Are Dumnezeu Emotii

7/31/2019 Are Dumnezeu Emotii

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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 whathe sees and what he touches. Knowing has always come through

personal interaction. Thus, the invisible God has always beenenshrouded in mystery. For excepting a few persons to whom Goddirectly revealed Himself, all people must trust Gods word aboutHim. 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 thedifferent aspects of Gods character into categories, labeling themand classifying them. One such category is His emotions. This area oftheology seeks to answer questions such as: What does God feel?Does He feel anything? How does He respond to situations? Does Herespond or does He initiate? Although a vast array of solutions havebeen proposed to these questions, one can attain an accurate answerthat 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 ofsaying God does have emotions. Most would say there is no debateafter looking at Scripture because one doesnt have to read very farbefore he comes across a reference to Gods love or anger. While thisviewpoint has some veracity, it cannot be conceded to so easily.

On the other side of this discussion, some would argue that Goddoes not have emotions because that would compromise Hisimmutability. On the grounds of upholding a key foundation tounderstanding of God, they avoid all possibilities of God everchanging. They fear the danger in ascribing human characteristics toGod and thus denying God of any emotive quality.

Many Christians are left with no conclusion on the issuebelieving it either to not be important or irresolvable. Scripture seemsto show both sides. Evidence seems to support both the views, sowhat 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 thebiblical data. The Bible presents us with a portrait of God that is bothaccurate and truthful. This revelation must be understood in thecontext of two truths.


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First, we must understand that God is knowable. He didnt giveus His Word to further confuse us on who He is, rather to give us aclear declaration of His person. The Old Testament gives manyexamples of men and women who did not know God. They rejectedHim and His commands, choosing to living according to their own

desires. They did not know the God of Israel. Along with thoseexamples come the stories of the faithful saints who, in the face ofopposition and trial, persevered and sought after God to know Him. Inthe New Testament, Paul makes many references, in his prayers andinstruction, to believers coming to greater understanding of God. Thepoint being that man can know God.

Second, we must understand that God is not fully knowable. Heis not human and thus is not limited to the human mind. Isaiah 55:8-9says For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your waysmy ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than theearth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts thanyour thoughts. We can never fully comprehend the greatness andmajesty of God for He is not like us. Thus all students of Scripturemust study the Bible with humility, recognizing the limits of his mindand capabilities.

History shows us the churchs traditional stance on this issue. Indealing with the emotions of God, the church fathers held to thedoctrine of impassibility. This doctrine stated that God could not bemoved by an external source; He moved all things, but could bemoved by nothing. This view has been held by the majority of

theologians from the inception of the church until long after theReformation. Traditional orthodoxy has not seen a problem withsaying that God does not have emotion. In fact, they saw the dangerof 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 hadknow the Scriptures, and been taught the truth, they would haveknown, beyond doubt, that God is not as men are; and that Histhoughts are not like the thoughts of men. For the Father of all is at avast distance from those affections and passions which operateamong men.

As with any doctrinal issue, it is important to have a cleardefinition of terms. Impassibility can be confused with impassivityand impassability. If God were impassive, then it would mean thatGod is deficient or void of mental feeling or emotion; He would beapathetic. If God were impassable, He would never be reached andnone would be able to reach the listening ear of God. Finally, we land

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upon a more refined term impassibility. This word refers mostspecifically to God's incapability of suffering or not subject to pain.

This doctrine is rooted in several key attributes of God. He isimpassible because He is self-containing. He does not rely on anyoneor anything for existence. Within His aseity, all things begin with God.

He is the ultimate initiator, which is seen not only in His creating theworld, but also in His saving it. God needs nothing. All happiness andsatisfaction is contained perfectly within Him and nothing can alterHis disposition. He is completely whole, never segmented, having allthings which pertain to Him at all times. No attribute of His standsabove the rest, but all work together for the furthering of His gloryand renown.

Therefore, when events take place on earth, either personal orimpersonal, God is not moved by them. He does not surrender thecontrols of His satisfaction and manifestation to man. If God hademotions which were changed by humans, then He would be sittingin the back seat of the car of His affections, being taken all differentdirections at the mercy of man in the drivers seat. He is not tossed toand fro by human inconsistency. He always remains in control.

God does not reveal or express one of His attributes at theexpense of another one, for He is a whole being. He does not throwout His love in order to show His wrath, but both operatesimultaneously. In this way, God is completely self-contained.

Another doctrine that we must affirm is God's immutability. Thishas 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 andnever going back on His word. He cannot be attributed with change.

We likewise must hold fast to the doctrine of omniscience. Thisdoctrine holds that God knows all things and nothing falls out of Hiswill and foreknowledge. He knows what is going to happen and whenit is going to happen. Nothing takes Him by surprise. All events ineternity past, present, and future have, are, and will take place as adirect result from God knowing and willing them to happen. He is notcaught off guard or shocked by anything. Open Theists think that tohave a God that discovers what is going to happen along with us iscomforting. They want God to be closer to us spiritually and thusbring Him down to our level by saying He doesnt know the future andHe learns about events as they happen. This view of God not onlystrips Him of His supremacy and sovereignty which are clearlydeclared in Scripture, but it also emasculates God to an ignorant sissywho is blown about by every wind of human activity. He loses allcontrol over the course of history, unable even to know if we aregoing 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, ofwhom it is said, Lord, You know everything. (John 21:17) and Youhave searched me and known me. . . Even before a word is on mytongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. (Psalm 139:1-6). ThisGod says, Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.

Lastly, we need to understand the immanence of God. Thisdoctrine deals with the nearness of God. Scripture, as a whole, istestimony that God is active in human affairs that He is near to Hiscreation because He chose some of them to be His nation, He ledthem through the wilderness, and brought them into the choice land.

Job wrote, What is man that you make so much of him, and that youset your heart on him, visit him every moment and test him everymoment? (7:17-18). Solomon understood that God was near to manwhen he wrote, The Lord reproves him whom he loves, as the fatherin the son in whom he delights. The New Testament is also filledpassages which declare God's abounding, gracious love towardbelievers. From these examples, it is clear that God is not distantfrom His creation. He isnt cold and uncaring, insensitive and lackingunderstanding. Rather He is near, He knows, and He cares.

After looking at all this, the question still remains, How do weunderstanding the Scripture language that seems to indicate thatGod has emotions and changes those emotions?. In order tounderstand these passages, we need to understandanthropopathisms. We are familiar with anthropomorphisms, whichare physical human characteristics applied to God, such as thefinger 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 beunderstood as anthropopathisms, which are emotional humancharacteristics 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 theLord (Gen. 6:6). These emotions did not come about in reaction tohuman events. God is not forced to react a certain way because ofhow humans might live. He is the divine initiator, not the divineresponder.

Let us look at an example in Exodus 32. In verses 7-10, Goddeclares to Moses that He is angry with Israel at the foot of Mt. Sinaibecause they have turned to worship an idol. He tells Moses to stepout 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 andchoices of Israel and the plea of Moses, thus responding withpassions. But in keeping all things in proper perspective especially

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the doctrines discussed earlier, these expressions of passions cannotbe taken wooden literally. They must be interpreted in light of whoGod is and how he relates to man. These anthropopathisms havebeen employed by God and the biblical authors in order to help usunderstand God in that moment.

The sin and idolatry of Israel did not surprise God. He knewfrom eternity past they would grow impatient and choose to worshipthe golden calf. He also foreknew that how He would display Himselfin that moment, namely in anger and so displaying His wrath. He alsoknew that Moses would plead with Him for the nation of Israel. He hadplanned 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 atthese points. He knows all that will happen and He chooses how Hewill display Himself in those moments. He expresses His person interms of human passions in order for a specific purpose within the lifeof 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 bethe 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. Ithink it would serve us to gain a fuller view of God. He isnt asegmented God, broken up into all His separate attributes, rather allHis attributes operate at 100% all the time. His love is always a fulllove. His patience is always a full patience. His wrath is always a fullwrath. 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 ischoosing to highlight at that moment in history. God always acts outof the fullness of His person.Conclusion

Does God have emotions? In order avoid confusion, it would bebest to say that He doesnt have emotions, but rather than Hischaracter is expressed in language that resembles human passion forthe purpose communicating an infinite God to finite creatures. Hedoesnt have mood swings, but He is forever constant, neverchanging. But this does not mean that He is uncaring or disinterestedin His creation, rather He is immanent and involved in human history,with the Scriptures as testimony. Our God is fully active in this worldand yet remains completely transcendent over it. May His name bepraised and may we be humbled before such a great God.

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Are Dumnezeu Emotii