Via Christa: Via Christa Life: Appendices: Immanence Versus Transcendence

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Immanence Versus Transcendence

John Edwin Smith

"The two most important concepts that have been developed by theologians and philosophers for the interpretation of the divine are transcendence and immanence; each is meant to express the relation between the divine and finite realities. Transcendence means going beyond a limit or surpassing a boundary; immanence means remaining within or existing within the confines of a limit.

"The divine is said to transcend humanity and the world when it is viewed as distinct from both and not wholly identical with either; the divine is said to be immanent when it is viewed as wholly or partially identical with some reality within the world, such as humanity or the cosmic order. The conception of the divine as an impersonal sacred order represents the extreme of immanence since that order is regarded as entirely within the world and not as imposing itself from without.

"The conception of the divine as an individual or self represents the extreme of transcendence, since God is taken as not wholly identical with either the world or any finite reality within it. Some thinkers have described the divine as wholly transcendent of or "wholly other" than finite reality, some have maintained the total immanence of the divine, and still others claim that both concepts can be applied and therefore that the two characteristics do not exclude each other."

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Reference

Smith, John Edwin. "Religious experience," Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., July 2, 2015; accessed October 18, 2019

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