Thoughts on Emotions

This article is an overview of my understanding from the Scriptures regarding emotions. As this is not exhaustive, the readers may have questions and wish to find out more about my arguments. A civil discourse is welcome in the comments section for the mutual benefit of everyone. My friend, Marcus Chui, whose view is similar to mine also contributed to this article.

Introduction

Emotion is defined as a sudden disruption, disturbance or fluctuation of the ordinary calm state of the mind which, in itself, is not necessarily sinful. However, it can hinder, distort, or eradicate rational thinking if a person is emotional unto sin or overwhelmed by sin. An emotional person is unstable in his mind.[1] Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines emotion as a conscious mental reaction (such as anger or fear) subjectively experienced as strong feeling usually directed toward a specific object and typically accompanied by physiological and behavioral changes in the body.[2] Gordon H. Clark is correct in saying that:

Acting under the stress of emotion we usually act blindly. An emotionally overwrought student, having had a spat with his sweetheart, can’t memorize the Greek irregular verbs or solve a problem in physics. Nor can he do theology. We must meditate and be still.[3]

Judas was emotional unto sin and was not thinking rationally which led to his suicide. On the other hand, Jesus, in His human nature, wept and yet He never once sinned, including in the realm of His emotions.

In contrast to what is commonly believed, I believe that emotion is not a faculty of the soul. There are only two faculties of the soul: the intellect and the will. One simple reason is the Bible encourages us to think biblically and rationally with our mind (the intellect) before we act (the will) without fleeting emotions or feelings affecting our decision. Psalm 4:4 commands us to do the intellectual exercise of still meditation which can only be done when the emotions are minimized. It is no meditation at all when a Christian just keeps crying in his prayer without thinking of and meditating on biblical propositions. A person of good character is judged by what his heart or mind thinks, not what his emotion dictates (Prov. 23:7). Furthermore, Proverbs 23:7 provides definition of a person: the one who thinks in his heart.[4]

All men are made in the image of the Logos. “1 In the beginning was the Word (Logos), and the Word (Logos) was with God, and the Word (Logos) was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” (John 1:1-9). John 1:4 speaks of the Logos (where we obtained the word “Logic”) who is also Life Himself as being the light of every man without exception. John 1:9 also speaks of the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. The sense of verse nine seems to be that Christ enlightens every man ever born by having created him with an intellectual and moral endowment.[5] This light cannot be speaking about salvific enlightenment because the context is about the creation in general (v.3) and God, the Life, being the giver of life to all men (v.4). It must be about man made in the image of God. The Logos emphasizes the mind, reason, rationality, wisdom, logic and will without any hint of emotions. To claim that emotion has to do with the Logos is to imply that God is not impassible and can be disrupted in His calm state of mind. God is all-rational which leaves no room for emotions. God has neither body parts nor passions. To be blunt, He has no feelings. This does not mean that God has no love and compassion as they are not based on emotions. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24), not emotion. Those places then in Scripture that some might see as attributing emotions to God, it’s called anthropopathisms (human emotions attributed to God as a literary device) or volitions (acts of will)[6].

Gordon H. Clark explains the nature of the Logos:

The law of contradiction is not to be taken as an axiom prior to or independent of God. The law is God thinking. For this reason, also the law of contradiction is not subsequent to God. If one should say that logic is dependent on God’s thinking, it is dependent only in the sense that it is the characteristic of God’s thinking. It is not subsequent temporally, for God is eternal and there was never a time when God existed without thinking logically. One must not suppose that God’s will existed as an inert substance before he willed to think. As there is no temporal priority, so also there is no logical or analytical priority. Not only was Logic the beginning, but Logic was God. If this unusual translation of John’s Prologue still disturbs someone, he might yet allow that God is his thinking. God is not a passive or potential substratum; he is actuality or activity. This is the philosophical terminology to express the Biblical idea that God is a living God. Hence logic is to be considered as the activity of God’s willing.[7]

Therefore, our soul is made in the image of God who is rational, not emotional. If there is one word to describe humans as the image of God, it would be “rational”. Emotion is not part of the image of God. This then leads to a question: is emotion necessary in worship? John 4:24 has spoken. Emotion is unnecessary and often involuntary. Repentance and salvation are not defined by an emotional outburst under a continuous play of music, but by the mind’s understanding and assent to the biblical doctrines of the Gospel. This may trigger emotional individuals who call themselves Christians and rub them the wrong way, especially those in the charismatic movement which places significant emphasis on experiences and testimonies over and above Scripture.

 

The Origin of Emotions

Where did emotion come from then? It came to this world the moment Adam fell as a consequence of sin. It is part of the noetic effect of sin and therefore it has become an inevitable part of life. There is a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance (Ecclesiastes 3:4). Genesis 2:25 says that during pre-fall, Adam and Eve “were not ashamed” in their nakedness. Genesis 3:8-10 speaks of the post-fall emotion of shame: “And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” The first emotion which Adam and Eve felt was shame from nakedness. It is clear from the verses quoted that emotion came necessarily after the fall. Quoting Gordon H. Clark:

God has no emotions, and his image, man, in his unfallen state, may have been analyzed into intellect and will, knowledge and righteousness. Emotion and disease came in with the fall.[8]

Emotion has to do with the original sin and post-fall flesh and therefore nothing to do with the soul. Before the fall of man, nothing could ever trouble Adam and Eve because everything was good. Nothing could bring them out of their ordinary calm state of mind or stillness. After the fall, emotion is inevitably and most of the time unnecessarily involved in many walks of life. What is meant by emotion being unnecessary is that it does not add any virtue to anything.

 

Emotions in the Incarnate Christ

The Triune God is impassible, but the second person of the Trinity, who is God Himself, became incarnate and put on Himself the nature of sinful flesh in time. He also must become passible in order to be our High Priest. Even though Jesus in His human nature could be emotional, it was never unto sin. Being passible is not a sin in itself. It only becomes sin when we are emotional unto sin. Jesus was perfectly sinless when He walked on this earth though He wept occasionally and was in agony and sweated blood in the Garden of Gethsemane before the occurrence of the greatest evil in history. Jesus never sinned and was still and controlled His emotions perfectly. He thought of the Word of God and prayed to the Father. He was perfectly rational and was still the Logos. He never became the Emotion.

 

 Emotions in Love

Love is not an emotion but a volition. Love is the will to obey the commandment of God. “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). “And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it” (2 John 6). Love then is an act of the will to show favour towards a person regardless of his or her state based on the understanding of God’s commandment to love our neighbours .

Is emotion necessary in love? My answer is no. As it has been shown in John 14:15 and 2 John 6, love is not an emotion but volition. A lack of emotion in love does not make love a lesser love. If love must be accompanied with emotion, God’s love then is not valid because He is impassible. Though emotions in love may have fleeting benefits in this emotion-filled world, it is unnecessary. In fact, emotion in love can be dangerous and often it is not bridled well. For example, an emotional wife may excessively demand absolute attention from the husband. If the husband fails to give a favourable emotional response, she will resent him. Proverbs calls such a wife a contentious woman (Proverbs 21:19; 27:15). It is a common consensus among men that women can be scary at times. In the author’s opinion, it is because of women’s bigger tendency to be emotional, and not because of their physical capabilities which men are superior to women in general. A love between husband and wife must, first of all, be the act of the will to obey God’s commandment to love our neighbours as thyself (Matthew 22:39). Beyond that, it is unnecessary.

Love is the same thing for God. It is His volition to show favour towards His elect based on His own good pleasure and immutable will. His love has no variableness. He loves all His elect with a perfect love that He blesses us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3). There is nothing good in us, yet God still loves His elect with a perfect love.

The Bible tells us to love God with all our mind, heart, soul and might (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Matthew 22:37). It speaks nothing of emotions because these words are synonymous with the intellect and will. Might would imply more on the will. Without the understanding and assent to biblical doctrines, man cannot love and worship God. The seat of religious affections is found in the intellect and will. A Mormon can act emotional and claim to love God while all his doctrines are wrong. Emotion is unnecessary in worship, and it can be dangerous. We must reject emotional religion like the Charismatic movement who put emotions/experience above the Word of God. True Christianity is far from that as it is an intellectual and rational revelational religion.

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[1] Gordon H. Clark, Faith and Saving Faith, Jefferson, MD: The Trinity Foundation, 1983, 2nd Edition 1990, p. 70.

[2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/emotion

[3] Gordon H. Clark, Faith and Saving Faith, Jefferson, MD: The Trinity Foundation, 1983, 2nd Edition 1990, p. 70.

[4] There is no distinction between heart and mind. It is the heart that thinks.

[5] Gordon H. Clark. The Johannine Logos, Second Edition, The Trinity Foundation, 1989, p. 27.

[6] Douglas Douma. A List Of Differences Between The Thought Of Gordon H. Clark And Cornelius Van Til. 2. The Relationship of the Faculties of the Soul. https://www.douglasdouma.com/2016/10/13/a-list-of-differences-between-the-thought-of-gordon-h-clark-and-cornelius-van-til/

[7] Gordon H. Clark. An Introduction to Christian Philosophy. God and Logic, p. 67. The chapter can be found in the link https://www.trinityfoundation.org/journal.php?id=16

[8] Gordon H. Clark. What is Saving Faith?, Faith and Saving Faith, p. 86.