Theological Term of the Week

 

So many “im” words, so little time.

 

impassibility¹

Used of God, it refers to the teaching that God is “not subject to suffering, pain, or the ebb and flow of involuntary passions.”²

• From the Bible:

  But this I call to mind,
  and therefore I have hope:
  
  The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
  his mercies never come to an end… (Lamentations 3:21-22 ESV)

• From The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, article I:
  

  There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body, parts, or passions…”³

• J. I. Packer, in Concise Theology : A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs:

  …God’s feelings are not beyond his control, as ours often are. Theologians express this by saying that God is impassable. They mean not that he is impassive and unfeeling but that what he feels, like what he does, is a matter of his own deliberate, voluntary choice and is included in the unity of his infinite being. God is never our victim in the sense that we make him suffer where he had not first chosen to suffer. Scriptures expressing the reality of God’s emotions (joy, sorrow, anger, delight, love, hate, etc.) abound, however, and it is a great mistake to forget that God feels, though in a way of necessity that transcends a finite being’s experience of emotion.

Learn more:

1.   Paul Helms: Divine Impassibility: Why Is It Suffering? 
2.   Phil Johnson: God Without Mood Swings

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¹ This is a disputed doctrine. Many people object to the idea that God is impassible, but many who object to it don’t really understand what it is exactly that the doctrine of impassiblity teaches. See either of the articles linked under Learn more for more discussion of this.

² I admit it; I stole this definition from Phil Johnson in God Without Mood Swings.

³ We must understand “passions” here to refer to emotions which are drawn out from God involuntarily by something that lies outside of himself.

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Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

 

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order. 

The Boxing of God

No, you are not experiencing deja vu. This is a reposting of an oldish piece that I heavily re-edited because there were (and here I begin whispering) serious argument flow issues. Which, of course, you were all too kind to point out to me the first time round.

I have a confession to make: I am a former theology discussion board junkie. You don’t have to be on these discussion boards long before you realize that there are a few standard oft-repeated-but-mostly-meaningless all-purpose rebuttal phrases. The point of these particular counterarguments is to wipe out the opposition with one knock-out punch by making an accusation about the opposing position that is so shocking that those holding it slink away in embarrassment. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one of these scandalous assertions actually work in this way, but lack of success has not kept them from being used again and again.

One of these all-purpose rebuttals is the God in a box argument. This accusation is usually is tossed into a discussion when someone makes a propositional statement about God that doesn’t sit well with another participant in the discussion. But instead of giving reasons this statement about God is wrong, which might require some honest-to-goodness brain work, the person disagreeing simply trots out the customary propositional-statement-about-God objection, “You can’t put God in a box like that.”

Of course, part of the God in a box rebuttal is always right. We can’t put God in a box. God is infinite, so our statements and ideas about him will never contain the whole of who he is.

Click to read more ...

Sunday's Hymn

Yet another Sunday with no real hymns sung. (I guess you know how I feel about that!) Fortunately, there is a contingency plan already in place. Yep, when we don’t sing any hymns in the Sunday morning worship service, I post one of my own favorites. Recently, I’ve posted some much-loved hymns from my youth. This is one I love right now.

Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting

Jesus, I am resting, resting,
In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of Thy loving heart.
Thou hast bid me gaze upon Thee,
And Thy beauty fills my soul,
For by Thy transforming power,
Thou hast made me whole.

Refrain

Jesus, I am resting, resting,
In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of Thy loving heart.

O, how great Thy loving kindness,
Vaster, broader than the sea!
O, how marvelous Thy goodness,
Lavished all on me!
Yes, I rest in Thee, Belovèd,
Know what wealth of grace is Thine,
Know Thy certainty of promise,
And have made it mine.

Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus,
I behold Thee as Thou art,
And Thy love, so pure, so changeless,
Satisfies my heart;
Satisfies its deepest longings,
Meets, supplies its every need,
Compasseth me round with blessings:
Thine is love indeed!

Ever lift Thy face upon me
As I work and wait for Thee;
Resting ’neath Thy smile, Lord Jesus,
Earth’s dark shadows flee.
Brightness of my Father’s glory,
Sunshine of my Father’s face,
Keep me ever trusting, resting,
Fill me with Thy grace. 

(Listen. This is a 90 second CD sample of Rudy Atwood on the piano.)

Other hymns, worship songs, etc. posted today:

• The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity at Magic Statistics
• Praise to the Lord at Hiraeth
• Who Is this So Weak and Helpless at Field Stone Cottage
• Lord’s Day 32, 2008 at The Thirsty Theologian
• Put Thou Thy Trust in God at joythruChrist
• Break Thou the Bread of Life at Conjubilant with Song
• O’er Those Gloomy Hills of Darkness  at Whatever Things…
• For the Beauty of the Earth at The Happy Wonderer

Have you posted a hymn today and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by emailing me at the address in the sidebar and I’ll add your post to the list.