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God without Passions A Primer: A Practical and Pastoral Study of Divine Impassibility
A Primer on Divine Impassibility written for a broad audience based on a sermon series that Pastor Sam Renihan preached at Trinity Reformed Baptist Church in La Mirada, California. Each chapter covers a specific facet of this doctrine and also has study questions accompanying each chapter making this an accessible introduction to the doctrine of divine impassibility for lay people in the Church.
107 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2015
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May 22, 2015
This book was probably one of the most theologically rich books, or deep books that I have ever read. I tend to go for books which are heavy on life application as opposed to books that are rich in doctrine. This is a trait that I’m working on changing thanks to my husband’s teaching on Systematic Theology and Amy Byrd’s book Housewife Theologian. I’m slowly learning that Systematic Theology and doctrine are completely applicable to life, and rich in head and heart knowledge.
It took me a while to get through this book. I took it in small chunks. Some of it was hard to read and follow based on the English language at the time of the writer. Some of it was just really deep requiring a logical following of the argument to gain the point.
All in all, it was a very encouraging read and mostly for this point: reading the work of other Christian brothers over the last several hundred years gives you a sense of connection. We are not an isolated bubble in history. No. We stand united with many many other dear saints who have gone before us and have held to the traditions as dearly as we do and should. We are not alone in this river of time. We are joined in one great battle against the darkness with our fellow saints. You want proof? Here are men going back and back writing about the same issues we so recently dealt with in our association and still continue to wrestle with. We are not alone in this. Our older brothers also thought through and examined this doctrine. Our older brothers stood their ground and upheld the doctrine of Divine Impassibility and we may count ourselves in their number now. God is good.
My favorite quote from the book was from John Tillotson and his book The Remaining Discourses, on the Attributes of God:
"If God be pleased to stoop to our weakness, we must not therefore level him to our infirmities."
Amen!
God’s gracious mercy to us to come to us the creature and make himself known to us, doesn’t mean we can turn around and subject him to our creaturely way of looking at the world.
My other favorite quote was by Benedict Pictet and his book Christian Theology:
“. . . thus he did at the same time decree to create men, and to destroy them by a deluge some ages after.”
God’s repentance at the flood wasn’t a changing of his character but a stooping down to us to help us understand. God decreed the flood from the beginning. He doesn’t change, but he does gently stoop down to his children.
I found this quote interesting as a storyteller because we plan the suffering, change, and growth of our characters without, on a human level, changing ourselves. Everything may change in the character’s life, including death, and I’m the same me. I had a character who was the worst of reprobates, a betrayer of friends, who was forgiven and redeemed. He changed, not me. I planned his salvation from the beginning. (Obviously, this analogy breaks down because I change and I change my mind, and sometimes out of the blue, I’ll think of something for my story, but it still helps me to grasp the idea of Impassibility.)
The more I contemplate Divine Impassibility the more beautiful it becomes. One, I’m secure in a God who doesn’t change and can’t be change. Two, I have Christ. Oh, the beauty of God who became man with all that we are, without sin, and died for me. Christ suffered. Christ felt. Christ died. He did all that we long to have in a Savior. Why try to change the very nature of God, making him passible, when we have Christ? What more do we need? We have divine God, who is impassible, and Christ, who in his human nature, is passible.
Christ is our mediator. He bridged the gap between God and Man, and in him, in the Doctrine of Divine Impassibility I find heart. I find great love beyond understanding. I find all the emotion I could ever want because God became Man and dwelt amongst us.
If you wish to have a better, historical sense of Divine Impassibility I suggest God without Passions. It may be weighty, but it is good and worth the work.
It took me a while to get through this book. I took it in small chunks. Some of it was hard to read and follow based on the English language at the time of the writer. Some of it was just really deep requiring a logical following of the argument to gain the point.
All in all, it was a very encouraging read and mostly for this point: reading the work of other Christian brothers over the last several hundred years gives you a sense of connection. We are not an isolated bubble in history. No. We stand united with many many other dear saints who have gone before us and have held to the traditions as dearly as we do and should. We are not alone in this river of time. We are joined in one great battle against the darkness with our fellow saints. You want proof? Here are men going back and back writing about the same issues we so recently dealt with in our association and still continue to wrestle with. We are not alone in this. Our older brothers also thought through and examined this doctrine. Our older brothers stood their ground and upheld the doctrine of Divine Impassibility and we may count ourselves in their number now. God is good.
My favorite quote from the book was from John Tillotson and his book The Remaining Discourses, on the Attributes of God:
"If God be pleased to stoop to our weakness, we must not therefore level him to our infirmities."
Amen!
God’s gracious mercy to us to come to us the creature and make himself known to us, doesn’t mean we can turn around and subject him to our creaturely way of looking at the world.
My other favorite quote was by Benedict Pictet and his book Christian Theology:
“. . . thus he did at the same time decree to create men, and to destroy them by a deluge some ages after.”
God’s repentance at the flood wasn’t a changing of his character but a stooping down to us to help us understand. God decreed the flood from the beginning. He doesn’t change, but he does gently stoop down to his children.
I found this quote interesting as a storyteller because we plan the suffering, change, and growth of our characters without, on a human level, changing ourselves. Everything may change in the character’s life, including death, and I’m the same me. I had a character who was the worst of reprobates, a betrayer of friends, who was forgiven and redeemed. He changed, not me. I planned his salvation from the beginning. (Obviously, this analogy breaks down because I change and I change my mind, and sometimes out of the blue, I’ll think of something for my story, but it still helps me to grasp the idea of Impassibility.)
The more I contemplate Divine Impassibility the more beautiful it becomes. One, I’m secure in a God who doesn’t change and can’t be change. Two, I have Christ. Oh, the beauty of God who became man with all that we are, without sin, and died for me. Christ suffered. Christ felt. Christ died. He did all that we long to have in a Savior. Why try to change the very nature of God, making him passible, when we have Christ? What more do we need? We have divine God, who is impassible, and Christ, who in his human nature, is passible.
Christ is our mediator. He bridged the gap between God and Man, and in him, in the Doctrine of Divine Impassibility I find heart. I find great love beyond understanding. I find all the emotion I could ever want because God became Man and dwelt amongst us.
If you wish to have a better, historical sense of Divine Impassibility I suggest God without Passions. It may be weighty, but it is good and worth the work.
November 27, 2022
Dr. Renihan does a fantastic job of explaining his title. He even addresses counter arguments through chapters. I caught myself finding objections as I was reading...only to read later he addresses those same objections. I think this a great primer for either a questioning individual or new Christian. Praise God for Dr. Renihan and his ability to break down complex questions time and time again.
February 13, 2016
This book is a simple, straightforward defence of the impassibility of God - the idea that God does not have passions. The doctrine of divine impassibility is intimately related to the doctrines of divine simplicity, immutability, and incomprehensibility. If you understand these doctrines, then the idea that God has passions is out. God is not to be thought of as a giant man; his love, mercy, and so on are perfections, not affections.
Nor is the love of God a "part" of God separate from his being or his other attributes. On the contrary, the divine simplicity means that his love is identical with his other attributes, and is thus infinite, eternal, immutable, and perfect. Thus, there is not a univocal likeness between our love and God's love (if there were, then God would not be incomprehensible in his essence), but an analogical likeness.
If God has passions, moreover, we could not trust such a being for our salvation, as this god would be liable to change and could condemn the righteous (in Christ) to hell. While clever people who question or tinker with the impassibility of God may think that they are being smart, they are really undermining the Christian's faith in the unchanging God.
The book is short, refers to a large number of pertinent early Reformed sources, and helpfully explains that pastoral implications of divine impassibility.
Nor is the love of God a "part" of God separate from his being or his other attributes. On the contrary, the divine simplicity means that his love is identical with his other attributes, and is thus infinite, eternal, immutable, and perfect. Thus, there is not a univocal likeness between our love and God's love (if there were, then God would not be incomprehensible in his essence), but an analogical likeness.
If God has passions, moreover, we could not trust such a being for our salvation, as this god would be liable to change and could condemn the righteous (in Christ) to hell. While clever people who question or tinker with the impassibility of God may think that they are being smart, they are really undermining the Christian's faith in the unchanging God.
The book is short, refers to a large number of pertinent early Reformed sources, and helpfully explains that pastoral implications of divine impassibility.
March 3, 2016
An important resources for understanding how reformed theologians have historically understood the doctrines of Divine Simplicity, Divine Impassibility, and God's Immutability. Stephen Charnock's section even responds to the objections about God as Creator requiring a change in God, which is a contemporary argument by some theologians such as K. Scott Oliphint.
This book provides primary resources of how reformed theologians understood God's immutability and responded to objections such as passages in Scripture that describe God as repenting. This doctrine is attacked in the present, not only by Open Theists, but also by those claiming to be reformed and confessional. This book gives a response to present objections via historical theology and by reading the citations it helps to understand the hermeneutical principals that reformed theologians used to interpret more challenging passages that may appear at first glance to deny God's immutability.
Pages 21-39 give a useful concise overview of the hermeneutical principles required to interpret Scripture regarding passages that Describe God positively by stating an attribute of God and those negatively by denying an attribute of God i.e. immutable, that God is not mutable/changeable as creatures are. Passages which directly describe God's attributes take precedence over passages that are implicitly describing God via his actions, which those who disagree on Divine Impassibility argue ought to take precedence such as passages that describe God repenting (Genesis 6:6). The problem with the hermeneutics of those who disagree with Divine Impassibility is that they argue from creatures passions to the Creator and thus make God's attributes equivalent to man by making God mutable and having passions which imply change in God. God's love and other attributes are not like that of men since they are perfect and have no fluctuations, whereas our love, anger, etc. as creatures changes because we are mutable.
This book provides primary resources of how reformed theologians understood God's immutability and responded to objections such as passages in Scripture that describe God as repenting. This doctrine is attacked in the present, not only by Open Theists, but also by those claiming to be reformed and confessional. This book gives a response to present objections via historical theology and by reading the citations it helps to understand the hermeneutical principals that reformed theologians used to interpret more challenging passages that may appear at first glance to deny God's immutability.
Pages 21-39 give a useful concise overview of the hermeneutical principles required to interpret Scripture regarding passages that Describe God positively by stating an attribute of God and those negatively by denying an attribute of God i.e. immutable, that God is not mutable/changeable as creatures are. Passages which directly describe God's attributes take precedence over passages that are implicitly describing God via his actions, which those who disagree on Divine Impassibility argue ought to take precedence such as passages that describe God repenting (Genesis 6:6). The problem with the hermeneutics of those who disagree with Divine Impassibility is that they argue from creatures passions to the Creator and thus make God's attributes equivalent to man by making God mutable and having passions which imply change in God. God's love and other attributes are not like that of men since they are perfect and have no fluctuations, whereas our love, anger, etc. as creatures changes because we are mutable.
March 11, 2020
Excellent explaination of affections, passions, and perfection.
Renihan masterfully works to show that God is far beyond anything we could hope for or imagine, and it is because that he is impassible that one can trust that.
Concise, thoughtful, biblical, and historical. I heartily approve of this book.
Renihan masterfully works to show that God is far beyond anything we could hope for or imagine, and it is because that he is impassible that one can trust that.
Concise, thoughtful, biblical, and historical. I heartily approve of this book.
April 17, 2021
A very clear, and clearly pastoral exposition of the doctrine of divine impassibility (strong rather than weak impassibility).
This is a topic I am trying to get my head around, and read more about, and it has been useful to read someone set out the case for strong divine impassibility with such clarity.
Particular strengths are its discussion of hermeneutical principles that should guide our interpretation of verses which speak of God, the section on how we know God, the section on divine perfections and the fact the book closes with the pastoral implications of this doctrine.
The book is only a primer, and so perhaps my suggestions are unfair, but I would have loved to see both more interaction with particular verses of the Bible that appear to contradict impassibility - in other words showing how the principles of interpretation play out a little more. I would also have loved to see more interaction with the arguments of those who disagree with the authors conclusions.
But overall, this was a very helpful book, and has certainly further convinced me that impassibility is both a true, and a beautiful doctrine.
This is a topic I am trying to get my head around, and read more about, and it has been useful to read someone set out the case for strong divine impassibility with such clarity.
Particular strengths are its discussion of hermeneutical principles that should guide our interpretation of verses which speak of God, the section on how we know God, the section on divine perfections and the fact the book closes with the pastoral implications of this doctrine.
The book is only a primer, and so perhaps my suggestions are unfair, but I would have loved to see both more interaction with particular verses of the Bible that appear to contradict impassibility - in other words showing how the principles of interpretation play out a little more. I would also have loved to see more interaction with the arguments of those who disagree with the authors conclusions.
But overall, this was a very helpful book, and has certainly further convinced me that impassibility is both a true, and a beautiful doctrine.
July 26, 2022
What does it mean when Christians say that God is immutable and that God is without Passions? This book answers this question concerning this attribute of God in a way that is biblical and historically rooted in the sound teaching of historical theology. I got this book and read it since I was impressed reading the author’s other book Deity and Decree. This particular book also impressed me with Samuel Renihan’s ability to be biblical, clear, simple and yet deeply profound with regards to who God is. This book is meant for the layperson and was originally from his Sunday School series on this topic. Overall the book was worshipful and edifying and it lifted my soul reading this on vacation.
Following a preface and introduction the main part of the book is divided into five chapters. Chapter one is on “Impassibility’s Foundation” which goes over the verses that suggests God does and does not change along with other passages that are relevant to the discussion. Renihan then lays out four principles with regards to how we should look at these passages biblically in a way that synthesize what looks at first seems to be conflicting teachings on God’s character. Chapter two then looks at a biblical teaching of what humans are like in regards to passions, since the Bible contrast God with man, and we know man better than God being human beings. Here Renihan define Passions and Affections and it might not be what some people might think. Then chapter three talks about how we know who God is through the means of negation and eminence in talking about God; this was very helpful to understand how we talk about an incomprehensible God, though we can apprehend Him. Chapter four addresses the topic of Christ’s incarnation and how this does not compromise with Divine Impassibility. The final chapters then discusses applications.
I found this book a treat for my spiritual thoughts on God and also helpful in understanding what historically Christians meant when they talk about Divine Impassibility. I really found the definition of Passion and Affections helpful in chapter two of the book. Renihan organized the book well in that it starts with giving us the passages that’s from the Bible then the question of hermeneutics, then consideration from the perspective of systematic theology of how to make these doctrinal truths properly relate and fit with one another and then personal applications for the Christian life. I was reminded from reading this book that God doesn’t change and He keeps His promise; what a comfort that is to meditate upon! Furthermore I thought the book had a good discussion of how much more intense is God’s mercy if His mercy is based upon God being impassible rather than how we are often merciful when we are moved to compassion because we can put ourselves in someone’s shoes, etc., but if God who is so different and greater than us can be merciful even though He has not sinned and like us ontologically, how much more does His perfect mercy shines the more glorious.
I don’t want to give the whole book away but I hope this review is enough to encourage you to purchase a copy and read it for your theological growth and sanctification!
Following a preface and introduction the main part of the book is divided into five chapters. Chapter one is on “Impassibility’s Foundation” which goes over the verses that suggests God does and does not change along with other passages that are relevant to the discussion. Renihan then lays out four principles with regards to how we should look at these passages biblically in a way that synthesize what looks at first seems to be conflicting teachings on God’s character. Chapter two then looks at a biblical teaching of what humans are like in regards to passions, since the Bible contrast God with man, and we know man better than God being human beings. Here Renihan define Passions and Affections and it might not be what some people might think. Then chapter three talks about how we know who God is through the means of negation and eminence in talking about God; this was very helpful to understand how we talk about an incomprehensible God, though we can apprehend Him. Chapter four addresses the topic of Christ’s incarnation and how this does not compromise with Divine Impassibility. The final chapters then discusses applications.
I found this book a treat for my spiritual thoughts on God and also helpful in understanding what historically Christians meant when they talk about Divine Impassibility. I really found the definition of Passion and Affections helpful in chapter two of the book. Renihan organized the book well in that it starts with giving us the passages that’s from the Bible then the question of hermeneutics, then consideration from the perspective of systematic theology of how to make these doctrinal truths properly relate and fit with one another and then personal applications for the Christian life. I was reminded from reading this book that God doesn’t change and He keeps His promise; what a comfort that is to meditate upon! Furthermore I thought the book had a good discussion of how much more intense is God’s mercy if His mercy is based upon God being impassible rather than how we are often merciful when we are moved to compassion because we can put ourselves in someone’s shoes, etc., but if God who is so different and greater than us can be merciful even though He has not sinned and like us ontologically, how much more does His perfect mercy shines the more glorious.
I don’t want to give the whole book away but I hope this review is enough to encourage you to purchase a copy and read it for your theological growth and sanctification!
April 17, 2019
This is the perfect book for any layman wanting to understand impassability. It's easy to understand, straightforward, readable. It also comes with study questions making it suitable for Family worship.
March 27, 2023
Renihan gives a super helpful, concise overview of the doctrine of divine impassibility. This felt like a nice devotional reading and gave beneficial application as it aided my understanding of who God is.
April 14, 2015
An excellent companion of primary sources collected by Renihan of Reformation, Early, and Late Reformation thought on divine impassibility and divine immutability. This was extremely enjoyable to go through, and has already proved itself useful for scholarly and academic work.
December 4, 2015
It’s unfortunate and sad to me that many Christians these days seem to minimize the importance of doctrine, stressing instead the importance of relationship and experience. But doctrine is important, and as a believer, it’s my duty and should be my joy to learn all I can about God.
This year I learned a new theological term and doctrine: the doctrine of Divine Impassibility. This doctrine has been defined as follows: “God does not experience emotional changes either from within or effected by his relationship to creation.” While this is not a new doctrine, it came to the forefront as a result of a controversy that arose in our national association of churches. Pastor Samuel Renihan has developed two helpful books on this subject, both entitled God without Passions. The Reader edition is a compilation of excerpts from writings dating back to the 16th and 17th century that address the topic of God’s attributes of unchangeableness (immutability) and impassibility; it’s good source material and an excellent tool for Bible teachers and pastors. In the Primer, Pastor Renihan has made the information in The Reader more accessible to the average lay person by condensing the material and compiling it into lessons on the subject, including study questions at the end of each chapter.
Many Christians prefer to think of God as an emotional being, one who has “feelings” for his children, and this is the aspect of God that Renihan’s book Passions addresses. While some passages in Scripture describe God as if he experiences human emotions, other Scriptures clearly teach that God is not human and does not change. We read verses that state that God regretted, that he relented, or that he was grieved or provoked. The fifteenth chapter of First Samuel provides a perfect example of this. Consider the following two verses:
“[God said], I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not performed My commandments” (I Sam. 15:11).
“The Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for He is not a man, that He should have regret” (I Sam. 15:29).
We also know from other passages that God is eternal, and that he does not change.
So how do we interpret and handle seemingly contradictory statements such as these? How can we reconcile the idea that God is love with the idea that God does not experience emotion? Does this make God a cold, unfeeling Deity? On the other hand, if God is an emotional being, what does that mean in regards to his stability and trustworthiness? Does what happens in the world or what I do affect how he “feels” and consequently how he responds?
Renihan begins the book by first setting forth some principles of interpreting Scripture (known as hermeneutics). He lays some further ground work by looking at the nature of God, especially in comparison with the nature of man. He points out some key truths about God – what he is and what he is not – that must be kept in mind when considering how God is described and seen as acting in the Bible. Here are some basic truths:
◾ God is infinite and incomprehensible. Man will never be able to completely understand or explain everything having to do with God.
◾ God is wholly Other. While everything is part of his creation, as the Creator, he exists outside of and separate from his creation.
◾ God is a spirit. He does not have a soul or a body like man has, nor does he have the faculties that belong to a body or soul.
◾ God’s attributes are more than merely descriptions of what he is like; they are perfections of his very being, and his attributes are infinite and unchangeable just as God himself is.
Paragraph One of the Second Chapter of the London Baptist Confession of Faith states it this way:
"The Lord our God is but one only living and true God; whose subsistence is in and of himself, infinite in being and perfection; whose essence cannot be comprehended by any but himself; a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions."
We must be careful not to take what we know and experience as humans and transfer them to God. In fact, if we make God into a likeness of our own imagining, we essentially become idolators. It’s important to make a distinction between what God tells us is true about himself, and how he is described as interacting with his creatures. While the Scriptures may speak of God’s people as being the “apple of his eye” or being kept under the “shelter of his wings,” we realize that the purpose of these passages isn’t to tell us that God has literal eyes or wings. The writer of these passages has chosen to use metaphorical language to convey something about God and his dealings with his people. This literary device is called anthropomorphism, the attributing of human parts or traits to something (or in this case, Someone) that is not human. Likewise, the Scriptures at times use anthropopathic language, assigning to God human emotions for the purpose of conveying a truth about God. But it’s crucial to always keep in mind that God is NOT human and doesn’t have the parts that humans possess.
Furthermore,
"Because God is what he is, he is simple. God does not have parts. He is not a composite being. You cannot add anything up in God that constitutes his existence. He simply is. That is why you cannot classify God in any category."
In fact, God is not made up of attributes, such as love, wisdom, goodness, and justice. Rather, he IS perfect Love, Wisdom, Goodness, Justice, etc. These are not as much his attributes as they are his eternal, unchanging perfections.
Renihan takes a closer look at three specific attributes of God that are often misconstrued as emotions of God: Love, Mercy and Anger. For example, he explains regarding God’s mercy:
"We are merciful because we suffer and feel alongside of another person. We enter into their state and we pity them. We are overcome with sympathy or compassion. It is not so with God…We are moved to sympathy because we see something of ourselves in another person. We do not feel mercy for rocks being smashed because, well, who cares? If God is so different from us, couldn’t he say the same? No, because the less God’s mercy is conditioned upon his participation in our nature, the greater he is able to be merciful to all as he wills."
Some would respond to this statement by arguing, “Oh, but rocks are nothing in comparison with humans.” Indeed, we humans are nothing in comparison with God, yet we like to think we are. The fact is, God is not in any way obligated to extend his love, mercy or grace to such as we, and yet he has chosen to do so. That’s what makes it mercy and grace.
I am grateful that God’s love is not an emotion like man’s love. Our love always depends upon the object of our love; it fluctuates based on how that object affects our feelings. On the other hand, God’s love emanates from himself and is dependent upon nothing outside of himself. It is his essence.
Well, what about Jesus, the God-Man? Renihan addresses this matter as well. We sometimes speak of “the passion of Christ.” Jesus has a divine nature, and yet as a human didn’t he experience emotions and, in fact, suffer? As the second person of the Trinity from eternity past, at a specific point in history Jesus permanently took on a second nature, that of a human at his incarnation. He didn’t cease being God, nor did he set aside his divine nature. So, in Christ reside “two whole, perfect, and distinct natures inseparably joined together in one person” (London Baptist Confession of Faith, Ch. 8). In fact, it was crucial and necessary for him to do so, because as a spirit, God could not share in the suffering of man, nor suffer in our place. In fact, the incarnation of Christ testifies to the fact that God cannot suffer or experience emotions like man does, for if he could, it wouldn’t have been necessary for Christ to take on the form of a man.
Renihan finishes his book with some personal applications, reminding us that the doctrine of God is practical, central, and biblical. Theology is important, and the doctrines that we understand and believe will affect the way we live out our Christian life in this world. The more we learn about our God, the more we will desire to worship and serve him. Regarding the specific doctrine of Divine Impassibility, Pastor Renihan explains that “God’s unchanging perfections are the foundation of his promises and the foundation of your perseverance.” To those who have come to God through Jesus Christ, these truths are a source of much comfort and hope.
This year I learned a new theological term and doctrine: the doctrine of Divine Impassibility. This doctrine has been defined as follows: “God does not experience emotional changes either from within or effected by his relationship to creation.” While this is not a new doctrine, it came to the forefront as a result of a controversy that arose in our national association of churches. Pastor Samuel Renihan has developed two helpful books on this subject, both entitled God without Passions. The Reader edition is a compilation of excerpts from writings dating back to the 16th and 17th century that address the topic of God’s attributes of unchangeableness (immutability) and impassibility; it’s good source material and an excellent tool for Bible teachers and pastors. In the Primer, Pastor Renihan has made the information in The Reader more accessible to the average lay person by condensing the material and compiling it into lessons on the subject, including study questions at the end of each chapter.
Many Christians prefer to think of God as an emotional being, one who has “feelings” for his children, and this is the aspect of God that Renihan’s book Passions addresses. While some passages in Scripture describe God as if he experiences human emotions, other Scriptures clearly teach that God is not human and does not change. We read verses that state that God regretted, that he relented, or that he was grieved or provoked. The fifteenth chapter of First Samuel provides a perfect example of this. Consider the following two verses:
“[God said], I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not performed My commandments” (I Sam. 15:11).
“The Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for He is not a man, that He should have regret” (I Sam. 15:29).
We also know from other passages that God is eternal, and that he does not change.
So how do we interpret and handle seemingly contradictory statements such as these? How can we reconcile the idea that God is love with the idea that God does not experience emotion? Does this make God a cold, unfeeling Deity? On the other hand, if God is an emotional being, what does that mean in regards to his stability and trustworthiness? Does what happens in the world or what I do affect how he “feels” and consequently how he responds?
Renihan begins the book by first setting forth some principles of interpreting Scripture (known as hermeneutics). He lays some further ground work by looking at the nature of God, especially in comparison with the nature of man. He points out some key truths about God – what he is and what he is not – that must be kept in mind when considering how God is described and seen as acting in the Bible. Here are some basic truths:
◾ God is infinite and incomprehensible. Man will never be able to completely understand or explain everything having to do with God.
◾ God is wholly Other. While everything is part of his creation, as the Creator, he exists outside of and separate from his creation.
◾ God is a spirit. He does not have a soul or a body like man has, nor does he have the faculties that belong to a body or soul.
◾ God’s attributes are more than merely descriptions of what he is like; they are perfections of his very being, and his attributes are infinite and unchangeable just as God himself is.
Paragraph One of the Second Chapter of the London Baptist Confession of Faith states it this way:
"The Lord our God is but one only living and true God; whose subsistence is in and of himself, infinite in being and perfection; whose essence cannot be comprehended by any but himself; a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions."
We must be careful not to take what we know and experience as humans and transfer them to God. In fact, if we make God into a likeness of our own imagining, we essentially become idolators. It’s important to make a distinction between what God tells us is true about himself, and how he is described as interacting with his creatures. While the Scriptures may speak of God’s people as being the “apple of his eye” or being kept under the “shelter of his wings,” we realize that the purpose of these passages isn’t to tell us that God has literal eyes or wings. The writer of these passages has chosen to use metaphorical language to convey something about God and his dealings with his people. This literary device is called anthropomorphism, the attributing of human parts or traits to something (or in this case, Someone) that is not human. Likewise, the Scriptures at times use anthropopathic language, assigning to God human emotions for the purpose of conveying a truth about God. But it’s crucial to always keep in mind that God is NOT human and doesn’t have the parts that humans possess.
Furthermore,
"Because God is what he is, he is simple. God does not have parts. He is not a composite being. You cannot add anything up in God that constitutes his existence. He simply is. That is why you cannot classify God in any category."
In fact, God is not made up of attributes, such as love, wisdom, goodness, and justice. Rather, he IS perfect Love, Wisdom, Goodness, Justice, etc. These are not as much his attributes as they are his eternal, unchanging perfections.
Renihan takes a closer look at three specific attributes of God that are often misconstrued as emotions of God: Love, Mercy and Anger. For example, he explains regarding God’s mercy:
"We are merciful because we suffer and feel alongside of another person. We enter into their state and we pity them. We are overcome with sympathy or compassion. It is not so with God…We are moved to sympathy because we see something of ourselves in another person. We do not feel mercy for rocks being smashed because, well, who cares? If God is so different from us, couldn’t he say the same? No, because the less God’s mercy is conditioned upon his participation in our nature, the greater he is able to be merciful to all as he wills."
Some would respond to this statement by arguing, “Oh, but rocks are nothing in comparison with humans.” Indeed, we humans are nothing in comparison with God, yet we like to think we are. The fact is, God is not in any way obligated to extend his love, mercy or grace to such as we, and yet he has chosen to do so. That’s what makes it mercy and grace.
I am grateful that God’s love is not an emotion like man’s love. Our love always depends upon the object of our love; it fluctuates based on how that object affects our feelings. On the other hand, God’s love emanates from himself and is dependent upon nothing outside of himself. It is his essence.
Well, what about Jesus, the God-Man? Renihan addresses this matter as well. We sometimes speak of “the passion of Christ.” Jesus has a divine nature, and yet as a human didn’t he experience emotions and, in fact, suffer? As the second person of the Trinity from eternity past, at a specific point in history Jesus permanently took on a second nature, that of a human at his incarnation. He didn’t cease being God, nor did he set aside his divine nature. So, in Christ reside “two whole, perfect, and distinct natures inseparably joined together in one person” (London Baptist Confession of Faith, Ch. 8). In fact, it was crucial and necessary for him to do so, because as a spirit, God could not share in the suffering of man, nor suffer in our place. In fact, the incarnation of Christ testifies to the fact that God cannot suffer or experience emotions like man does, for if he could, it wouldn’t have been necessary for Christ to take on the form of a man.
Renihan finishes his book with some personal applications, reminding us that the doctrine of God is practical, central, and biblical. Theology is important, and the doctrines that we understand and believe will affect the way we live out our Christian life in this world. The more we learn about our God, the more we will desire to worship and serve him. Regarding the specific doctrine of Divine Impassibility, Pastor Renihan explains that “God’s unchanging perfections are the foundation of his promises and the foundation of your perseverance.” To those who have come to God through Jesus Christ, these truths are a source of much comfort and hope.
September 12, 2022
This book is exactly what it says it is. A clear, simple and concise primer on the doctrine of divine impassibility. It definitely gave me a great understanding on the basics of this topic and I have the confidence to move onto larger works in the same arena. I love how Renihan ties it all in in the end to why this is so important: because a wrong view and understanding of God's perfection in comparison to our affections affects how we view the gospel in its entirety.
"God is not a good God who could become a bad God. His goodness is not a quality. It is an essential perfection. None of his attributes are qualities. He is his attributes. He is all that he is, essentially, perfectly, infinitely, eternally, and immutably. Remember that he is a pure act. He has no passive potentiality that could be actualized. He is all that he is, simply."
"God is not a good God who could become a bad God. His goodness is not a quality. It is an essential perfection. None of his attributes are qualities. He is his attributes. He is all that he is, essentially, perfectly, infinitely, eternally, and immutably. Remember that he is a pure act. He has no passive potentiality that could be actualized. He is all that he is, simply."
September 12, 2021
I would give this 4.5 stars but mostly because this is just such a challenging bit of theology and I’m not sure I totally get it yet. Not sure if I blame that on the teacher or the student here (ok let’s be honest, it’s me 😂). A good book. Recommended by a friend who is a pastor. There’s a longer version too, this is the “primer” version. Reading “none greater” by Matthew Barrett first was helpful, as this book mentions other concepts like God’s simplicity almost in passing. I still don’t quite get it now God can be impassible and still describe himself in emotional terms, but the biblical argument for God being without passions is certainly strong. I continue on this theological bunny trail…
December 26, 2019
Really good intro on understanding that God doesn't experience emotional changes within himself nor is he affected by his relationship to creation. Initially this seemed contradictory to Scripture, but he provides helpful characteristics of God's revelation to his creatures as something that is accommodated and analogical which really helped to close the gap in my mind. Really liked his last chapter on pastoral application of these truths. Especially the implications of this doctrine on God's unchanging promises and our certain perseverance.
October 29, 2019
Content/topic 5 stars. Delivery 3 stars. This is an incredibly important topic for Christians to be familiar with but I felt the way the author put the book together was not as user friendly as it could have been. The author would have numerous long quotes on every single page of the book this made the reading of the book choppy and had to follow at times. I admire his humility in relying on past teachers and master theologians but it made the book difficult to read.
May 28, 2020
I found this book very readable and very practical. Renihan lays out a simple and concise argument for the impossibility of God.
The attributes we see of God are not affections/passions as we experience them because He is not moved by the object. His attributes are perfection in Him and He acts according to His nature, not the object. Simple distribution but very helpful when understanding the God of the Bible.
The attributes we see of God are not affections/passions as we experience them because He is not moved by the object. His attributes are perfection in Him and He acts according to His nature, not the object. Simple distribution but very helpful when understanding the God of the Bible.
July 29, 2021
Unfortunately I don't think Renihan had any real audience in mind for his book. This very simple, very short book covering the basics of impassibility doesn't appeal to scholars, and I cannot imagine a layman would enjoy a book full of dense Puritan quotations and needless Latin phrases. The book comes across as a desperate attempt from Renihan to prove how smart and pastoral he is, without actually being very helpful. I did enjoy the last chapter, however.
January 22, 2024
A good introduction to the classical and biblical doctrine of impassibility. Impassibility seems to be a forgotten doctrine of this last century and Renihan is like many who want to see many recover it that belong to historical Protestantism and evangelicalism. My critique of the book is that he quotes too many people when he should be explaining and expounding the doctrine. I'm all for reading old dead guys, but there's a reason I bought your book and didn't just read theirs.
October 13, 2018
Sam Renihan does an expert job at explaining such a complex and mind-blowing doctrine in a way that’s easy to understand. He explains the doctrine of impassibility, the textual and systematic evidence for it, and the practical implications of it in such a way that I couldn’t more highly recommend this primer to any Christian not acquainted with the Classical Theist view of Divine Impassibility.
July 6, 2019
A clear primer on a difficult subject. Here are my takeaways:
1. God is unchangeable
2. God does not have characteristics, passions, in the sense that we do. Ours change over time, we grow and recede in knowledge, love, hatred etc..
3. God is these characteristics, passions, and those are perfect. He loves righteousness perfectly, He hates sin perfectly, etc..
1. God is unchangeable
2. God does not have characteristics, passions, in the sense that we do. Ours change over time, we grow and recede in knowledge, love, hatred etc..
3. God is these characteristics, passions, and those are perfect. He loves righteousness perfectly, He hates sin perfectly, etc..
January 16, 2020
This is a very easy to read book explaining a "difficult" topic.
There is a lot of repetition/summaries/recaps at the beginning of each which helps to reinforce the main ideas. The ideas are quite simple but need to be stressed as they are often confused or misunderstood.
Highly recommend for anyone who is interested in the topic of impassibility.
There is a lot of repetition/summaries/recaps at the beginning of each which helps to reinforce the main ideas. The ideas are quite simple but need to be stressed as they are often confused or misunderstood.
Highly recommend for anyone who is interested in the topic of impassibility.
April 14, 2020
This is an awesome little book that’s easy to digest and a very quick read. Dr Renihan starts with method of interpretation and why we interpret scripture in such a way, in chapter one. He then touches on the anthropology of affections and passions, the doctrine of God, God’s perfections and Christ as Mediator, and finally practiced application and pastoral implications.
February 5, 2023
Good simple argument for impassibility stemming from the doctrine of God. Enjoyed how Sam Renihan makes his writing devotional and shows that this is more than a mere intellectual argument but affects our worship and trust in God. The only reason for 4 stars is he kind of lost my attention at some points and I had to push through; however, most of the boom was very enjoyable.
December 26, 2018
Great book for the comfort of believers in the unchanging nature of God, and of the terrible certainty of judgment to unbelievers because of the same unchanging nature. All Christians and non-Christians should bask in this.
August 26, 2020
In this short volume, Renihan preaches large truths in just over 100 pages. Very rarely can can an author be concise in a topic this large. Renihan does it! He helped me to love God more, and for that I am grateful!
February 1, 2021
One of the best introductory books on the impassability of God. I highly recommend starting here and then following up the study of divine impassability with James Dolezal. Dr. Renihan truly stays within his intention of presenting a primer to this important doctrine.
May 31, 2022
This book is not merely about impassibility, but about the nature of God in general: His simplicity as well as His immutability. It was astounding to me how these various authors sang the same song in their answers. The uniformity and agreement is astounding!
January 9, 2024
Renihan does a fantastic job on discussing the doctrine of impassibility here. While the doctrine sounds odd, or even offensive, to modern evangelicals who are unfamiliar with it, impassibility is a wonderful and life-giving, not to mention a historically attested, doctrine of God.
May 21, 2017
This book is an essential read. It explains clearly and methodically the important topic of divine impassibility. This book was such a joy to read and to think through. Get this book and read it.
August 4, 2019
An excellent help for a difficult subject.
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