Description
Book SynopsisThe Suffering of the Impassible God provides a major reconsideration of the issue of divine suffering and divine emotions in the early Church Fathers. Patristic writers are commonly criticized for falling prey to Hellenistic philosophy and uncritically accepting the claim that God cannot suffer or feel emotions. Gavrilyuk shows that this view represents a misreading of evidence. In contrast, he construes the development of patristic thought as a series of dialectical turning points taken to safeguard the paradox of God''s voluntary and salvific suffering in the Incarnation.
Trade ReviewIt is heartening to read a book that one agrees with and even more so when it is a scholarly work on a controversial issue. Gavrilyuk's monograph is just such a work. * Journal of Early Christian Studies *
Gavrilyuk has written an excellent book suitable not only for scholars but for students as well. * Journal of Early Christian Studies *
Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Testing the fall into Hellenistic philosophy theory ; 2. The function of divine impassibility in patristic theology ; 3. The reality of Christ's suffering defended in the struggle with Docetism ; 4. Patripassian controversy: the Son, not God the Father, is the subject of the Incarnation ; 5. The orthodox response to Arianism: involvement in suffering does not diminish Christ's divinity ; 6. The case of Cyril against Nestorius: a theology of divine self-emptying ; Conclusion
