Editor’s note: Recently, an animated discussion on faith and emotion took place in an online forum mostly comprised of Chinese house church pastors and Christian leaders. During the conversation, Grace, who teaches and does biblical counseling across China, shared her perspective on the intersection between theology and emotional understanding. Her thoughts were initially compiled for a video course she recorded for the Chinese counseling and research center, Tree of Life.
This is the second of a two-part series.
Contaminated by Sin
It is true: both the senses and the emotions are contaminated by sin. What they tell us may be wrong. But is not reason also contaminated by sin? Isn’t it true that the things logic does when polluted by sin are even more serious and blinding than the things emotion does? This is especially true when a person believes they are justified, and suppresses any uneasiness or the stings of their conscience.
Why do we think our answers will be more correct if we rely solely on reason, not on emotion? Is it possible that this is what happens when our reason is infected by sin? Is it possible that what we are doing when we rely on reason alone is against biblical teaching? In Lev. 19:35, God says: ” You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity.”
What about the person who does have affection? They may not be able to make sense of their affections, but they do know whether or not they have them.
What Is Affection?
When Jonathan Edwards talks about spirituality in his book The Religious Affections, he does not mean whether a person’s spiritual life is good or not. Instead, he is referring to whether someone has been born again or not. In this book, he lists twelve signs of having been saved and born again.
I will share two of these signs as examples: first, “only those affections arising from influences that are spiritual, supernatural, and divine, can be regarded as genuine.” And second, a person who has been born again has “a love to divine things for the beauty and sweetness of their moral excellency.”
My question is this: what is “affection”? Is affection a feeling or a sensation? Or is affection something that can be obtained through rational discussion? Someone could write a short essay on what affection is, but that does not mean the writer themself has such affection or even that they truly know what affection is.
A truly happy person knows whether they are happy or not, without being given the definition of happiness. If they continue to ask for a definition of happiness, it means they do not have this understanding.
But what about the person who does have affection? They may not be able to make sense of their affections, but they do know whether or not they have them.
If We Have Love, We Know What Love Is
Edwards said one of the signs of salvation is, “A love to divine things for the beauty and sweetness of their moral excellency.” Is love an emotion, or an affection? I often have the opportunity to ask people, “Are you happy?” If the person’s response is, “Teacher, please define happiness,” then I know that, most likely, that person is not happy. A truly happy person knows whether they are happy or not, without being given the definition of happiness. If they continue to ask for a definition of happiness, it means they do not have this understanding, and do not actually know what happiness is like. That is why they are asking.
How does this relate to love? If we have a love for the beauty of God’s holiness, we know we love it, even if we do not know the actual definition of love. But if you do not love God’s holiness, then even the ability to make a good case for what love is like does not give you this love.
Next, we look at “divine things for the beauty and sweetness of their moral excellency.” A person might be able to write an essay about God, morality, and holiness. But I want to know: what is “excellency?” What is the “beauty” of holiness?
If affections can help us to recognize and understand both the world and ourselves, then the most terrible consequence of suppressing and shutting down our emotions is that we will not have affections for or recognition of God!
Excellency and beauty are mainly feelings and sensations. Are God’s moral attributes beautiful to you? Do you love them? According to Edwards, if you do not know whether you have affection for such things, then you do not even know whether you have been saved and born again.
If affections can help us to recognize and understand both the world and ourselves, then the most terrible consequence of suppressing and shutting down our emotions is that we will not have affections for or recognition of God! You may try hard to convince yourself that you love and know God with the truth of the gospel and the knowledge of the Lord. But if your real affections have yet to collide with the true God, then you will not be able to feel this type of love.
Grace is a pseudonym for a biblical tutor serving in China.
Pray for Chinese believers not to suppress their emotions, so that they might learn to truly love the Lord.
