of those who live in a prison.[6] Those who experienced anakainosis-desmios were able to generate emancipatory and hospitable attitudes within a hostile prison culture. They expressed an awareness of the prison environment and a willingness to engage that environment through their transformed and emancipatory relationships with time, space, matter, and people. In this discussion, I shall focus on the transformed relationship with people and society that arise from anakainosis-desmios.[7]
Amipotence is a concept that stresses the priority of the love of God over the power of God.[8] Amipotence combines the Latin words for love, “ami” and for power, “potens.” Thomas Jay Oord coined this word as part of his continuing work in open and relational theologies. For Oord, divine love preconditions and governs divine power. To prioritize a divine attribute such as omnipotence, ignores the foundation of that power which is love. The love of the amipotent God acts intentionally in relational response to God and others with the aim of promoting flourishing. This idea significantly contributes to the ongoing development of open and relational theologies. Manual Schmid’s thorough survey of open theism in his book God in Motion invites the reader to engage with hope—rather than fear—those Scriptures where it seems that God is: (a) undermining God’s omniscience with expressions of a readiness to learn; or (b) weakening God’s omnipotence with expressions of disappointment; or (c) dismissing God’s immutability with expressions of repentance.[9] Oord’s book on amipotence was published after Schmid’s extensive survey of open theism, and builds on the work of open theists by demonstrating that, in addition to God’s expressions of disappointment in the Bible, God’s expressions of love can deepen our understanding of God beyond the traditional concept of omnipotence. Amipotence enriches the work of open theism by demonstrating that divine love directs the liberating power of God in ways that promote human flourishing.
Relationships that foster flourishing are a key focus for individuals who have experienced spiritual renewal of consciousness while incarcerated. Anakainosis-desmios transforms an incarcerated person’s perspectives on people and society. Instead of seeing people as potential threats (which is common in the carceral environment), anakainosis-desmios leads a person to see others as opportunities for humble service and compassion because they all have the potential to become instruments of God’s wisdom, love and power on Earth.[10] These transformed perspectives are expressed and acted upon even though these attitudes do not give any legal benefits, like shortened prison sentences, nor any other benefit that frees them from the coercive and oppressive realities of prison culture. Practitioners of anakainosis-desmios would refuse to contribute to the hostile prison environment and would instead create pockets of resistance to the dominant carceral culture with hospitable and encouraging relationships.
For example, I once met an inmate who, after incarceration, joined a violent gang as a means for surviving prison. However, once this young man’s consciousness was renewed, he worked to negotiate release from the gang, risking his own life. After achieving release from the gang, he worked to create personal and professional relationships through the chapel and elsewhere in the prison that enabled him to create constructive educational experiences and job training for himself and for other inmates. Even though many would understand a person’s choice of gang membership as needed to survive prison life, this young man chose the difficult path of hospitality over hostility toward others.
Such a transformed perspective on people could be seen as both a product and a contribution to the work of an amipotent God. The people convicted of felonies who I encountered expressing anakainosis-desmios, often shared that their ability to show love for adversaries in the prison complex was inspired by the undeserved love that God showed them. People who have come to regret the hurt they have caused others and do not wish to leave this life with only acts of harm on their records, receive the forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ with great hope and joy. They in turn engage others knowing that if God loved them, they therefore can be an instrument of God’s undeserved love toward others. As a student of Sociology and Theology, before and during my career as a chaplain, I frequently recognized and articulated the social forces beyond an individual’s control that could put the person on a path leading to a prison sentence. Certainly, there are prisoners who also recognize these external forces and would blame everyone else for the part they played in a crime. These same people may also question how a just and omnipotent God could permit the suffering they have endured in life.
However, a prisoner who has experienced anakainosis-desmios would not focus on why God allowed the occurrence of so much evil in and around their lives but rather would focus on the love that God showed them by forgiving them. They would consequently feel called to share that love with others—even in a place of punishment and dehumanization. To such people, the idea of an amipotent God at work within and around them could offer comfort.
According to Oord, God must love creation because that is a part of God’s divine nature.[11] A person enlightened by anakainosis-desmios would support the idea of a God walking around in prison offering love to people who have been judged as the worst of society. This idea of a God who can lovingly influence anyone would comfort those seeking to be hospitable in a hostile environment. Understanding Oord’s perspective that God redeems, relates and cares can inspire spiritually renewed individuals within the prison system to remain steadfast in their actions and attitudes, even in the face of hurtful behaviors and attitudes of others.
Anakainosis-desmios may challenge the perspective of Amipotence on justice. There is a very important footnote in Oord’s book on Amipotence that addresses justice: “Amipotence agrees with Martin Luther King, Jr., when he says, ‘Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic.’ It agrees with King that ‘Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.’ In addition, amipotence stresses that in God, love enjoys conceptual primacy. Although powerful, God cannot overpower when implementing justice.”[12] For a justice-impacted individual serving time in a system that prioritizes punishment over restorative justice, it may be disheartening to know that God cannot simply rectify the flawed criminal justice system. Anakainosis-desmios leads people to do the work of improving themselves and their environments through transformative relationships with time, space, matter and people. Anakainosis-desmios asks amipotence that if it cannot force social change, can it at least encourage and empower people to join the fight to transform society and systematically move it closer to God’s loving justice?
Anakainosis-desmios would emphasize scriptures like 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 as a call to struggle for the transformation of self and society:
“…We have this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed;
We are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken;
Struck down, but not destroyed.”
Spiritual renewal in prison empowers individuals to live a life that contrasts sharply with the penitentiary environment—a life where, even though he is stripped of all he possesses, he is a good steward of all he controls—starting with himself—out of love for God. Even though he is coerced, he is in control. Even though he is attacked, he serves. Even though he is constantly scrutinized, he finds ways to turn the scrutiny into opportunity for testimony.[13] Does amipotence lead people toward this emancipative work? Is amipotence in prison a path of liberation for the captives, or yet another tool of confinement? Anakainosis-desmios invites amipotence to participate in the work of using prison ministries to transform places of confinement into places of enlightenment and reshape the prison industrial complex through the love of God.
Bio: Charles Atkins is an independent researcher and consultant specializing in employee assistance programs and career counseling for formerly incarcerated people through XL Endeavors, LLC (www.XtraLenz.com). He gained his M.Div and MA in Religious Education from Princeton Theological Seminary and his PhD in Practical Theology from L’Université de Montréal. He started working with Returning Citizens after retiring as a Chaplaincy Supervisor with the NJ Department of Corrections. He lives in New Jersey with his family and enjoys volunteering as an assistant high school boys basketball coach.
OORD’S DRABBLE* RESPONSE
Charles Atkins’s work with prisoners offers a profound perspective on amipotence. He introduces the phrase anakainosis-desmios to describe prisoners experiencing spiritual renewal. I see how redefining power through love fits seamlessly with this understanding of renewal by those in incarceration. Charles’s emphasis on justice in relation to love also resonated with me. I don’t view justice as retribution but as rehabilitation and transformation, a perspective I believe Charles shares. His work highlights how love-driven power can foster genuine change, offering hope and healing within broken systems. This approach aligns with the broader vision of justice rooted in restoration, not punishment.
For more on Oord’s view God and justice, see this article.
* A drabble is an essay exactly 100 words in length.
[1]. Lennie Spitale, Prison Ministry: Understanding Prison Culture Inside and Out, (Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 2002), vii.
[2]. Charles Atkins, The Word Confined: Bible Study in An American Prison, (New York: Nova Publishers, 2020), 154.
[3]. Wesley J. Perschbacher, ed., The New Analytical Greek Lexicon, (Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1990) “anakainosis”.
[4]. Strong’s Concordance, Strong’s Concordance Online, Web. 16 August 2024.
[5]. Perschbacher, ed., “desmios.”
[6]. Charles Atkins, “Liberty to the Captives: From Spiritual Renewal in Prison to Oneness with the Infinite,” Nondualism: An Interreligious Exploration, Jon Paul Sydnor, Anthony J. Watson (eds.), (Lexington Books, 2023), 262.
[7]. Atkins, The Word Confined, 134.
[8]. Thomas Oord, The Death of Omnipotence and Birth of Amipotence, (SacraSage Press, 2023), 130.
[9]. Manuel Schmid, God in Motion: A Critical Explanation of the Open Theism Debate (Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 2021), 215
[10]. Atkins, The Word Confined, 135.
[11]. Thomas Oord, The Death of Omnipotence, 129.
[12]. Ibid., 154.
[13]. Atkins, The Word Confined, 169.