Book Review: Divine Impassibility

Does God have emotions? Does God change? These are questions that seem to be asked for quite some time. There are some who believe God does not have emotions as mankind does. There also some believe that God changes as the culture changes.

There are four views that address these issues which are addressed in the book, Divine Impassibility, which are Strong Impassibility, Qualified Impassibility, Strong Passibility, and Qualified Passibility. Each one of these views is address by four different individuals set in a debate style where one gives his view followed by the other men giving a response. Basically, instead of watching a debate on YouTube, you are actually reading one.

James E. Dolezal argues for the strong impassibility view which states that God does not experience emotional change. Daniel Castelo argues for the qualified impassibility view which says God cannot be affected by anything that is outside his will. John C. Peckham addresses the qualified possibility view that says God does indeed experience emotional change because his creation experiences them as well. Finally, Jay Oord gives us the strong possibility view which states that mankind brings genuine emotional change which causes God to experience emotional change.

Some of you may have already made up your mind as to where you stand on this issue based on the information I just gave. Before you dismiss any of these view, it is important you understand where they are coming from. Each one gives his own interpretation of the Bible to make their case just as in any good theological debate. If you are unfamiliar with these views and want to know more about them, this book is for you. If you hold to one view and want to know what others have said, then pick up and read this book.

Thanks InterVarsity Press for letting me review this book.