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To: kosta50; blue-duncan; Dr. Eckleburg; Forest Keeper
Never thought I'd be referencing this one, but FWIW:

From Chapter Two of THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION OF FAITH (1646)

Of God, and of the Holy Trinity.
I. There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, for his won glory, most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek him; and withal most just and terrible in his judgments; hating all sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty.
It's no "Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith" but seems to agree on the without passions part anyway...
6,025 posted on 09/12/2007 12:39:24 AM PDT by D-fendr
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To: D-fendr; kosta50; blue-duncan; Dr. Eckleburg
From Chapter Two of THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION OF FAITH (1646)

[D-fendr's emphasis is bolded, FK's is underlined]

Of God, and of the Holy Trinity. I. There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, for his won glory, most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek him; and withal most just and terrible in his judgments; hating all sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty.

It's no "Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith" but seems to agree on the without passions part anyway...

Thefreedictionary.com defines "passion" as: "1. A powerful emotion, such as love, joy, hatred, or anger." So, we seem to have a problem here. God cannot love and be passionless at the same time. One solution would be to interpret "passion" in the Confession to refer to the weaknesses of passion that humans so often fall into. That would make the most sense to me. One cannot love if one's whole being is dispassionate.

6,127 posted on 09/13/2007 4:37:54 AM PDT by Forest Keeper (It is a joy to me to know that God had my number, before He created numbers.)
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