The Suffering of the Impassible God: The Dialectics of Patristic Thought (Oxford Early Christian Studies) - Softcover

Gavrilyuk, Paul L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199297118 ISBN 13: 9780199297115

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2006

Synopsis

This book 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.

About this title

Review:

It 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)

Synopsis:

The 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.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0199297118
• ISBN 13: 9780199297115
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224