Does God Have Emotions?

Upon evaluating history, man has been trying to figure out God since the dawn of time. Naturally, he gains knowledge through what he sees and what he touches. Knowing has always come through personal interaction. Thus, the invisible God has always been enshrouded in mystery. For excepting a few persons to whom God directly revealed Himself, all people must trust Gods word about Him. When that word is not consulted or when it is misconstrued, people create a false view of God, misrepresenting His nature. In this process of understanding God, men have organized the different aspects of Gods character into categories, labeling them and classifying them. One such category is His emotions. This area of theology seeks to answer questions such as: What does God feel? Does He feel anything? How does He respond to situations? Does He respond or does He initiate? Although a vast array of solutions have been proposed to these questions, one can attain an accurate answer that fits consistently with the Scriptures and his own experience. The Problem: Why the Dilemma? Initially, when discussing the emotions of God, one may not see any apparent problems with this view, while defaulting to the side of saying God does have emotions. Most would say there is no debate after looking at Scripture because one doesnt have to read very far before he comes across a reference to Gods love or anger. While this viewpoint has some veracity, it cannot be conceded to so easily. On the other side of this discussion, some would argue that God does not have emotions because that would compromise His immutability. On the grounds of upholding a key foundation to understanding of God, they avoid all possibilities of God ever changing. They fear the danger in ascribing human characteristics to God and thus denying God of any emotive quality. Many Christians are left with no conclusion on the issue believing it either to not be important or irresolvable. Scripture seems to show both sides. Evidence seems to support both the views, so what is the solution? The Preferred Solution: What does the Bible say? Although all the aforementioned positions ground their positions in the claims of Scripture, they have not evaluated all the biblical data. The Bible presents us with a portrait of God that is both accurate and truthful. This revelation must be understood in the context of two truths.

First, we must understand that God is knowable. He didnt give us His Word to further confuse us on who He is, rather to give us a clear declaration of His person. The Old Testament gives many examples of men and women who did not know God. They rejected Him and His commands, choosing to living according to their own desires. They did not know the God of Israel. Along with those examples come the stories of the faithful saints who, in the face of opposition and trial, persevered and sought after God to know Him. In the New Testament, Paul makes many references, in his prayers and instruction, to believers coming to greater understanding of God. The point being that man can know God. Second, we must understand that God is not fully knowable. He is not human and thus is not limited to the human mind. Isaiah 55:8-9 says For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. We can never fully comprehend the greatness and majesty of God for He is not like us. Thus all students of Scripture must study the Bible with humility, recognizing the limits of his mind and capabilities. History shows us the churchs traditional stance on this issue. In dealing with the emotions of God, the church fathers held to the doctrine of impassibility. This doctrine stated that God could not be moved by an external source; He moved all things, but could be moved by nothing. This view has been held by the majority of theologians from the inception of the church until long after the Reformation. Traditional orthodoxy has not seen a problem with saying that God does not have emotion. In fact, they saw the danger of doing the opposite. Iranaeus said, By their manner of speaking, the ascribe those things which apply to men to the Father of all, . . . they endow Him with human affections and passions. But if they had know the Scriptures, and been taught the truth, they would have known, beyond doubt, that God is not as men are; and that His thoughts are not like the thoughts of men. For the Father of all is at a vast distance from those affections and passions which operate among men. As with any doctrinal issue, it is important to have a clear definition of terms. Impassibility can be confused with impassivity and impassability. If God were impassive, then it would mean that God is deficient or void of mental feeling or emotion; He would be apathetic. If God were impassable, He would never be reached and none would be able to reach the listening ear of God. Finally, we land

upon a more refined term impassibility. This word refers most specifically to God's incapability of suffering or not subject to pain. This doctrine is rooted in several key attributes of God. He is impassible because He is self-containing. He does not rely on anyone or anything for existence. Within His aseity, all things begin with God. He is the ultimate initiator, which is seen not only in His creating the world, but also in His saving it. God needs nothing. All happiness and satisfaction is contained perfectly within Him and nothing can alter His disposition. He is completely whole, never segmented, having all things which pertain to Him at all times. No attribute of His stands above the rest, but all work together for the furthering of His glory and renown. Therefore, when events take place on earth, either personal or impersonal, God is not moved by them. He does not surrender the controls of His satisfaction and manifestation to man. If God had emotions which were changed by humans, then He would be sitting in the back seat of the car of His affections, being taken all different directions at the mercy of man in the drivers seat. He is not tossed to and fro by human inconsistency. He always remains in control. God does not reveal or express one of His attributes at the expense of another one, for He is a whole being. He does not throw out His love in order to show His wrath, but both operate simultaneously. In this way, God is completely self-contained. Another doctrine that we must affirm is God's immutability. This has been briefly touched on, but crucial to understand nonetheless. God does not and cannot change. He remains constant at all times. He has forever been the same, never wavering from His promises and never going back on His word. He cannot be attributed with change. We likewise must hold fast to the doctrine of omniscience. This doctrine holds that God knows all things and nothing falls out of His will and foreknowledge. He knows what is going to happen and when it is going to happen. Nothing takes Him by surprise. All events in eternity past, present, and future have, are, and will take place as a direct result from God knowing and willing them to happen. He is not caught off guard or shocked by anything. Open Theists think that to have a God that discovers what is going to happen along with us is comforting. They want God to be closer to us spiritually and thus bring Him down to our level by saying He doesnt know the future and He learns about events as they happen. This view of God not only strips Him of His supremacy and sovereignty which are clearly declared in Scripture, but it also emasculates God to an ignorant sissy who is blown about by every wind of human activity. He loses all control over the course of history, unable even to know if we are going to live to see another day. That view of God does not represent
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the God of the Bible, but a weak replica of the true God of Israel, of whom it is said, Lord, You know everything. (John 21:17) and You have searched me and known me. . . Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. (Psalm 139:1-6). This God says, Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Lastly, we need to understand the immanence of God. This doctrine deals with the nearness of God. Scripture, as a whole, is testimony that God is active in human affairs that He is near to His creation because He chose some of them to be His nation, He led them through the wilderness, and brought them into the choice land. Job wrote, What is man that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him, visit him every moment and test him every moment? (7:17-18). Solomon understood that God was near to man when he wrote, The Lord reproves him whom he loves, as the father in the son in whom he delights. The New Testament is also filled passages which declare God's abounding, gracious love toward believers. From these examples, it is clear that God is not distant from His creation. He isnt cold and uncaring, insensitive and lacking understanding. Rather He is near, He knows, and He cares. After looking at all this, the question still remains, How do we understanding the Scripture language that seems to indicate that God has emotions and changes those emotions?. In order to understand these passages, we need to understand anthropopathisms. We are familiar with anthropomorphisms, which are physical human characteristics applied to God, such as the finger of God (Luke 11:20), the mighty hand and outstretched arm of the Lord (Deut. 5:15), and the eyes of the Lord (Gen. 6:8). Likewise, when Scripture ascribes emotions or affections to God, they are to be understood as anthropopathisms, which are emotional human characteristics applied to God, such as the anger of the Lord (Ex. 4:14), the steadfast love of the Lord (Ps. 89:1), and the grief of the Lord (Gen. 6:6). These emotions did not come about in reaction to human events. God is not forced to react a certain way because of how humans might live. He is the divine initiator, not the divine responder. Let us look at an example in Exodus 32. In verses 7-10, God declares to Moses that He is angry with Israel at the foot of Mt. Sinai because they have turned to worship an idol. He tells Moses to step out of the way, so that He can destroy them. Then in verses 11-13, Moses pleads before the Lord to relent of His anger and in verse 14, God relents and does not destroy His people. At the initial first look, one might think that God is emotionally swayed by the actions and choices of Israel and the plea of Moses, thus responding with passions. But in keeping all things in proper perspective especially
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the doctrines discussed earlier, these expressions of passions cannot be taken wooden literally. They must be interpreted in light of who God is and how he relates to man. These anthropopathisms have been employed by God and the biblical authors in order to help us understand God in that moment. The sin and idolatry of Israel did not surprise God. He knew from eternity past they would grow impatient and choose to worship the golden calf. He also foreknew that how He would display Himself in that moment, namely in anger and so displaying His wrath. He also knew that Moses would plead with Him for the nation of Israel. He had planned and thus foreknew that He would relent from that anger, displaying in that moment His steadfast love. His omniscience, immutability, and aseity are the keys to understanding Scripture at these points. He knows all that will happen and He chooses how He will display Himself in those moments. He expresses His person in terms of human passions in order for a specific purpose within the life of the people involved and ultimately people of all time. So, God chooses how He is going to affectionately respond to events, but does that mean that He predetermines to change? That would be the case if we believed that when the Bible says that God is angry, that God is then less in His love at that moment. But that is not true. I think it would serve us to gain a fuller view of God. He isnt a segmented God, broken up into all His separate attributes, rather all His attributes operate at 100% all the time. His love is always a full love. His patience is always a full patience. His wrath is always a full wrath. At the display of any one of His attributes, all His other attributes are acting in full force, but it is only that one that God is choosing to highlight at that moment in history. God always acts out of the fullness of His person. Conclusion Does God have emotions? In order avoid confusion, it would be best to say that He doesnt have emotions, but rather than His character is expressed in language that resembles human passion for the purpose communicating an infinite God to finite creatures. He doesnt have mood swings, but He is forever constant, never changing. But this does not mean that He is uncaring or disinterested in His creation, rather He is immanent and involved in human history, with the Scriptures as testimony. Our God is fully active in this world and yet remains completely transcendent over it. May His name be praised and may we be humbled before such a great God.