passibility

The priest spoke of Christ's passibility during the sermon.

Definition

1. Noun (rare, chiefly theology):
   • The quality or state of being capable of feeling, suffering, or being emotionally affected; susceptibility to sensation or emotion, especially as a divine attribute (contrasted with impassibility, the inability to suffer).

Usage Examples

• (The idea that God is capable of feeling.)
• (The ability to be emotionally affected is linked to empathy.)

Advanced Usage

• "passibility vs. impassibility": a theological debate about whether God can suffer or experience change.
  • The doctrine of divine impassibility has been challenged by proponents of passibility, who argue that a loving God must be capable of suffering with creation. (A comparison of two opposing theological positions.)

Variants and Related Words

• Passible (adj): capable of feeling or suffering.

  • A passible being can be moved by pain or joy. (A being that is susceptible to emotions.)

• Impassibility (n): the state of being incapable of suffering or emotion.

  • God's impassibility was a traditional belief in early Christian theology. (The attribute of being beyond suffering.)

Synonyms

• Susceptibility: the state of being easily affected or influenced.
• Sensibility: the capacity to feel or perceive.
• Vulnerability: the quality of being open to emotional or physical harm.

Related Idioms

• (No common idioms directly use "passibility"; it is a technical term.)

Phrasal Verbs

• (No phrasal verbs are associated with "passibility.")