Foreknowledge & Divine Emotions

A Further Exploration into the Emotional Life of a Passible God

Abstract

In this essay, we move to further advance the work done on God and emotions by RT Mullins, exploring the role exhaustive divine foreknowledge plays as it relates to God’s emotional life. Given our preliminary investigation at the intersection of divine foreknowledge and divine emotion, and focusing specifically on the neoclassical theistic conception of God, we argue that in light of God’s foreknowledge, his emotional life is weaker when compared to that of his creation. Moreover, we argue that this is an unwanted conclusion, and provide options that allow for the neoclassical theist to avoid it. That said, our primary aim is one of exploration: Should divine foreknowledge play a role in how we understand God’s emotional life? Given our analysis, we answer in the affirmative.