A. Chadwick Thornhill

Summary: A discussion of God's experience of emotions and the possibility of God suffering with views ranging from one of God not changing or experiencing emotion to God, while not changing in nature, is in relation with his creatures and experiences emotions and suffering in those relationships.

Doesn't God hear our cries and feel the pain his people suffer? Many of us would say, "of course," not realizing that many throughout church history may have differed with us. The assertion is that God is impassible, which means that God is not able to suffer or experience pain or pleasure from the acts of others. One may wonder, "why would anyone believe that?" There are actually good reasons. If we believe that God is self-existent, and not dependent upon anything else in the universe for God's existence, then the possibility that the acts or suffering of others could affect God would seem to jeopardize the idea of God's self-existence in recognizing the possibility that other beings may influence or change God in some way.

In this work, a spectrum of four views are considered: strong impassibility (James E Dolezal), qualified impassibility (Daniel Castelo), qualified passibility (John C. Peckham), and strong passibility (Thomas Jay Oord). Each proponent sets forth the basic ideas of their particular view and arguments that support, the other three respond from their perspective, and the proponent makes a final response.

One of the most helpful aspects of this book are the four questions the editors ask each person to respond to. These are:

1. To what extent is God's emotional life analogous (similar and dissimilar) to the human emotional life?
2. Are God's nature, will, and knowledge passible, and to what extent?
3. Do the incarnation and passion of Jesus Christ necessitate passibility?
4. Does human activity (such as prayer) occasion an emotive/volitional response from God?

The introduction to the book provides a chart with summary answers to each question, showing in brief the places where the four views agree and differ. Basically, the strong impassible position would answer all of these "no," while the strong passible position would answer all of these yes.

The qualified positions would answer "no" in some cases, a qualified "yes" or "yes" in others, and hence "qualified." One thing that separates the qualified impassible from the qualified passible is the question of "are God's nature, will, and knowledge passible, and to what extent. The qualified impassible would say only God's nature is passible, and that only to the extent God allows. The qualified passible would say both God's nature and will are passible, but not God's knowledge--that God is voluntarily passible in relation to the world. They also differ on whether and to what extent the human and divine natures of Christ are passible. The qualified impassible would say this is so only temporarily during the incarnation in the context of an impassible God. The qualified passible would say the incarnation reveals both a passible Christ in both natures and a passible God. They would also differ as to whether God is affected by prayer, no, for the qualified impassible along with the strong impassible, yes for the qualified passible along with the strong passible.

It is thus harder to distinguish the qualified positions from each other, while the differences between the "strong" positions are clear. The strong impassible position seems most shaped by extra-biblical theological categories--God's self-existence and actuality, and the logic of these means a refusal to take passages that speak of God's emotions, or God "changing" in response to human acts or pleas at face value. For others, definitional issues and how language is used seems important, and I found myself wondering how this might be worked out if not framed in an impassibility/passibility binary, or dividing God into nature, will, and knowledge as if these are not part of an integral whole.

It does helpfully press the ways in which Creator and creatures are like and unlike. It seems critically important to ask how we are like and unlike God rather than the reverse, which we often do. But this begs the question of both relational and emotional capacities. If our capacities in this regard reflect (albeit in fallen ways) what it is like to be in the image of God, they must find their source in something in the nature of God. How then does a strongly impassible God create passible creatures?

This work is valuable in thinking through our thoughts of God and his relation to his world beyond our sentiments. The thoughtful and yet respectful responses of the participants model good dialogue practices one wishes were more widely evident among Christians who differ. They also respect each other's commitment to orthodoxy and a high view of scripture. For both the content and the character of the discussion, this book is worth a read.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher. The opinions I have expressed are my own.… (mehr)

I have a confession to make: my Greek is awful. In seminary, I was expected to be able to exegete the Greek (and I did) but I focused on Hebrew for my biblical languages credits. My Hebrew is much better than my Greek. Just like Jesus (I can't back that up). However, Greek is the language of the New Testament (the Christian Scriptures) and if you want a handle on what the Bible said in its original context, it is helpful to be able to go back to the Greek.

Chadwick Thornhill is the chair of theological studies and assistant professor of apologetics and biblical studies at Liberty University School of Divinity. He wrote Greek For Everyone: Introductory Greek for Bible Study and Application to help students of the Bible understand how Greek works, so they could be 'better students of the New Testament.' He focuses on morphology, grammar, structural analysis, and introductory interpretive matters (introduction, xi). Unlike typical introductory Greek texts, there isn't an emphasis on learning huge lists of Greek vocab. In all Thornhill instructs readers to memorize only about ninety-two Greek words, His eighteen chapters are focused on understanding the language and how words are put together.

There are commendable things about Thornhill's approach. He walks through the basics of grammar—verbs and nominals, cases, articles, pronouns, adjectives and prepositions, verb moods, infinitives, and participles—comparing similarities between Greek and English sentence construction. If you get a handle on what Thornhill is saying, you will not only parse verbs correctly but be well on your way to reading the New Testament well. He imparts the tools to read words in context well.

I appreciate the fact that he leaves his discussion of word studies until near the end of the book. Too many Bible readers, armed with a Strong's concordance and personal piety, strong-arm the Greek language, interpreting words anachronistically and in keeping with a preconceived theological grid. Thornhill demonstrates that there may be some real value to word studies, but this comes when we can read words in context: in sentences, verses and in wider passages. More helpful than knowing a Greek word, its root meaning, and various senses, is knowing how each word functions in a sentence, and overall argument to convey meaning.

So, I really appreciate Thornhill's approach. Unfortunately, books on language learning lack whimsy. There are parts of this book I had to read and then re-read because my eyes glazed over. This isn't Thornhill's fault. It is an introductory text. You got to learn the building blocks of language before you hear its poetry. I just wish the process was more engaging.

This is a helpful book and I would recommend it especially as a resource for people who have had some Greek and want an at-a-glance refresher on the rudiments of Greek grammar. The chapters are easily navigable for quick reference and Thornhill does a good job of describing the fundamentals of Greek grammar. Secondly, readers who have had some language learning (beyond Koine Greek) will also readily make use of Thornhill's. If readers have no previous language learning, Thornhill does define terms (like normative, vocative, infinitives, participles) but I wonder if a more conventional Greek text (which spends more time with each part of grammar) would be more helpful for the general reader. Thornhill assumes a conceptual framework that a true language novice does not possess. Then again, my imagined linguistic neophyte wouldn't pick up a book on biblical Greek. I think it's worth asking: is this Greek For Everyone? I give it four stars.

Note: I received a complimentary copy from Baker Books in exchange for my honest review.



… (mehr)

Greek for Everyone by A. Chadwick Thornhill presents a unique book on New Testament Greek. His stated goal is to have those reading this book learn "Greek in order to become better students of the Scripture rather than students of Greek." The aim of the book is not to "gain reading proficiency but rather are working to establish the ability to use various tools to study the text in Greek".

And I think that Thornhill accomplishes his goals with this book, he takes you through a basic (though it still seems quite thorough) overview of the various parts of Greek so that you may then use lexicons, parsing guides, and other Greek tools in your Bible study without having to become an expert Greek scholar.

Thornhill starts out by explaining that one of the most important things to do in acquiring a knowledge of Koine Greek that is useful to Bible study is to remember to keep looking for the 'big picture' in a text/passage. One of the interesting points he brings out is that "words do not have meaning", they have ranges of meaning and we only find out what exact meaning an individual word has by looking at the words that surround it, and the words that surround those words…etc. Rows of zeros are used as examples to illustrate this concept. Thornhill states, "More exegetical errors are probably made through haphazard word study than in any of the other steps in the process". I was very pleased that great emphasis is made of the fact that context is VERY important in Bible study.

Thornihill then moves on to quick overviews of Greek phrases, clauses, conjunctions, verbs, nominals, cases, participles, etc. Again, this is mainly so that you will be able to use Greek tools with comprehension in your study without having to memorize the various forms and endings that indicate the word's 'makeup' and thus its meaning and relation to the surrounding words. You will learn what the breakdown that these tools give you means, but mainly so that you know what the lexical aids mean when they break it down for you, not so that you'll break it down yourself. At the end of many of the overviews he gives you some common Biblical Greek words to memorize and then a Greek sentence to practice on using a parsing tool or an analytical lexicon.

All in all, I think that this is an excellent aid for Bible study, and probably more especially a good resource for pastors as well since seminary is SO expensive nowadays (My brother was not able to afford to go to any Seminary, though he had a desire to do so).

Many thanks to the folks at Baker Books for sending me a complimentary review copy of this book! (My review did not have to be favorable)… (mehr)

Title: Greek For Everyone: Introductory Greek for Bible Study and Application
Author: Chadwick Thornhill
Goodreads synopsis:
“Reading the New Testament in its original language is one of the most effective ways to gain a greater understanding of the message of the Bible. Even though Greek is important to preparation for preaching and teaching, many who are called to ministry will not be able to dedicate years of study to master the language. But a lack of mastery of Greek should not exclude us from gleaning important insight and inspiration from reading Scripture in its original language.
Now pastors, Bible study instructors, Sunday school teachers, and serious lay students of the Bible can learn the basics of biblical Greek at their own pace. Greek for Everyone explains how the Greek language works and introduces the Greek alphabet, pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar, equipping readers to understand the original meaning of the New Testament. By focusing on the takeaways that most impact interpretation, this accessible book provides a working knowledge of biblical Greek for the study of Scripture.”

Before this book I had no knowledge of the Greek language whatsoever! All I knew of it was what you hear from TV fraternities in their names, obviously not much at all. I requested this book for some basic knowledge and I would like to be able to read parts of the Bible in its original text.
This book starts off with the author explaining the basics of the language. This is so important! If you miss the basics of what makes up the language, other than just the letters, you will miss how to interpret it the way it was written.
After you complete the first chapter you move into the basics of the alphabet and letters. This book was laid out so well that it was simple to follow along. Each section was covered in full before moving onto the next step in the process so you can be sure you understand that concept before moving on. I liked how at the end of the section there were places to practice what you just learned.
This book is a basic overview of the language. You will by no means become fluent in Greek from this book but you will learn how to read some and get the basics. I learned far more from this book than I expected. If you are just looking to learn a little more so you can read some of the Bible in Greek then this book is for you. Trust me, if I can learn Greek from this book, you can too.
*I received a copy of this book from Baker Books in exchange for my honest review.… (mehr)