Transcendence (religion)
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In
It is affirmed in various religious traditions' concept of the divine, which contrasts with the notion of a god (or, the Absolute) that exists exclusively in the physical order (immanentism), or is indistinguishable from it (pantheism). Transcendence can be attributed in knowledge as well as or instead of its being. Thus, an entity may transcend both the universe and knowledge (is beyond the grasp of the human mind).
Although transcendence is defined as the opposite of
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Abrahamic religions
Judaism
In Jewish
Christianity
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The Catholic Church, as do other Christian denominations, holds that God transcends all creation.[1] According to Aquinas, "concerning God, we cannot grasp what he is, but only what he is not, and how other beings stand in relation to him."[2] Anthropomorphic depictions of God are largely metaphorical and reflect the challenge of "human modes of expression" in attempting to describe the infinite.[3] St. Augustine observed "...[I]t is only by the use of such human expressions that Scripture can make its many kinds of readers whom it wants to help to feel, as it were, at home."[4] The "sense of transcendence" and therefore, an awareness of the "sacred", is an important component of the liturgy.[5] Thus, God is recognized as both transcendent and immanent.
Islam
Tawhid is the act of believing and affirming that
1. Say: He, Allah, is Ahad (the Unique One of Absolute Oneness, who is indivisible in nature, who is unique in His essence, attributes, names and acts, the One who has no second, no associate, no parents, no offspring, no peers, free from the concept of multiplicity, and far from conceptualization and limitation, and there is nothing like Him in any respect).[7][8][9]
2. Allah is al-Samad (the Ultimate Source of all existence, the uncaused cause who created all things out of nothing, who is eternal, absolute, immutable, perfect, complete, essential, independent, and self-sufficient; Who does not need to eat or drink, sleep or rest; Who needs nothing while all of creation is in absolute need of Him; the one eternally and constantly required and sought, depended upon by all existence and to whom all matters will ultimately return).[10][11][12]
3. He begets not, nor is He begotten (He is Unborn and Uncreated, has no parents, wife or offspring).
4. And there is none comparable (equal, equivalent or similar) to Him.
According to
In order to explain the complexity of unity of God and of the divine nature, the Qur'an uses 99 terms referred to as "Most Beautiful Names of Allah" (Sura 7:180)[12]. Aside from the supreme name "Allah" and the neologism al-Rahman (referring to the divine beneficence that constantly (re)creates, maintains and destroys the universe), other names may be shared by both God and human beings. According to the Islamic teachings, the latter is meant to serve as a reminder of God's immanence rather than being a sign of one's divinity or alternatively imposing a limitation on God's transcendent nature.
Tawhid or Oneness of God constitutes the foremost article of the Muslim profession.[14] To attribute divinity to a created entity is the only unpardonable sin mentioned in the Qur'an.[15] Muslims believe that the entirety of the Islamic teaching rests on the principle of Tawhid.[16]
Buddhism
In
Alternatively, in the various forms of Buddhism—Theravada, Mahayana (especially Pure Land and Zen) and Vajrayana—the notion of transcendence sometimes includes a
Primordial enlightenment and the dharma are sometimes portrayed as transcendent, since they can surpass all samsaric obstructions.
Hinduism
Transcendence is described and viewed from a number of diverse perspectives in
.In the Bhagavad Gita transcendence is described as a level of spiritual attainment, or state of being which is open to all spiritual aspirants (the goal of yoga practice), the state at which one is no longer under the control of animalistic, base desires and is aware of a higher spiritual reality.
When the yogī, by practice of yoga, disciplines his mental activities and becomes situated in transcendence — devoid of all material desires — he is said to be well established in yoga.[18]
The exact nature of this transcendence is given as being "above the modes of material nature", which are known as
Sikhism
Cumulatively, the name implies wonder at the Divine Light eliminating spiritual darkness. It might also imply, "Hail the Lord whose name eliminates spiritual darkness." Earlier,
Sikh doctrine identifies one panentheistic god (Ik Onkar) who is omnipresent and has infinite qualities, whose name is true (Satnam), is the Creator (Karta Purkh), has no fear (Nirb hau), is not the enemy of anyone (Nirvair), is beyond time (Akaal), has no image (Murat), is beyond birth and death circulation (Ajunee), is self-existent (Sai Bhang) and possesses the grace of word guru (eternal light) we can meet him (Gurprasaad). Sikhs do not identify a gender for Ek Onkar, nor do they believe it takes a human form. In the Sikh tradition, all human beings are considered equal regardless of their religion, sex, or race. All are sons and daughters of Waheguru, the Almighty.[20]
The "death of God" and the end of transcendence in secular culture
In 1961, Christian theologian Gabriel Vahanian's published The Death of God. Vahanian argued that modern secular culture had lost all sense of the sacred, lacking any sacramental meaning, no transcendental purpose or sense of providence. He concluded that for the modern secular mind "God is dead", but he did not mean that God did not exist. In Vahanian's vision a transformed post-Christian and post-modern culture was needed to create a renewed experience of deity.
Paul Van Buren and William Hamilton both agreed that the concept of transcendence had lost any meaningful place in modern secular thought. According to the norms of contemporary modern secular thought, God is dead. In responding to this denial of transcendence Van Buren and Hamilton offered secular people the option of Jesus as the model human who acted in love. The encounter with the Christ of faith would be open in a church-community. [clarification needed]
Thomas J. J. Altizer offered a radical theology of the death of God that drew upon William Blake, Hegelian thought and Nietzschean ideas. He conceived of theology as a form of poetry in which the immanence (presence) of God could be encountered in faith communities. However, he no longer accepted the possibility of affirming his belief in a transcendent God. Altizer concluded that God had incarnated in Christ and imparted his immanent spirit which remained in the world even though Jesus was dead. It is important that such ideas are understood as socio-cultural developments and not as ontological realities. As Vahanian expressed it in his book, the issue of the denial of God lies in the mind of secular man, not in reality.
Critiquing the death of God theology, Joseph Papin, the founder of the Villanova Theology Institute, noted: "Rumbles of the new theology of the 'Requiem for God," (theologians of the death of God) proved to be a totally inadequate foundation for spanning a theological river with a bridge. The school of the theology of the "Requiem of God," not even implementing a "Requiem for Satan," will constitute only a footnote to the history of theology. . . . 'The Grave of God,' was the death rattle for the continuancy of the aforementioned school without any noticeable echo."[21] Professor Piet Schoonenberg (Nijmegen, Netherlands) directly critiqued Altizer concluding: "Rightly understood the transcendence of God does not exclude His immanence, but includes it."[22] Schoonenberg went on to say: "We must take God's transcendence seriously by not imposing any limits whatsoever, not even the limits that our images or concepts of transcendence evoke. This however occurs when God's transcendence is expressed as elevated over the world to the exclusion of his presence in this world; when his independence is expressed by excluding his real relation and reaction to the world; or when we insist upon his unchangeable eternity to the exclusion of his real partnership in human history."[23]
See also
- Apophatic theology
- Incorporeal
- Out-of-body experience
- Supernatural
References
- ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church §§42, 212
- ^ Aquinas, Thomas. SCG I, 30
- ^ "Catechism of the Catholic Church". www.usccb.org.
- ^ Augustine of Hippo, City of God, 15, 25
- ^ Conley, James D., "Reflecting on Transcendence in the Liturgy", southern Nebraska Register
- ^ a b c Vincent J. Cornell, Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol 5, pp.3561-3562
- ^ "IslamAwakened [Qur'an 112:1]". IslamAwakened.com. Archived from the original on 4 June 2021.
- ^ Ibn Juzayy. "Tafsir Ibn Juzayy [Surat al-Ikhlas: 1-4]". www.altafsir.com (in Arabic). Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought. Archived from the original on 2 July 2021.
- ^ 'Ala' al-Din al-Khazin. "Tafsir al-Khazin [Surat al-Ikhlas: 1-4]". www.altafsir.com (in Arabic). Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021.
- ^ "IslamAwakened [Qur'an 112:2]". IslamAwakened.com. Archived from the original on 4 June 2021.
- ^ "Decoding The Quran (A Unique Sufi Interpretation)". www.ahmedhulusi.org. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021.
- ^ Abu Ishaq al-Tha'labi. "Tafsir al-Tha'labi [Surat al-Ikhlas: 1–4]". www.altafsir.com (in Arabic). Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought. Archived from the original on 2 July 2021.
- ^ Roger S. Gottlie (2006), p.210
- Encyclopedia of Islam
- ^ Asma Barlas (2003–2007) Believing Women in Islam. University of Texas Press, p.96
- ^ Tariq Ramadan (2005), p.203
- ^ Ariyapariyesana Sutta – "'This Dhamma (of Alara Kalama) leads not to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to stilling, to direct knowledge, to Awakening, nor to Unbinding, but only to reappearance in the dimension of nothingness (one of the four states of formlessness).'"
- ^ "BG 6.18". Archived from the original on 18 January 2013.
- ^ "BG 14.22–25". Archived from the original on 3 March 2007.
- ISBN 978-1477214268.
- ^ Papin, Joseph (1970). "Post-Conciliar Perspectives," The Dynamic in Christian Thought. Villanova University Press. p. 3.
- ^ Schoonenberg, Piet (1972). "The Transcendence of God, Part I," Transcendence and Immanence, Reconstruction in the Light of Process Thinking, Festschrift in Honor of Joseph Papin, ed. Joseph Armenti. Abbey Press. p. 161.
- ^ Schoonenberg, Piet (1976). "From Transcendence to Immanence, Part II," Wisdom and Knowledge, Essays in Honor of Joseph Papin, ed. Joseph Armenti. Villanova University Press. p. 273.
External links
- Quotations related to Transcendence at Wikiquote