{{Short description|Belief that God can suffer}} {{about|the doctrine in general terms|the 6th-century controversy|Scythian Monks}}'''Theopaschism''' is the belief that a god can suffer. Owing to controversies about the passion of Jesus and his divinity, this doctrine was a subject of ecumenical councils which affirmed the theopaschite formula.
== Christology == {{Christology|expanded=Doctrines}}
In Christian theology this involves questions such as "was the crucifixion of Jesus a crucifixion of God?" The question is central to the schism between those churches which accepted the First Council of Ephesus and the Assyrian Church of the East. While not Nestorian,{{sfnp|Brock|2006|p={{page needed|date=February 2023}}}} the Assyrian Church of the East, along with their greatest teacher, Babai the Great, deny the possibility of a suffering God.
Modern scholars, such as Paul Gavrilyuk, have argued that one of the central debates of the 5th century was how Christ suffered on the cross. It seemed that Cyril of Alexandria favoured a grammatical sense of theopaschism, meaning he was able to write statements such as 'God died' or 'God was crucified' in a qualified sense. This scandalised Nestorius who wanted a firm separation of the natures of Christ, and would much rather have said that Jesus Christ the man suffered.
== Modern philosophy == A number of modern philosophers and theologians have been called theopaschists, such as G. W. F. Hegel, Friedrich Nietzsche and Simone Weil. Kazoh Kitamori's ''Theology of the Pain of God'' (1946){{sfnp|Kitamori|2005}} and Moltmann's ''The Crucified God'' (1971){{sfnp|Moltmann|2015}} are two 20th-century books that have taken up the ancient theological idea that at least "one of the Trinity has suffered" ({{lang|la|unus de Trinitate passus est}}).{{sfnp|Pope John II|534|loc=''DS'' [http://catho.org/9.php?d=bxo#bew 401]}} In the words of Hans Urs von Balthasar: {{blockquote|"At this point, where the subject undergoing the 'hour' is the Son speaking with the Father, the controversial 'Theopaschist formula' has its proper place: 'One of the Trinity has suffered'. The formula can already be found in Gregory Nazianzen: 'We needed a ... crucified God'."{{sfnp|Balthasar|1992|ps=, [https://books.google.com/books?id=_gl4CgAAQBAJ&dq=%22where+the+subject+undergoing+the%22%22hour%22%22is+the+Son+speaking+with+the+Father,+the+controversial%22%22Theopaschist+formula%22%22has+its+proper+place:%22%22One+of+the+Trinity+has+suffered.%22%22The+formula+can+already+be+found+in+Gregory+Nazianzen%22%22We+needed+a%22%22crucified+God%22&pg=PT135 Quote].}}}}
== See also == * Dyophysitism * Hypostatic union
== References == {{Reflist}}
=== Works cited === {{Refbegin|indent=yes}} * {{Cite book |last=Balthasar |first=Hans Urs von |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_gl4CgAAQBAJ |title=Theo-drama: Theological Dramatic Theory, Vol. 3: Dramatis Personae: Persons in Christ |publisher=Ignatius Press |year=1992 |isbn=1-68149577-5 |location=San Francisco |translator-last=Harrison |translator-first=Graham |author-link=Hans Urs von Balthasar |orig-date=1973}} Translated from the German: {{Cite book |last=Balthasar |first=Hans Urs von |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4jOoAQAACAAJ |title=Theodramatik: Teil 2. Die Personen des Spiels: Die Personen in Christus |date=1973 |lang=de}} * {{Cite book |last=Brock |first=Sebastian P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ey_FW7acTycC |title=Fire from Heaven: Studies in Syriac Theology And Liturgy |date=2006 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=9780754659082 |location=Aldershot |author-link=Sebastian P. Brock}} * {{Cite book |last=Kitamori |first=Kazoh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b2NLAwAAQBAJ |title=Theology of the Pain of God |publisher=Wipf and Stock |year=2005 |isbn=1-59752256-2 |location=Eugene, Oregon |translator-last=Harrison |translator-first=Graham |author-link=Kazoh Kitamori |orig-date=1946}} Translated from the Japanese: {{Cite book |last=Kitamori |first=Kazoh |title=Kami no itami no shingaku |date=1958 |edition=5th revised |orig-date=1946 |lang=ja}} * {{Cite book |last=Moltmann |first=Jürgen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qnMdCgAAQBAJ |title=The Crucified God |date=2015 |publisher=SCM Press |isbn=978-0-33405330-9 |location=London |translator-last=Wilson |translator-first=R. A. |author-link=Jürgen Moltmann |orig-date=1971 |translator-last2=Bowden |translator-first2=John |translator-link2=John Bowden (theologian)}} Translated from the German: {{Cite book |last=Moltmann |first=Jürgen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aUToswEACAAJ |title=Der gekreuzigte Gott |date=1971 |lang=de}} * {{Citation |author=Pope John II |title='Olim quidem', addressed to the senators of Constantinople, March 534 |date=534 |author-link=Pope John II |lang=la}}; ''DS'' [http://catho.org/9.php?d=bxo#bew 401]. {{Refend}}
== Further reading == * {{Cite encyclopedia |title=Dictionary of Sects, Heresies, Ecclesiastical Parties, and Schools of Religious Thought |publisher=Rivingtons |url=http://dbooks.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/books/PDFs/600088772.pdf |last=Blunt |first=John Henry |date=1903 |author-link=John Henry Blunt |page=594}} * {{Cite thesis |last=Viezure |first=Dana luliana |title=Verbum Crucis, Virtus Dei: A Study of Theopaschism from the Council of Chalcedon (451) to the Age of Justinian |date=2009 |publisher=University of Toronto |url=https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item?id=NR55692&op=pdf&app=Library&oclc_number=745899058}}
Category:Christian terminology Category:Nature of Jesus Christ Category:Theological controversies