The Role of Emotions in Christian Thought and Behavior
In the scriptural analyses presented in earlier chapters, there were many references to the emotions of Jesus, his disciples, and other characters. It will be clear by the end of this chapter that emotions play an important role in Christian and un-Christian behavior. The first section explains what emotions are and why humans have them. The second section catalogs the emotions expressed by characters in the four Gospels. It is interesting to see how the emotions expressed by Jesus were different than those expressed by other characters and also what prompted emotional reactions in Jesus. The third section generalizes the role of emotions in Christian behavior beyond the cataloging of the second section. This chapter is crucial for understanding motivations to engage in certain kinds of Christian behaviors that will help solve major problems in the world.