Pathos

So the Lord was sorry that He had made mankind on the earth, and He was grieved ^[g]in His heart.  Genesis 6:6  NASB

Was sorry – There is perhaps no greater theological conundrum than God’s emotional expressions.  Divine emotions are the ultimate stumbling block for Western philosophical theology.  No, it’s not the problem of evil, nor is it why bad things happen to good people.  It’s that God feels.  As you know, the doctrine of God’s perfection, summarized in the via negativa, declares that God cannot change because any change in God implies either that He was not perfect before the change or that He has lost perfection after the change.  Defined in this way, divine perfection eradicates emotion because emotions always change.  Theologically, this implication of perfection is called impassibility.  It is the emotional corollary of immutability.  And it means that verse like this one must be explained away!  Usually by designating such verses as anthropomorphisms, that is, sayings intended to make us feel better but which are not actual representations of God’s reality.

You’ve never heard anyone preach about the doctrine of impassibility.  It would be a disaster to do so.  Proclaimed from the pulpit, it would mean that God really doesn’t feel anything at all.  Logically (based on perfection) He can’t.  That wouldn’t go over very well with the parishioners.  Who would want a God who couldn’t feel?  Ah, now you might have some insight into why the Catholic church venerates Mary.  At least she is human.  She feels.  Once Jesus is elevated to God-status, doesn’t he also become “perfect,” and therefore impassible?  The Church needs Mary in order to have at least one person who knows what happens to us.

It hardly comes as a surprise that Jewish thinkers are less inclined to impassibility.  They treat the Scriptures as real expressions about God’s character, and they note that the texts are filled with a feeling God.  Roderick Logan summarizes this shift in his comments about trauma:

Theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel suggests that divine pathos—God’s emotional responsiveness to human behavior—reveals the ultimate significance of human ethical choices. From this perspective, divine laughter represents not cruelty but clarity about the ultimate futility of abusive power. When leaders attempt to “break the cords” of ethical constraint, they set themselves against reality itself. The laughter described in Psalm 2 thus affirms that abusive power, however devastating in the moment, cannot redefine moral reality.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks[1] further develops this theme in his exploration of covenant and resilience in Jewish thought. He suggests that biblical wisdom consistently emphasizes the dangers of unchecked power and the importance of ethical constraints on authority. The “bonds” and “cords” that the rebellious kings seek to cast off in Psalm 2 represent necessary ethical limitations. Divine laughter thus becomes a powerful affirmation that justice remains in force despite human attempts to escape accountability.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks offers a helpful perspective on prosperity in his commentary on Psalm 1: “The righteous person is not one who experiences no suffering… Rather, the righteous person is one who, even in the midst of suffering, maintains faith in God’s justice and compassion.”[2]  For survivors of religious trauma, prosperity might mean developing resilience, finding meaning despite suffering, and creating a life aligned with authentic values rather than imposed religious demands.

This understanding resonates with research on psychological well-being. According to Ryff and Singer[3], psychological well-being encompasses purpose in life, personal growth, positive relationships, autonomy, environmental mastery, and self-acceptance. For survivors of religious trauma, developing these dimensions of well-being represents a form of prosperity that transcends simplistic definitions of success.

Trauma is not about the event, big or small. Trauma is about people. Trauma occurs when a person cannot find their baseline of safety or does not have the relationships necessary for finding their baseline. It is particularly impactful when those believed to be a secure connection are the ones who betray you. According to van der Kolk, “trauma results in a fundamental reorganization of the way mind and brain manage perceptions. It changes not only how we think and what we think about, but also our very capacity to think.”[4]  This reorganization affects the entire nervous system, creating patterns of dysregulation that persist long after the traumatic events have ended. As Levine explains, “Trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside in the absence of an empathetic witness.”[5] This definition highlights the importance of supportive relationships in healing from trauma, particularly religious trauma, where communities have often been sources of both harm and potential healing. Herman further emphasizes that “the core experiences of psychological trauma are disempowerment and disconnection from others.” [6]  In religious contexts, this disconnection is especially profound when it involves separation from one’s spiritual foundation and family simultaneously.

Have you experienced the religious trauma of realizing that Western theology fundamentally believes God’s emotions are a façade, a fiction needed to encourage believers that God actually experiences what we feel?  Does it upset your apple cart to realize that this idea finds its roots in Greek philosophy, not in the Hebrew text?  Does it make you feel disconnected from your faith community, your spiritual family, to find yourself on a journey away from Western thinking?

Does God feel?  It seems like such a simple question—until it propels us into religious trauma.

Topical Index: trauma, feelings, emotions, impassibility, perfection, pathos, Genesis 6:6

[1] Sacks, J. (2015). Not in God’s name: Confronting religious violence. Schocken Books.

[2] Sacks, J. (2020). Morality: Restoring the common good in divided times (Basic Books, 2020), p. 123.

[3] Ryff, C. D., & Singer, B. H. (2008). Know thyself and become what you are: A eudaimonic approach to psychological well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9(1), 13-39.

[4] Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, p. 21.

[5] Levine, P. A., In an unspoken voice: How the body releases trauma and restores goodness (North Atlantic Books), p. 19.

[6] Herman, J. L., Trauma and recovery: The aftermath of violence—from domestic abuse to political terror. (Basic Books, 1992), p. 133.