Does God Care?

Do you know the difference between “passible” and “passable?” The words “passible” and “passable” appear almost identical, don’t they? There is only one letter difference in the two words, and even though they are pronounced exactly the same, they have dramatically different meanings. Passible, with an “i,” comes from the Greek language and means “capable of feeling emotion or suffering.” Passable, with an “a,” on the other hand, refers to something “just good enough,” or sometimes can be used in reference to a route or road that is cleared of debris and is therefore passable. 

From the word passible, with an “i,” we derive the word impassible, an important word in the lexicon of faith. Impassible refers to God’s unchangeable nature, God’s inability to suffer or feel pain or joy or any emotion. The early Church Fathers, men like Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Origen, who shaped much of our Christian theology, were eager to show that God was not fickle as human beings are but was perfectly constant in his personality. God’s emotional state did not change from one day to the next but was consistent in his being because he was, well, he was impassible. 

The Westminster Confession of Faith (1648) follows this ancient Christian belief and states, “There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable....” It was believed by the Church that for God to be “wholly other,” completely different from human beings, God could not have the highs and lows so prevalent in human emotions. Thus God is immutable or unchanging—impassible. 

I find comfort that God is above the vacillating ups and downs so characteristic of human beings. Regardless of what I have done God doesn’t fly off the handle or lose control of his emotions. God is the same every day and that’s a good thing. 

But there is also a down side to a God who can’t feel our pain or hurt or despair.  If God were unable to empathize with us in the daily burdens we face and can’t somehow share in the suffering and anguish that so many endure day after day, then it would mean that we face the tragedies of our world alone. God would be indifferent to our pain, a rather unsettling thought.

The Bible, however, tells of a completely engaged God. Scripture describes God with all kinds of emotions and feelings. God is moved by the cries of his enslaved people, Israel, and acts on their behalf (Ex. 2:23-25). God grieves over his children who sin against him (Hos. 11:1). A number of times in the Old Testament God “repents” or changes his mind, indicating a being who is emotionally involved (Judg. 2:18; 2Sam. 24:16; Ps. 106:45). These passages are only a sampling of scriptural references that reveal a God who participates emotionally in our world. 

Christian theologians were surely aware of these biblical passages, so what did the early Church Fathers mean when they wrote of the impassibility of God?  

One possible explanation is that passages that refer to God’s emotions are using anthropomorphic language, that is, the biblical writers availed themselves to everyday language that described God in ways human beings could identify with. Emotions like affection, pity, mercy, compassion, forgiveness and other feelings are human traits that the biblical writers projected onto God simply as a means to bring God down to earth, so to speak. Otherwise, we would not be able to relate to God, and God would remain a distant abstraction.

Then, too, feelings are not necessarily bad or evil but are dependent on how they are expressed. The problem with human emotions is that they are influenced by our sinful nature, and sometimes are at odds with our better angels. But God doesn’t have that problem because God, as the Bible teaches, is holy and without sin. God’s emotions and feelings are unwavering, not subject to the ebb and flow of human weaknesses. 

In fact, Thomas Aquinas understood God as the most passionate of all beings. He thought that all God’s emotions were wrapped up in God’s perfect love, a love without the fluctuating emotions so characteristic of human love. In other words, God loves you now, regardless of your behavior or attitude, with perfect and complete love, meaning that God will never love you any more or less than he does right now because his love for you is perfect! In what may seem like an oxymoronic statement, we might say that God’s impassible nature remains completely and passionately in love with his creation. All God’s emotions such as anger, jealousy, affection, grief, etc. are perfectly conveyed through his consistent and eternal love.

If all this theology sounds a bit too abstract, perhaps a rabbinical story can put it all into perspective. The story takes place in heaven during the time of the exodus, after Pharaoh’s army has drowned in the sea, and the children of Israel have safely escaped. The angels in heaven are rejoicing in Israel’s deliverance and are singing praises to the Almighty for his miraculous power. The trumpets sound in the heavenly gates and Hallelujahs can be heard throughout the celestial realm. But then the angels notice that the Master of the universe is not celebrating. In fact, not only is God not joining in the festivities, God is weeping.

The angels rush to God to see what is wrong. One of the heavenly messengers says to the Lord, “O Master, why are you mourning? Don’t you know the Egyptian army has drowned in the sea and your children are saved?”

The Lord looked up from his bereavement and said softly, “Don’t you know, the Egyptians are my children, too.”  

God’s love for the Egyptians is as perfectly complete as it is for the Israelites. Their unfortunate deaths caused God grief. They, too, were his creation, his children. That may be hard for us to fathom, but God’s love is not biased toward one nation or people over another. The prophet Amos explains that the Ethiopians, Philistines and the Arameans are as precious in God’s sight as the nation Israel (Amos 9:7), implying that all nations of the earth are treasured by God. John and other New Testament writers echo this sentiment when writing, “For God so loved the world.”

When I read of the Highland Park tragedy that occurred on July 4th, I envision God deeply moved by those terrible events, mourning the loss of his gift of life. Moreover, I see him weeping over the immense suffering in places like Ukraine and so many other parts of the world. God’s inner being must be deeply grieved that his magnificent creation is being laid to waste.

I do not believe God is impassible, that he is without feelings. I think God suffers and grieves over the deaths of human beings and the destruction of the earth’s natural beauty in a way that is far beyond our understanding. God’s suffering is complete, without respite, a kind of suffering far beyond our capacity to comprehend. 

What concerns me, however, is that we flesh-and-blood creatures have become impassible. Nothing seems to bother us very much—not children being shot in classrooms or innocent people gunned down in the streets or homeless people begging on corners or our air and oceans poisoned by chemicals and plastics. We seem to be apathetic, unfeeling, and untouched by every tragedy. 

I do not question whether God is engaged in the betterment of our world, but I often wonder if we are.