Review article
https://doi.org/10.31823/d.34.2.5
Can God Suffer? A View from the Perspective of Classical Philosophical Theology
Danijel Tolvajčić
; University of Zagreb, Catholic Faculty of Theology, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
From a philosophical perspective, this paper primarily addresses the question of whether God can suffer. Many contemporary Christian theologians and philosophers maintain that God can suffer in His very essence. This is a radical reinterpretation of the classical doctrine of God. The author responds to critics who advocate a »suffering God« and, drawing primarily on the philosophical theology of Thomas Aquinas and several of his contemporary interpreters, seeks to show that this position is philosophically and theologically problematic. A suffering God could not be the Creator because the possibility of suffering would place God within the created order. Ultimately, God can be coherently conceived only as immutable and therefore impassible.
Keywords
suffering God; immutability of God; impassibility of God; Thomas Aquinas; philosophical theology; classical theism
Hrčak ID:
351441
URI
Publication date:
25.9.2026.
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