passibility
Definition
Passibility is the theological attribute denoting that God is susceptible to suffering, being affected, and pain. The term stands against the classical doctrine of impassibilitas Dei — the claim that God is unmoved and unaffected by the suffering in creation. In this corpus, the classical impassibility doctrine is contested: God is not unmoved, but a living, participating God who moves with the suffering of his creation.
Distinction from theopaschism: Passibility as a divine attribute is broader than theopaschism (the claim that God specifically suffered in the crucifixion of the Son). Passibility encompasses God’s capacity for suffering as a general property; theopaschism is the application of that capacity to the crucifixion event.
Uses per Author
George Warnock
Warnock is the most explicit advocate of God’s passibility in this corpus. In The Hyssop that Springeth Out of the Wall he argues that the Father suffered together with the Son on the cross:
“And when He hung upon the cross… it was not that God the Father stood aloof from the cries of His Son as He underwent this unspeakable suffering… but in the truest sense of the word, God the Father Himself felt the pain of every nail that was driven through His hands, and every thorn that pierced His brow.”
(The Hyssop that Springeth Out of the Wall, hyssop2.html)
In Who Are You? Warnock extends God’s passibility to his long-suffering with evil in the world:
“We know about human suffering; but we do not realize that God SUFFERS, AND THAT HE HAS LONG SUFFERED with the evil in the hearts of people. He has endured patience and longsuffering beyond our ability to comprehend.”
(Who Are You?, ch. 7, section “The Travail of God”)
Warnock cites Rom. 9:22 as biblical evidence:
“What if God, willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?” (Rom. 9:22)
(ibid.)
Warnock also employs the image of God as a woman in labor from Isa. 42:14:
“For a long time I have held My peace; I have kept still and restrained Myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor; I will gasp and pant.” (Isa. 42:14)
(Who Are You?, ch. 7, section “The Travail of God”)
Stephen Jones
Jones implies passibility through his claim that God holds himself accountable as Creator. An accountable God is by definition affected by the suffering in his creation:
“God holds himself ultimately responsible and liable for the actions and salvation of His creation. That is one reason why He came to pay the penalty for sin Himself.”
(Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 11)
In The Restoration of All Things Jones rejects the notion of a God indifferent to the fate of his creation:
“This is really a question about the extent of the love of God. Does He love everything that He created?”
(The Restoration of All Things, ch. 7)
Tension
Passibility stands in tension with the classical impassibilitas Dei doctrine, as confessed in the Westminster Confession (God is “without body, parts, or passions”). Warnock acknowledges this tension explicitly but rejects the classical formulation as unbiblical.