God and Emotion

by R.T. Mullins

An introductory exploration on the nature of emotions, and examination of some of the critical issues surrounding the emotional life of God as they relate to happiness, empathy, love, and moral judgments. Covering the different criteria used in the debate between impassibility and passibility, readers can begin to think about which emotions can be predicated of God and which cannot.

Genres: Theology

84 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 8, 2020

Reviews

[Jack Hayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent little book that lays out God and emotions. It begins by rigorously defining what emotion is. Then moves to demonstrate how an impassible and passible God both have emotions. Mullins is a neoclassical theist and believes that God is passible with emotions (of course). This is explicit in his defense of empathy. For Mullins, empathy is the highest moral good, and thus, God must be empathetic. God must be maximally close and have a personal union to be genuinely loving. When it comes to ‘bad’ emotions, Mullins opts for omnisubjectivity to say God can experience an emotion without being morally wrong. For example, God experiences sadism and judges it wrong. He also says a maximal theist approach also allows for empathy too.

90% Empathy?

[Ryan Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Excellent review of the central themes and arguments in the topic of God and emotions. Mullins provides a good overview for both sides of the impassibility and passibility debate. I do feel he makes the classical theist position a bit too simplistic at points and flies past some of its nuance. Additionally, he has a section where he readily (and rightly) quotes work from Stump but never mentions the fact that she is a classical theist. Mullins also spends a load of time on Zagzebski’s omnisubjectivity which I reject - however the alternatives he brings out in the later parts of section 6 from McConnell and Ward are far more intriguing. Overall, a potent little book on a shockingly complicated and yet highly interesting topic.

[isaac tanner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introduction

As the author states his intentions, this introductory element is meant to give a clear overview, and provide thought provoking ideas for the future of the discussion and it does just that in my opinion. This book is well written, well structured and makes tough ideas accessible.

[Mason Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Mullins's perspective on doctrine of God, usually a pretty clear thinker. I think I liked this more than I like his podcast for the etiquette and tone of the arguments alone. His podcast can get pretty snide. I think he argued persuasively (though not conclusively) for passibilism here, so a good short book for those entering the debate

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brought up a lot of cool ideas, but seemed to waffle between discussing only the Christian God, or a general concept of god. Might have been clearer if it had stuck to one or the other. Definitely food for thought though!

[Yuri Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Lots of detail for only ~65 pages. If you are in the world of Analytic theology keep an eye out for Cambridge Elements. It’s a helpful series of short introductions to themes in Philosophical Theology. Mullins writes well

[Cameron Burkholder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mullins provides a balanced perspective on the passibility/impassibility debate