Transcendence

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Transcendence

The term "transcendence" is used in philosophical and theological discussions about the relationship of God to the world. Its opposite is "immanence." Recently transcendence has been used as a technical umbrella term to designate the divine dimension as sensed by all religions, a generic term to include not only the God of monotheism, but also such "things" as the Hindu Brahman, the Taoist Tao, possibly the nirv??a of Buddhists, and any other ultimate or sacred dimension in religion, philosophy, or spiritual practice. In fact, a reference to some transcendent dimension in faith, ritual, obedience, prayer, or other acts might even be a way to define religion.

In the earlier discussions it was often said that Deists conceived of a transcendent God who created the world and then "withdrew" to let the world run its course. The opposite view was that of pantheists, who identified God with the world or with part of the world. Theists occupied a middle position, God creating the world and then having either a constant sustaining relation to the world or else occasional relationships to the world in acts of revelation, miracles, and, for Christians, the incarnation of Christ. God could also be conceived as having both a constant sustaining relationship and occasional special relations. "Transcendence" and "immanence" are, of course, metaphors, spatial terms for the superiority or identity of God's metaphysical or moral character with the world, especially humanity. Recently process philosophers think of all existents, including God, as both transcendent and immanent to each other.

Simplifying the complexities of historical traditions, transcendence of the divine can be seen in most of the world's religions. This transcendence often has a dual aspect of gift and demand, which can be seen in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, three major monotheistic faiths. Thus for the early Hebrews God's election of and continuing faithfulness to his people "transcended" or exceeded their worth or merit to earn this election and faithfulness. At the same time, the demand that Israel be faithful "transcended" Israel's ability to maintain complete faithfulness. In the later Jewish rabbinical tradition the Torah is a sign of God's favor, again transcending Israel's merit, combined with the demand that the laws of God be obeyed, a demand exceeding Israel's capacity to completely fulfill. In the teachings of Jesus there is the Kingdom of God, which transcends human power to bring it about, plus the transcendent call for perfection. In Paul and the later Christian tradition both the law and the gospel, good works and grace, are beyond human power. At the heart of Islam is the cry that Allah is greater than any creature, that his mercy and judgment are far beyond any human mercy or judgment.

Transcendence may also be a useful term in understanding other religions. For example, Brahman seems to be a nonpersonal superior reality for some Hindus. Likewise, the transcendent Buddha body goes beyond this phenomenal world, and perhaps nirvana itself is transcendent. Also the Tao, which is unknowable and cannot be named, seems to transcend the myriad things of this world for Taoism.

Scholars disagree on the usefulness of transcendence as a term for understanding the religions of many indigenous peoples or contemporary Neopaganism. Is there a transcendent dimension in these religions, or does their apparent polytheism prevent a full disclosure of transcendence? There is evidence that these religions have as strong a sense of both the transcendence and immanence of the divine as any other. There is also controversy on whether the Confucian tradition has a sense of transcendence. Some interpreters see the wisdom of past sages and the goal of sagehood as elements of transcendence. A full treatment of transcendence in the world's religions would also have to show when and how the transcendent is immanent within this world.

Transcendence can be thought of as helpful, useless, or dangerous. In one's personal life transcendence might be thought of as a helpful source of safety, power, or joy that goes beyond the merely finite resources of this world. However, as removed and distant, transcendence might be seen as irrelevant to this life. It might also be felt as dangerously oppressive, squelching the joys of life in the name of a fossilized tradition. In social and political affairs transcendence can also be thought of in these three ways. As blessing one's nation or cause it is helpful. As an impossible ideal it may be seen as irrelevant and thus needing to be separated from the affairs of the everyday world. It might also be seen as giving sanction to tyranny and the violence of hate groups. The Ku Klux Klan, for example, has always been a religious group. For various liberation movements the transcendent element in religion provides a fulcrum to challenge the status quo. Another debate concerns whether the transcendence of God alienates us from the significance of the natural world and thus increases the environmental crisis, or whether transcendence can challenge consumerism, habitat destruction, population explosion, and the depletion and poisoning of resources.

Recently a movement that could be called religious naturalism has gained momentum. This approach sees the divine as totally immanent (inherent) in all or part of the world. Typically in this view the divine or sacred is the aspect of the world that leads to the increase of value or the flourishing of creatures, instead of a special being called "God." This movement had its origins in Baruch Spinoza in the seventeenth century; its twentieth-century advocates include the British Samuel Alexander, George Burman Foster, Edward Scribner Ames, Henry Nelson Wieman, and later Bernard Loomer of Chicago, Ralph Wendell Burhoe, and Mordecai Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism. Recent proponents include Charley Hardwick, Henry Levinson, Robert Mesle, Wes Robbins, Marvin Shaw, and Jerome Stone. Biologist Ursula Goodenough's feelings of mystery, wonder, and awe over the "infinite and infinitesimal" are close to this. Religious naturalists disagree as to whether the divine is all or only part of this world and also whether it is a process, network, or plurality.