The Emotions of God: Making Sense of a God Who Hates, Weeps, and Loves

This rigorous study by Lamb (God Behaving Badly), a professor of Old Testament at Missio Seminary, looks at the emotionality of God. “Emotions are divine,” Lamb contends, examining the “seven emotions that are most frequently associated with God in the Bible”: hate, anger, jealousy, sorrow, joy, compassion, and love. He digs into how each of the seven emotions are used throughout the Bible, unpacking the books of Amos and Psalms to suggest that God’s hatred of sin is the flip side of his love of justice and righteousness. The author pushes back against the notion that emotions compromise rational thought, noting that righteous anger can compel leaders to fight for justice. God’s compassion “naturally leads to acts of mercy and kindness,” Lamb posits, adding that Jesus’s insistence on feeding 5,000 people even as he grieved the death of his cousin sets an example for followers to prioritize caring for others. The sharp exegesis offers fresh insights into what it means for God to feel, though lay readers might gloss over the dense material on the original Greek and Hebrew words for the seven emotions. Still, this keen analysis enlightens. (Nov.)