Terminology Tuesday: Impassibility
The attribute of God’s being unaffected by anything outside of himself. Those who accept the view that God is impassible hold that he cannot be caused to do or feel anything, because of his omnipotence and perfection. Critics believe that impassibility would be a barrier to genuine loving relations between God and his creatures. See also divine attributes.
Evans, C. Stephen, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002).
Richard Porter
Richard Porter is apologetics ministry leader at Calvary Church of West Hartford in Connecticut and a Chapter Director with Ratio Christi. Richard has studied apologetics for over a decade. Prior to his conversion, apologetics was a huge part of what God used to reel him in to the faith. From the popular works of Lee Strobel to the more academic defenses of Christianity by William Lane Craig, apologetics has always caught his eye. He has a passion for equipping Christians to defend the faith and hopes to one day be in full-time ministry. He also has aspirations to pursue an academic career of his own if the Lord permits. In his spare time Richard enjoys exploring New Testament studies and analytic philosophy. In addition to his intellectual pursuits, Richard also enjoys kettlebell and martial arts training – particularly Brazilian and Japanese Jiu-Jitsu. He also has two sons that are being trained as young apologists and martial artists.
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Brent White
I happily reject impassability. If it were true, how many depictions of God in the Bible would have to be rejected or reinterpreted as mere “anthropomorphism”? Among many other examples, what does the believer in impassibility do with the Book of Hosea? By all means, God is unchanging in his nature and attributes, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t experience emotion. Do we who are created in his image experience something that God himself can’t experience? Since when is emotion any kind of defect?
Once, I argued with a fellow United Methodist minister who believes in strict impassibility. He said that because of impassibility, God’s wrath toward sin can’t literally exist. Instead, “wrath” is the human projection onto God of our fear that God is angry with us, when in reality he has no problem with us. “Forgiveness of sin,” therefore, is when we realize that our sins don’t need forgiveness. I promise I’m not making this up.