I thought
this a very helpful talk from The Revd Dr Lee Gatiss, which is worth 30 minutes
of your time. It could help us not only with the issue at hand but also how to
read and understand what the Bible says about anything:
God does not
have passions, as Article One of the Thirty Nine Articles of the Church of England
testifies.
God does not
have emotions as we have. He has no body, no chemical reactions in his brain.
He is timelessly
eternal.
He does not
change.
He has no
moods. He does not sulk or fly off the handle. He is never sleepy or hungry or
sick and therefore grumpy.
He is not acted
upon from outside against his will as we are. We cannot force or blackmail God
or make him feel bad.
The Triune God
is always perfectly full and happy, entirely rich and satisfied. He has a
complete and perfect inner life which he has from himself. As the uncreated
creator of all things, we should never imagine him as needy, helplessly longing
for our love. Creation is an overflow of the generous grace and goodness of God.
It does not flow from any lack in God but rather, we might say, from a kind of
excess. God’s life loves to spread and grow and bless.
The Bible
uses accommodated, metaphorical, analogical language to speak of God, rather as
parent or nanny might speak to a child. What God’s word says is true and
flawless communication but never totally literal or univocal. The Bible is
clear and effective in its communication, but we need to take it as a whole and
not press one part against another (Article 20).
God is ineffable
and incomprehensible to us. We cannot know him fully. Yet he has chosen to
reveal himself and be known by us.
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