F. Scott Spencer, Passions of the Christ: The Emotional Life of Jesus in the Gospels (Baker Academic, 2021). 265pp + bib. & indexes. ISBN 9781540964465
Reviewed by Dr Rod Benson
Biblical revelation, the ecumenical creeds, and orthodox Christian theology all attest that Jesus Christ was fully God and fully human. If this is the case, then Jesus ate and slept like us. He coughed and sneezed, cut his toenails, and bled like us. He also had an emotional life.
In Passions of the Christ, F. Scott Spencer investigated the canonical Gospels for signs of this emotional side of the life of Jesus. He finds instances of anger, grief, disgust, surprise, compassion, and joy. He observes that “without full emotional capacity, Jesus can lay no claim to full participation in human experience” (3).
The book is in three parts. In part 1, “Mission im/passible: Theory and theology,” Spencer grounds his main theme in emotional theory and Christology. He argues that the narratives of the Gospels ought to be viewed as “emotionally charged frameworks for prospective moral evaluation” (19).
Theologically, Spencer dismisses the doctrine of divine passibility, noting challenges brought by Jürgen Moltmann and Roger Olston to the idea that God cannot change or feel passions and emotions. As Spencer puts it: “As [Jesus] powerfully affects others, he cannot help being poignantly affected himself along the way. That’s what love does to the divine-human Jesus … Such is the pathos theology and Christology of the Gospels” (38).
Parts two and three deal with the different emotions of Jesus evident in the Gospel narratives. The author offers a close exegetical reading of key passages and critically engages with classical and contemporary scholarship. He shows how the emotions of Jesus shaped his identity, his mission, his day-to-day interactions with other people, and his enduring legacy in terms of imitation and discipleship.
In his concluding chapter, Spencer offers some “final reflections” on the emotional life of Jesus and suggests possibilities for future research. He acknowledges that the four Evangelists were not concerned to create “a full psychological profile of Jesus or an in-depth probe of his emotional states” (261).
Further, he notes that the New Testament documents do not take a Stoic approach to pre-emotional impulses that must be “nipped in the bud before they become problematic” (262). Rather, Jesus’s emotional responses to persons and situations “spark other emotions and thoughts and decisions and actions, fulfilling his indomitable will to flourishing life and resolute saving purpose” (262).
Moreover, Spencer observes that “we may miss aspects of Jesus’s core concerns by dismissing or discounting emotional elements he displays in the Gospels, particularly the intensity and persistence with which Jesus pursues his mission from the depths of his own experiences, not least those of pain and suffering” (263). This is a central theme of the whole book.
Spencer has a PhD degree from the University of Durham and is the New Testament general editor for the SBL Study Bible. He has written commentaries on Mark, Luke, Acts, and the Song of Songs, as well as numerous other books. He has been a tenured professor at Wingate University and Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. He regularly teaches and preaches in area churches and has served several interim pastorates.
Christians are exhorted in 2 Peter 3:18 to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Long ago, a mentor encouraged me to devote my life to learning all I could about Jesus – his person, his teaching, his mission. That was very good advice. Reflection on the emotional life of Jesus as portrayed in the four canonical Gospels adds depth to our understanding of Jesus. It may even help us to better understand ourselves and our life in the world.
Image source: Wikiart
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