Friday, June 13, 2014

Humor and Immutability

Often theologians will express statements like, "God is immutable [unchangeable] therefore he cannot have humor or experience emotion."

It is not only bad theology it is bad logic. First the bible does seem to indicate that God is perfect and unchanged. Second the bible does seem to indicate that God laughs, has a sense of humor, and experiences emotion.

You see this is one of the issues of carrying human logic when doing theology. People are changed by events happening to them since we are in flux. Thus if God experiences he is changed.

You see the issue of course is that there is an essence of a person and the things that happen to them. My essence is not exactly changed many times by this or that joke or comment.

You see experiencing emotion in no way necessitates a change of the essence of a person or being. This is of course the great chagrin to parents who wish their children would learn from mistakes!

You see often human essence is not at all affected by experience in the way it should be. God too is not affected by emotion in the form of a change of essence because he is in his perfect state.

You see experience is something that happens. It does not necessitate change in essence.

Another point of course is that experience for people adds knowledge. To God who knows all things as eternally present, however, experience does not even add to knowledge.

He already knows and is not discovering as we are. What is next in history to people is already present to God.

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