The Impassibility of God

Classic Christian orthodoxy teaches that God is impassible — that is, not subject to suffering, pain, or involuntary passions. In the words of the Westminster Confession of Faith, God is "without body, parts, or passions, immutable." The doctrine of the passibility of God has to do with the theology of the “suffering” of God. Does God suffer? Can He truly feel emotional pain?

"Those who predicate any change whatsoever of God, whether with respect to his essence, knowledge, or will, diminish all his attributes: independence, simplicity, eternity, omniscience, and omnipotence. This robs God of his divine nature, and religion of its firm foundation and assured comfort." (Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, 2:158)

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