Synopses & Reviews
The question of whether or not God suffers whether his very deity places him beyond the reach of suffering and evil has serious implications as to how we can correctly perceive human suffering. Though classical doctrine had long held that God is impassible that is, that he does not suffer most twentieth century theologians assert just the opposite, declaring instead that God suffers and in so doing shows true solidarity with the suffering of human beings. Some contemporary theologians, however, have begun to once again argue forcefully in favor of divine impassibility. / James F. Keating and Thomas Joseph White have gathered here a selection of essays that consider how Gods suffering or lack thereof can relate to our redemption from and through human suffering. The contributors Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox tread carefully but surely over this thorny ground, defending diverse and often opposing perspectives. Divine Impassibility and the Mystery of Human Suffering is an excellent contribution to the latest stage in this difficult and important theological controversy.
Synopsis
Does God suffer? If not, or if so, how does the mystery of God relate to the mystery of human suffering? Renowned contemporary Christian theologians Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox here discuss and debate the controversial question of Gods impassibility.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Divine impassibility in contemporary theology / James F. Keating and Thomas Joseph White -- The immutability of the God of love and the problem of language concerning the "suffering of God" / Gilles Emery -- "One suffering, in two natures" : an analogical inquiry into divine and human suffering / Gary Culpepper -- God and human suffering : his act of creation and his acts in history / Thomas G. Weinandy -- Ipse pater non est impassibilis / Robert W. Jenson -- God's impassible suffering in the flesh : the promise of paradoxical Christology / Paul L. Gavrilyuk -- Divine impassibility or simply divine constancy? : implications of Karl Barth's later Christology for debates over impassibility / Bruce L. McCormack -- Impassibility in St. Hilary of Poitiers's De trinitate / Trent Pomplun -- St. Thomas Aquinas, the communication of idioms, and the suffering of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane / Paul Gondreau -- The dereliction of Christ and the impassibility of God / Bruce D. Marshall -- Impassibility as transcendence : on the infinite innocence of God / David Bentley Hart -- Divine providence and the mystery of human suffering / Avery Cardinal Dulles.