Ep. #82 – Divine Impassibility w/ Dr. Dolezal

Summary

According to classical theists, God lacks passions. That means he is *not* passionately in love with us. Why would one hold to such a position? How does one get around the passion-soaked language of the Old and New Testaments? Is there any scriptural warrant for the view that God is impassible? Dr. Dolezal joins us for an invigorating discussion of these questions and more.

Guest Bio

Dr. James Dolezal serves as associate professor of theology in the School of Divinity at Cairn University in Langhorne, PA. He is the author of two books: God without Parts: Divine Simplicity and the Metaphysics of God’s Absoluteness and All That Is in God: Evangelical Theology and the Challenge of Classical Christian Theism. He and his wife live in Pennsylvania with their three children. Also, he’s a recent contributor to a volume down Divine Impassibility, which is the subject of this discussion.

Show Outline

In the first segment, Dr. Dolezal defines Divine Impassibility and explains why Christians should hold it. He also makes important philosophical distinctions regarding passions and emotions.

In the next segment, Dr. Dolezal answers some objections to Impassibility. He discusses how the impassible God can be said to love creatures even if he is not passionately in love with them.

In the final segment, we taught about Scriptural warrant for the strong impassibility view. Dr. Dolezal adduces Job 35 and Acts 17 and walks us through the context to show why they support divine impassibility.

Important Quote #1 (Job 35:5-8, ESV)

And Elihu answered and said . . .

⁵ Look at the heavens, and see;
    and behold the clouds, which are higher than you.
⁶ If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him?
    And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?
⁷ If you are righteous, what do you give to him?
    Or what does he receive from your hand?
⁸ Your wickedness concerns a man like yourself,
    and your righteousness a son of man.

Important Quote #2 (Acts 17:23-29, ESV)

²³ For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. ²⁴ The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,²⁵ nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. ²⁶ And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, ²⁷ that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, ²⁸ for

“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;

as even some of your own poets have said,

“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

²⁹ Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.

Resources Mentioned

Divine Impassibility: Four Views of God’s Emotions and Suffering (IVP Press website)

Divine Impassibility: Four Views of God’s Emotions and Suffering (the book Dr. Dolezal contributes to as the strong impassibility advocate)

God Without Parts: The Metaphysics of God’s Absoluteness by Dr. James Dolezal

All That Is in God: Evangelical Theology and the Challenge of Classical Christian Theism by Dr. James Dolezal

Agency, Concurrence, and Evil by Dr. James Dolezal

Related Episodes

Ep. #64 – Absolute Divine Simplicity w/ Dr. Dolezal

Ep. #69 – Exegetical Support for Classical Theism w/ Dr. Dolezal