The impassability of God, the way Steve explained it, is that God does not experience emotions. Now, at first glance, I agree with Steve's conclusion. When we read the Scriptures it seems quite plain that God expresses certain emotions in response to His relations with human beings. I wonder, though, if this is merely anthropomorphism at its best.
Wikipedia defines the doctrine of impassibility as follows:
I have begun to consider this doctrine more due to some statements in James chapter 1.wikipedia wrote:Impassibility (from Latin in-, "not", passibilis, "able to suffer, experience emotion") describes the theological doctrine that God does not experience pain or pleasure from the actions of another being. It has often been seen as a consequence of divine aseity, the idea that God is absolutely independent of any other being, i.e., in no way causally dependent. Being affected (literally made to have a certain emotion, affect) by the state or actions of another would seem to imply causal dependence.
These verses seem to teach that God is not the originator of sin, but that it is our own desires which draw us into sin. The consequences of death are not from God, but are from the effect of sin coming from within us and outside of us. Therefore we can say that sin is the cause of death, and that death is not a "punishment" from God, but a punishment from sin. God is not even shaken by evil, and His character remains completely pure despite the appearance of evil. He cannot be shaken or tempted. His character remains pure and strong... unmoved.
This idea of the unchangeable character of God seems to be further developed. God is a giver of good and perfect gifts, and there is no variation or shadow of turning with Him. This kind of language seems to indicate that God cannot be varied. That is, His character cannot become dependent on outside causes. He cannot turn from being angry to joyful, or happy to displeased. God's character does not vary and does not shift like shadows. We can infer this by a simple understanding of the nature of God's attributes, namely, His infinitude. If God is infinite, then all of His attributes are infinite. Certainly His emotions belong in the category of His attributes. If God has infinite emotions, then His emotions are equally distributed, and cannot change... they are infinitely steady and equal. They do not vary. This is difficult to conceive in our finite minds, but this must be the case for an infinite, uncaused omnipotent Being. Therefore, all the ways God reveals His emotions to us in the Bible must be anthropomorphic in nature. I'm not saying God does not experience emotion, but I'm saying that God's emotions cannot vary due to His infinitude and self-existence. If they did vary, it would seem to point to a weakness in God, which His omnipotence does not allow for.
Any thoughts? Is it possible to keep the idea of God's emotions changing without hindering His infinite attributes?