Does God Feel?
When the Bible says that God is compassionate, does that mean that He is moved by compassion? If one says that God loves, are there any feelings involved? When the prophets spoke of the wrath of God, did they imply that God can be provoked by anger? Theologians have pondered over these questions for centuries. How can finite human beings imagine an infinite God? What language can they use? Should one try to know God through analogies established from his or her finite experience? Or is it better to attempt to purify one's reflection with finely-elaborated reasoning?
One needs to keep in mind three distinct strings of thought, as one reflects on the questions above. These ideas relate to God's nature, the meaning of God's pathos and love, and the Biblical story that frames what one knows about God. It is theologically and morally dangerous to provide quick canned answers from religious traditions or personal experience. These sorts of questions should stimulate a believer to engage in a continuous discovery of God. Finding answers to these questions has apologetic value, but perhaps, more importantly, it strengthens the faith, and it is necessary to speak of Good News.
As Schaab notes, in contemporary society, one cannot merely repeat a formula articulated in the IV or V century. Times have changed, and more people are aware of all the atrocities that have happened in recent decades. They are sensitive to the pain of millions of people, especially children, the elderly, and the poorest. People are also aware of the dynamics of physical laws embedded in nature that produce brutal catastrophes. New scientific models, like the theory of evolution, have become popular as traditional Christendom has lost much of its appeal. With impunity, cruel regimes continue to hurt millions of men and women. This year the COVID-19 pandemic has indiscriminately killed close to 350,000 people worldwide. In the face of all these realities, How can one speak of Good News from God?
On the other hand, modern theologies that emphasize the immanence of God, and stress his suffering with the universe, run the risk of presenting a suffering deity incapable of dealing with evil in his creation. As David Bently Hart points out "the idea of a God through suffering passions, whose being is determined in a history, according to 'encounters' with other realities, even realities he creates, is simply a metaphysical myth, a mere supreme being, but not the source of all being." (190).
As Hart would say, God has to be on the other side of the “ontological difference.” In other words, one needs to keep in mind that He is the Creator, and everything else is creation. He remains outside his creation, but at the same time, he freely gets involved in redeeming it. The creation is becoming, but God is. He does not become. If one imagines God “on this side of the ontological difference,” God and the creatures are the same, and there is no Good News. Nothing guarantees a final triumphal becoming. God and his creation will be a constant but uncertain flux of becoming historical moments.
One can talk about God's pathos, but one needs to keep in mind that that is the pathos of the infinite Creator. Human pathos is marked by finitude and sinfulness. It tends to be provoked by external factors. It is swayed by circumstances and the limitations of short term, local stories. God's pathos, on the other hand, is not provoked and is not limited. It concerns the whole cosmos, and it transcends it. God's actions are not ignited by uncontrollable pathos, but by the determination of his eternal goodness. The love of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is not contaminated with selfish passions. It is infinitely oriented to goodness.
When thinking about God's pathos, one needs to maintain the perspective of the history of redemption. Creation is an act of the Triune God, the One lovingly sharing himself with others. The creation of humanity is the act of the Trinity graciously sharing his image and presence through male and female human beings. It was a gift in the form of a noble mission, which they could accept or reject. Likewise, redemption is a reciprocating act of the Trinity to bring others back to himself.
In the interval that goes from human fall to eschatological redemption, God accomplishes his eternal purpose. Ultimate redemption is not the last stage of God's evolution, but the fulfillment of the purpose He had before the creation of the world. Since it is being redeemed, in that interval, the world is continuously developing. However, its development is not marked by fortuitous movements of history or nature. But by God's eternal purpose. The autonomy of humans is a gift from God. It offers people the opportunity to join God in the hope and celebration of goodness. However, it sets them free to go after the satisfaction of their ego, feeling themselves with hatred against their Creator. Nevertheless, God stills gives them the opportunity of redemption and offers them the chance to participate in the redemption of the world. Sallie McFague contents that "God does depend on humanity for the fulfillment of the divine intention for the cosmos" (Schaab, 33). Still, this short essay affirms that although God offers humans the opportunity to participate in his loving, eternal purpose, He does not depend on them massively or individually. He would accomplish his purpose with those who believe him.
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David Bently Hart, No Shadow of Turning: On Devine Impassibility.
Gloria L. Schaab, Oxford University Press, The Creative Suffering of the Triune God: An Evolutionary Theology.
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