# Act 14:11, 15 and the Impassibility of God



## Minh (Jun 21, 2020)

I am currently working on an assignment related to the Westminster Confession given by my pastor. I am uncertain as to why would Act 14:11, 15 would be cited in the 1st Section of Chapter 2 to support that God is without "passion".

Any help?

Text:


WCF: _"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*,..." (2:1)_
Acts 14:11: _"When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us.”"_
Acts 14:15: _"and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these [l]vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them."_


----------



## NaphtaliPress (Jun 21, 2020)

KJV: And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:

Reactions: Like 2


----------



## arapahoepark (Jun 21, 2020)

Minh said:


> I am currently working on an assignment related to the Westminster Confession given by my pastor. I am uncertain as to why would Act 14:11, 15 would be cited in the 1st Section of Chapter 2 to support that God is without "passion".
> 
> Any help?
> 
> ...


The context is showing that Paul has two premises but only one is stated: 1. Overt: men have passions; 2. Not explicitly stated but implied: God does not.

Reactions: Like 3


----------



## Minh (Jun 21, 2020)

Thanks,

So what does "passion" exactly mean here?


----------



## NaphtaliPress (Jun 21, 2020)

This brings in the doctrine of God's impassibility. Check out Robert Shaw's exposition here: https://reformed.org/documents/shaw/
Here is brief look at impassibility. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/immutability-impassibility-god/

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## RamistThomist (Jun 21, 2020)

Minh said:


> Thanks,
> 
> So what does "passion" exactly mean here?



Any passion is a movement from potency to some actuality. In other words, it implies a lack in God.

Reactions: Like 2


----------



## RamistThomist (Jun 21, 2020)

Strictly speaking, that's not the philosophical definition of a passion, but it is close enough.

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Stephen L Smith (Jun 21, 2020)

I have been studying this issue lately. Here are a few thoughts.

The key point is that God does not possess the same nature as man. He is of a different order of being. Thus there is a creator-creature distinction. The WCF 7:1 is also relevant here.

Thus, God is not subject to passions like man is. That is why Acts 14:15 is so true " Men! Why are you doing these things? We are men also, with the same nature as you". God does not experience inner emotional changes. 

Our unchanging God relates absolutely to his creation as the unchanging God. God cannot grow in His love because He is most loving towards His people in Christ. The encouraging thing is that the repenting sinner can approach God without despair. Humans are unreliable and swayed by passions but God's love is enduring. 

This is why Lamentations 3 says:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”

Reactions: Amen 1


----------



## Wretched Man (Jun 21, 2020)

I’ve been wrestling with this lately. My best application is as a fallible man, my love for my wife, children, and others will be swayed by their behavior. God’s love for me is unchanging and complete. The anger and wrath God has for my sins has been completely directed towards his son in my place.

God also knows exactly who we are. He made us and sovereignly guides us. Nothing will surprise Him. I however continue to learn more about my wife and my children - not all of which is good and it impacts my relationship with them (even though it shouldn’t).

If God’s love towards me was swayed by my behavior, I’d be constantly worrying about my salvation and whether I might push God over the edge. Fortunately I am assured his love is perfected in me (1 John 4:17-18).

Would this be an accurate application for Gods impassibility?


----------



## py3ak (Jun 22, 2020)

Paul refuted the idea that he and Barnabas were Hermes and Zeus, respectively, because on the contrary they were men like the Lycaonians. Their same nature was revealed particularly in having the same _passions_. Susceptibility is one way to think about it, a capacity to be acted upon. Now we are capable of being acted upon, being passive recipients of an action, not only physically or externally but emotionally and internally as well. Circumstances do a lot to produce different emotional states in us; our insides are not very much under control.

Although recent translations render the word ὁμοιοπαθής by "same nature" rather than "like passions" I notice that Paul and Barnabas gave way to the passionate display of tearing their clothes as the visual demonstration of the truth of their words. And in James 5:17, the point is not merely that Elijah was human, but that he suffered under the same human disadvantages as James' readers.

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Stephen L Smith (Jun 23, 2020)

If you want to look at this issue in more depth, one classic Reformed work is "Confessing the Impassible God: The Biblical, Classical, & Confessional Doctrine of Divine Impassibility"


----------



## Stephen L Smith (Jun 23, 2020)

Another resource: Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics vol 2 part 3 is especially helpful. Particularly ch 4, but all of part 3 is helpful.


----------



## PezLad (Jun 23, 2020)

The will of the Father is eternal and immutable, and so our reconciliation with Him in Christ Jesus the King cannot be increased nor decreased, nor our spiritual blessings in Christ increased or diminished. However, the humanity of Christ, his soul and body, can be pleasured and pained by our iniquity and want of conformity unto the Spirit of the King. Not that Christ in His intercession groans as we do, but that in His body on the tree, and his soul, the full measure of our sin did he experience actually and really. We know that we sometimes tempt God, that is sin so that grace may abound, in this in itself is sinful. We are unlike God in that we cannot use evil for good for all that God does he has no desire for iniquity nor experiences want. On the former point, we know that the Spirit of Christ groans with words unutterable, does Christ hence experience the groaning s of His own Spirit in His elect?


----------

