Does God have emotion?

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I’m having a discussion with a few people about whether or not God has emotion.

I know in parts of the Bible it says God is angered, offended, or hates something, etc. But perhaps this is just putting it in language we can understand?

It’s a fine line, trying to differentiate between God not being affected by things, and saying God is emotionless. I know that God is love, and I have experienced his love in so many ways in my life. But can he really be affected by any emotion? Wouldn’t that say that he can change?

Also if you could refer to any sources for the answer, such as the Bible, Catechism, or anything like that, that’d be very helpful.
 
Nope- God doesn’t have emotion.

Here is what Aquinas says in the Summa First Part, Question 20, Reply to objection 1-

The cognitive faculty**(The Intellect)** does not move except through the medium of the appetitive (Inclination of the soul): and just as in ourselves the universal reason (The final reason something is done)moves through the medium of the particular reason(i.e.- other little reasons along the way to the final end), as stated in De Anima iii, 58,75, so in ourselves the intellectual appetite, or the will (The faculty of choice) as it is called, moves through the medium of the sensitive appetite. Hence, in us the sensitive appetite is the proximate motive-force of our bodies (Our sensitive appetite is our emotions/passions). Some bodily change (emotions)therefore always accompanies an act of the sensitive appetite, and this change affects especially the heart, which, as the Philosopher says (De part. animal. iii, 4), is the first principle of movement in animals (Man is a rational animal- God is not.). Therefore acts of the sensitive appetite, inasmuch as they have annexed to them some bodily change, are called passions(i.e.- our acts of emotion are due to our bodies, and so we call them passions); whereas acts of the will are not so called**(the will is not part of the body, but of the soul)**. Love, therefore, and joy and delight are passions; in so far as they denote acts of the intellective appetite, they are not passions. **(Love/Joy/Delight are a result of the intellect, not the body)**It is in this latter sense that they are in God. Hence the Philosopher says (Ethic. vii): “God rejoices by an operation that is one and simple,” and for the same reason He loves without passion.

👍

*My commentary is in bold.
 
seeker_of_God said:
I’m having a discussion with a few people about whether or not God has emotion.

I know in parts of the Bible it says God is angered, offended, or hates something, etc. But perhaps this is just putting it in language we can understand?

It’s a fine line, trying to differentiate between God not being affected by things, and saying God is emotionless. I know that God is love, and I have experienced his love in so many ways in my life. But can he really be affected by any emotion? Wouldn’t that say that he can change?

Also if you could refer to any sources for the answer, such as the Bible, Catechism, or anything like that, that’d be very helpful.
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I might not spell this correctly but, does the GARDEN OF GESTHEMENE help at all?
You must know what I’m talking about? That place where christ had a bit of a break down. Also - think about the time the curtains tore in two after christ dies. And the fact that God cannot face sin. He said before the great flood “I am sad that I have made them.” He was talking about humanity. Hense he said -; “I am sad that I have made them.”:bighanky:

Helpfull or not…?🤷
 
Christ has emotions in his human nature- thus he did feel during the garden.

However, when it says God is sad- that is not used in the sense that God has a body- but rather metaphorically- or like effects (such as we say God is sad because we know that sin is displeasing to him).
 
There is no way to find out for sure. But I think He has emotion, but perhaps in a different way to us. The scriptures are full of describing God’s feelings and emotions. God made us in His image, not nessesary the same physical image but in a spiritual image, so this might suggest that He gave us His emotions, the only difference is our anger and our negative feelings are not influenced by the devil. God has no influence of evil and therefore would not have the emotions that depraive the soul like us, when He speaks of anger and hate, it is an anger and a hate without evil influence. Another point is, Jesus is God created as a man, He is part of the Trinity which is part of one God. We can see clearly in the scriptures that Jesus has feelings of sadness, anguish and love. He is still a man, in heaven and is complete with the Trinity.

These are just my thoughts, but we cannot grasp the fullness of God. We only know what has been given to us. We can always speculate, but we will never know until we are united with God.

God Bless
 
Hi Zundra,

Jesus has emotions because he is not only God, he is also man. He cried when Lazarus died, and he was scared by the prospect of his passion and death.

But God is unchangeable; He cannot be happy then sad. It is hard for us to think of love without emotion, but we do things we don’t like for love. There can be love without emotion. God is love because the life of the Trinity is the ultimate in giving and receiving of one’s own person. And God’s act of creation is also love because it is transmitting part of that life to us.

Verbum
 
fecistinosadte said:
Nope- God doesn’t have emotion.

Here is what Aquinas says in the Summa First Part, Question 20, Reply to objection 1-

The cognitive faculty**(The Intellect)** does not move except through the medium of the appetitive (Inclination of the soul): and just as in ourselves the universal reason (The final reason something is done)moves through the medium of the particular reason(i.e.- other little reasons along the way to the final end), as stated in De Anima iii, 58,75, so in ourselves the intellectual appetite, or the will (The faculty of choice) as it is called, moves through the medium of the sensitive appetite. Hence, in us the sensitive appetite is the proximate motive-force of our bodies (Our sensitive appetite is our emotions/passions). Some bodily change (emotions)therefore always accompanies an act of the sensitive appetite, and this change affects especially the heart, which, as the Philosopher says (De part. animal. iii, 4), is the first principle of movement in animals (Man is a rational animal- God is not.). Therefore acts of the sensitive appetite, inasmuch as they have annexed to them some bodily change, are called passions(i.e.- our acts of emotion are due to our bodies, and so we call them passions); whereas acts of the will are not so called**(the will is not part of the body, but of the soul)**. Love, therefore, and joy and delight are passions; in so far as they denote acts of the intellective appetite, they are not passions. **(Love/Joy/Delight are a result of the intellect, not the body)**It is in this latter sense that they are in God. Hence the Philosopher says (Ethic. vii): “God rejoices by an operation that is one and simple,” and for the same reason He loves without passion.

👍

*My commentary is in bold.
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Thanks. That paragraph was very confusing, but I think I got the basic idea.

I think the way I understand it right now is that love, joy, etc are in God’s nature, which does not change. He always loves, etc. Similarly, he always is offended by sin; that does not change. But to say he is angry, sad, or some other emotion would be a temporary state, which is impossible since he is changeless.

Does it seem this is mostly correct?
 
Verbum said:
Hi Zundra,

Jesus has emotions because he is not only God, he is also man. He cried when Lazarus died, and he was scared by the prospect of his passion and death.

But God is unchangeable; He cannot be happy then sad. It is hard for us to think of love without emotion, but we do things we don’t like for love. There can be love without emotion. God is love because the life of the Trinity is the ultimate in giving and receiving of one’s own person. And God’s act of creation is also love because it is transmitting part of that life to us.

Verbum
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But how can he not have emotions? He does get angry in the old testament.
How can he not be emotional? But then again, emotions are caused by hormones aren’t they? And hormones are an Earthly human thing.
 
LiamUK said:
There is no way to find out for sure. But I think He has emotion, but perhaps in a different way to us.
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Nope, an emotion is a physiological change. Even taking the requirement of a body out of the picture, it is still a response.

God is unchanging, there is nothing that can change God. Since He already knows all, there is nothing that can surprise God, no evil that He did not already know from the dawn of time, no action that would cause Him to love more, as He is love itself.

In fact there is nothing that could ‘cause’ God to do do or feel anything as God is the source of causality, not it’s subject.

To say that God is subject to emotion denies his Omnipotence.
 
seeker_of_God said:
Thanks. That paragraph was very confusing, but I think I got the basic idea.

I think the way I understand it right now is that love, joy, etc are in God’s nature, which does not change. He always loves, etc. Similarly, he always is offended by sin; that does not change. But to say he is angry, sad, or some other emotion would be a temporary state, which is impossible since he is changeless.

Does it seem this is mostly correct?
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Yep 🙂
 
Hi Zundra,

But how can he not have emotions? He does get angry in the old testament.How can he not be emotional? But then again, emotions are caused by hormones aren’t they? And hormones are an Earthly human thing.

I think you pretty much answered your own question. As for God being angry etc,. the Bible attributes to God human emotions so we can better understand a situation that is described.

Verbum
 
Brendan said:
Nope, an emotion is a physiological change. Even taking the requirement of a body out of the picture, it is still a response.

God is unchanging, there is nothing that can change God. Since He already knows all, there is nothing that can surprise God, no evil that He did not already know from the dawn of time, no action that would cause Him to love more, as He is love itself.

In fact there is nothing that could ‘cause’ God to do do or feel anything as God is the source of causality, not it’s subject.

To say that God is subject to emotion denies his Omnipotence.
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What I put forth are some possibilities that God might have emotion. I don’t know how people can be so certain about these things concerning God. All we have is what we have been allowed to recieve and know. Beyond that point is speculation. But… if we were made in Gods image thats suggests that some attributes we have are shared with God.
 
Hi Liam,

Thre are no possibilities that God might have emotions. It goes against reason because emotions are organic. God has no body. He cannot have organic reactions. Additionally, God is perfect, which means, He lacks nothing. If he were to go from one state (unemotional) to another (emotional), it would show that he lacked something, which is impossible. Here from the Catechism of the Catholic Church :
2086 “The first commandment embraces faith, hope, and charity. When we say ‘God’ we confess a constant, unchangeable being, always the same, faithful and just, without any evil. It follows that we must necessarily accept his words and have complete faith in him and acknowledge his authority. He is almighty, merciful, and infinitely beneficent. Who could not place all hope in him? Who could not love him when contemplating the treasures of goodness and love he has poured out on us? Hence the formula God employs in the Scripture at the beginning and end of his commandments: ‘I am the LORD**.’”**
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Verbum
 
Verbum said:
Hi Liam,

Thre are no possibilities that God might have emotions. It goes against reason because emotions are organic. God has no body. He cannot have organic reactions. Additionally, God is perfect, which means, He lacks nothing. If he were to go from one state (unemotional) to another (emotional), it would show that he lacked something, which is impossible. Here from the Catechism of the Catholic Church :

Verbum
Click to expand...
Ok God is unchangeable I know. but doesn’t God feel sadness when he sees his creation doing such abominable things like war and abortion? We cannot understand God, we can’t understand that God has always been. Our minds cannot process the thought of God coming from nothing… yet I accept it. Just like I can’t understand how Gods mind works, but God loves us he sent Jesus because he loves us… that I know. Jesus was a man, he had emotion, and He rose body and soul into heaven, and Jesus has always been. Jesus is the word, that was from the beggining and God’s word was made flesh. We know that God is made up of the Trinity and it has always been the Trinity. All 3 beings work together, including Jesus, who is man, who is an emotional being. Anyway, I think I’ll talk to my priest about this issue. I don’t think the Catholic chuch has any formal stance on this. If I cannot find an answer from the church, i’ll just have to accept that I won’t know until I am united with God (God willing).
 
Of course God has emotions. Why wouldn’t he? God gets angry and sad. He becomes pleased and joyful. God created human beings and we have emotions. Are emotions the result of original sin? If they are then Mary never suffered at the sight of her son.

God can feel pity, as he did for human kind. The sacrifice upon the cross is the ultimate act of love for humans. If God is an emotionless God then how can he be a loving one (though love is more than an emotion). Still God is love. God has feelings just like us.
 
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