In the Internet article "Does God Experience Emotional Change? Immutability and Impassibility" Samuel Renihan, author of the above book, wrote (here - emphasis mine):
"You may have seen a popular commercial advertising the Snickers candy bar in which grumpy persons are pacified by eating chocolate, nuts, and caramel. The premise of this scene is summed up in the words “You’re not you when you’re hungry.” We can, of course, resonate with this statement. Some people even talk about being “hangry.” They are angry because they are hungry. We have natural appetites (inclinations and disinclinations), and our moods change as our appetites are satisfied or dissatisfied. There truly are times when the difference between being content and irritable depends on a Snickers bar (or double stuf Oreos)."
Is God like this in regard to his emotions? Does he have "mood swings"? Does he get irritated? Can he be "pestered" by pests? Does he experience angst and anxiety? When he is said to be grieved, is this literally so? Does God suffer? Does he experience emotional pain? If so, how can he be the unchangeable and ever blessed God?
Said Renihan:
"We know what we are like, but is God like this? Does God experience emotional change? If we answer this question based on popular Christian music, and even popular Christian literature, we would reply that God does experience emotional change. But the Christian creeds, the Christian tradition of theology proper (the doctrine of God), and the Protestant and Reformed confessions of faith disagree."
Count me orthodox on this point. God sympathizes with us, but this does not mean that he experiences any changes in himself, but simply that he well knows what we are going through and he cares.
Said Renihan:
"What do the Scriptures teach about emotions and God, and how can we formulate a responsible and faithful answer? We will consider four points, focusing on how God describes himself in the Scriptures, and how God teaches us to interpret his own language regarding himself."
The scriptures are the place to find out about God. We cannot rely upon any other thing. "To the law and to the testimony. If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." (Isa. 8: 20)
Said Renihan:
"1. The Bible describes God in the language of human experience and emotion, but denies that those very experiences are in God. In 1 Samuel 15:11, God declares, “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” Later in 1 Samuel 15:29, the same passage, this statement is qualified and controlled. “And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” Other passages, like Numbers 23:19-20, reinforce the truth that the difference between God and creatures controls the way we read creaturely language about God. It says, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”
God does not have regret because he is not a creature. That is what scripture affirms. However, it seems to contradict itself when it also says God did regret. Again, in the latter case we must say that the latter is "creaturely language," or a metaphor, used to tell us that something is against the will and mind of God, something that does not have his approval. God does not regret in the same way that creatures regret, but only analogously.
Said Renihan:
"2. The Bible describes God in a way that makes it impossible for him to undergo anything or be acted upon."
James says of God the Father - "with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." (James 1: 17 nkjv) There is no fluctuation in God's emotions or emotional or psychological states; Or only seemingly or as it seems to us as creatures. God seems to change but does not actually change. Is he angry at your sin? Well, he foreknew your sin and has always known this about you.
Said Renihan:
"Take Genesis 1:1 into consideration. There is a Creator, and there is creation. God did not create something greater or more powerful than himself, nor did he confine himself within the time and space of his creation. God is eternal and a se, of himself, and all things are “from him and through him and to him” (Rom. 11:36). Consequently, God is always the agent, never the patient. God is always fulfilling his purposes and never changing his mind, as stated in Numbers 23:19-20, above."
Here Renihan refers to what is called "the aseity of God."
Aseity (from Latin ā "from" and sē "self", plus -ity) is the property by which a being exists of and from itself. It means that God does not depend on any cause other than himself for his existence, realization, or end, and has within himself his own reason of existence.
Said Renihan:
"Similarly, several of the names of God, especially “I AM THAT I AM,” are self-revelation using the word “to be.” God is that he is. He is perfect absolute independent being, the source of all that exists, the Creator of all things. Nothing can add to God who is I AM. Nothing can subtract from God who is I AM. Neither can God make himself more perfect or reduce his perfection."
We cannot ascribe passions to God without undermining his immutability, blessedness, and other of his attributes.
Said Renihan:
"God himself declares his perfect unchanging nature to his people in Malachi 3:6, “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” And we are told the same in James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”"
Yes, God has a "perfect unchanging nature," which would not be the case were God not impassible.
Said Renihan:
"The truth that the Bible describes God in the language of human experience and emotion, yet denies that those experiences are in God, combined with the Scriptures’ description of the perfection of the being of God, provides a firm and certain conclusion."
Agreed. That is what the Bible teaches and is the orthodox belief of bible believers.
Said Renihan:
"3. We must not equate the human language used to describe God with God himself."
Agreed. We must see such language as a means of "accommodation." God is indescribable, so how can we describe him? Language is insufficient, yet for the time being it is all we have. So God speaks to us about himself in human language, in anthropomorphisms and anthropopathisms, in use of metaphors, similes, figures, and analogous language. The bible speaks about divine things that are "inexpressible." (See for instance II Cor. 12: 4; I Peter 1: 8) Said Dr. Henry Morris (here):
"There are three things called "unspeakable" in the New Testament, with each one translated from a different Greek word. However, they all convey the notion of something which is so marvelous that it simply could not be put into words.
II Corinthians 12:4 mentions "unspeakable words," I Peter 1:8 refers to "joy unspeakable" and II Corinthians 9:15 speaks of an "unspeakable gift.""
Said Renihan:
"We can no more contain God in our language than you can contain the ocean in a thimble. The finite cannot contain the infinite. Thus, our minds and language can never wrap themselves around God and fully express him. But although we cannot know God fully, we can know him truly. God’s self-revelation may be suited to our creaturely capacities, but it is not false or empty."
Thus, as we have been contending, bodily parts and emotions are ascribed to God by way of accommodation.
Said Renihan:
"For example, when Scripture speaks of God repenting, regretting, or relenting, the point of connection is not between the emotional state of a human that repents and some emotional state in God, but in the action taken. When someone repents, they stop doing what they were doing, and they begin to do something else. So also, God created man, then he destroyed man; God made Saul king, then he removed him; God threatened judgment on Nineveh, then he removed the sentence of judgment."
Exactly. Well stated.
Said Renihan:
"But God is eternal and has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass, accomplishing all his holy will. So, God’s repentance is not an undergoing or a happening to God, but from the creature’s perspective in time it is a reversal of actions, all of which was decreed by God in eternity. God decreed from all eternity both to create man, and to destroy him, to make Saul king, and then to remove him, to threaten Nineveh, and then to deliver it. We see it all play out in time. The sequence of God’s actions in time leads to a fourth point."
Again, this is what I understand the bible to teach. It is the orthodox position, of both Catholics and Protestants.
Said Renihan:
"4. We need to distinguish between our eternal God in himself, and the outworking of his decree in time and space."
This is so true and bible students need to understand this important fact as they seek to interpret those texts which ascribe bodily parts and passions to God.
Said Renihan:
"God is angry in the sense that he will cause justice and vengeance to be poured out on the unrepentant and wicked. His anger is therefore an eternal perfection, not an emotion as it is in us."
Could not have said it better myself (as they say)!
Said Renihan:
"And though the Scriptures describe God in creaturely language, and though we experience God’s perfections of love, mercy, and justice in temporal sequences, we cannot conclude from our creaturely perspective that God is emotional. Rather, as the Scriptures have taught us, what we call emotions are unchanging essential perfections in God."
God does not weep nor cry. He does not feel pain nor does he suffer (although he identifies with us in our pain and suffering). In the next posting we will continue our look at this most important subject.
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