Open and Relational Parenting : Loving Parents Reflecting a Loving God
In Open and Relational Parenting, Dr. Chris Hanson, a pediatrician and theologian, bridges child development research with open and relational theology to present a transformative model for modern parenting. Rejecting authoritarian styles often rooted in classical theism, Hanson offers a vision of parenting that mirrors a loving, responsive, co-creative God. This book helps parents align their approach with evidence-based, nurturant parenting—characterized by high responsiveness and guidance, not rigid control. Hanson examines how beliefs about God can shape parenting style and child outcomes. With clarity, compassion, and practical examples, he equips caregivers to foster resilience, empathy, and autonomy in their children. Whether you’re a parent, pastor, or therapist, this book offers a hopeful, theologically grounded path to raising thriving children in today’s complex world.
What Others Say
If you’re a parent, you know you need all the wise and practical help you can get. And this book is both wise and practical. It helps you connect the important work of parenting with science and spirituality — a combination we all need! Highly recommended!
- Brian D. McLaren, author of Faith After Doubt and The Last Voyage
God as traditionally conceived is a poor parent. That deity is aloof rather than intimately involved, permits evil He could stop, is impervious rather than vulnerable, and controls. The God whom Chris Hanson describes, however, is profoundly different. Using contemporary parenting scholarship and an open and relational theology of love, pediatrician Hanson offers a winsome vision of parenting and a God who consistently loves. I recommend this book!
- Thomas Jay Oord, Author of Open and Relational Theology and other books
From experience, we know that parenting is not a science—it is an art. Our children grow and change, and so do we. At each stage, we are trying to discern what it means to be a good parent, often drawing from familiar and problematic models—permissive, disengaged, authoritarian. Yet we seek a better way: a style of parenting that is nurturing, creative, flexible, and strong. This is the model Chris Hanson explores in his book. He shows how nurturing love can shape families—and, by extension, shape a more loving and life-giving world. This love, he suggests, is not merely human but reflects a deeper current: the divine love at the heart of reality, as understood in the open and relational tradition.
- Jay McDaniel, author of What Is Process Thought?: Seven Answers to Seven Questions and other books
In Open and Relational Parenting: Loving Parents Reflecting a Loving God, author and physician Chris Hanson demonstrates that love is not just an emotion; love is the spiritual essence and guiding force behind God and parenting itself. Viewing parents and God as loving co-creators rather than authoritative, punishing powers or disengaged passive bystanders leads Hanson to a far more compelling nurturant vision of God and parenting. This book is a significant contribution to the field and belongs on every parent’s shelf!
- Rabbi Micha Greenstein D. Div., Cornell University National Scholar, Harvard University Kennedy Fellow, and beloved Rabbi, Memphis, TN.
Dr. Hanson delivers a unique perspective to add to existing parenting literature. He uses established research and analytical tools, combined with years of perceptive experience in the field of pediatrics. This book explores how one’s explicit or implicit concepts of God influence their parenting style, with its subsequent social-emotional outcomes. It will appeal to parents who look for affirmation of their compassionate approach to nurturing their children. This affirmation is particularly critical in our time of public animosity, and it may encourage other parents to abandon coercive, aloof, and permissive parenting styles.
Measurable outcomes and scientific analysis support the compelling conclusions presented. Along the way, readers will learn about significant historical developments in theology and how the Christian Bible is interpreted. Whether you are a parent, a child development professional, or one who provides pastoral care, you are likely to grow by engaging with this book.
- Dan McLellan, M.D., Pediatrician and child developmental specialist.