Passion
“To suffer; suffering, feeling, emotion”
Summary
Passion in biblical usage primarily refers to Christ's suffering and death (from Latin passio, to suffer), while in its plural form denotes the emotions and affections of the soul—neither inherently good nor evil but according to their direction and degree.
☩Christ's Passion
The singular 'passion' in Acts 1:3 refers to Christ's suffering and death: 'to whom he also showed himself alive after his passion.' This translation derives from the Latin Vulgate (post passionem suam) and represents the Greek 'after he had suffered.' In modern English, 'passion' retains this sense only when referring to Christ's sufferings, as in 'Passion play' or 'Passion Week.' The suffering of death mentioned in Hebrews 2:9 uses the same Greek term (pathema), while Christ is described as 'subject to suffering' (pathetos) in His humanity before Agrippa in Acts 26:23.
☩Theological Significance
Early church fathers insisted that Christ was impassible in His Godhead but passible in His humanity, against Docetic error which denied His true suffering. Ignatius affirmed Christ was 'first passible and then impassible,' while the Sabellians (nicknamed 'Patripassians') were charged with the logical outcome of teaching that the Father suffered. The Thirty-nine Articles declare God to be 'without passions' (Latin: impassibilis), emphasizing divine transcendence while maintaining that Christ in His incarnate nature truly suffered for human redemption.
☩Human Passions
In its plural and psychological sense, passion denotes states of sensibility or emotion—what the Greek calls pathos or pathema. Various classifications have been proposed: Plato distinguished concupiscible and irascible passions; Descartes, Malebranche, and others developed further theories. The passions originate from sense impressions, operations of reason foreseeing good or evil, and recollections of memory. In themselves passions are neither good nor evil but become so according to their use and degree. Their objects are mostly sensible things due to bodily connection, but spiritual objects like the love of God, heaven, and eternity also excite them.
☩Sanctification of Passions
Scripture calls believers to crucify 'the flesh with the affections and lusts' and to mortify 'passion of lust.' The context in Colossians 3:5 may give 'passion' a slight sexual reference, though the warning probably includes any violent emotion that robs self-control. When sanctified, the passions set understanding to work searching divine truth, keep the soul fixed on divine things, render duties of holiness easier and temptations weaker, and make believers more like Christ and fitter for His presence. The adjective 'of like passions' (homoiopathes) is entirely neutral, used of Paul, Barnabas, and Elijah to express their common humanity.
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Passion," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. VII (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Passion, Passions," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. IV (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.James Hastings (ed.), "Passion Passions," in Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. II (T. & T. Clark, 1915–1918).