Classical Theism, Philosophy, and Religion Forum / Immanence and the Transcendentals

**Posted by Brian** 12/11/2018 2:12 pm

I had a thought the other day and I'm curious what you think about it. Typically as Westerners we think about the divine as transcendent, as Subsistent Being, standing outside creation. But insofar as we see Being in the world, can we not also conceive of God as immanent, through the being that each creature has? If we can, it would seem that the transcendentals would be the properties of God insofar as he is immanent, because the transcendentals are predicates that are co-extensive with Being. In that case, the transcendentals would be the other side of the coin of negative theology, which seeks to "describe" God-as-transcendent.

That makes sense to me, but I'm curious to hear thoughts and objections.

**Posted by seigneur** 12/12/2018 3:27 am

No objections. Besides, I thought that it was commonly known that God is both transcendent and immanent. Omnipresence entails it.

**Posted by Brian** 12/12/2018 10:07 am

seigneur wrote:
No objections. Besides, I thought that it was commonly known that God is both transcendent and immanent. Omnipresence entails it.

Yes, I think you're right. But among Thomists my experience is that the transcendent nature of God is emphasized a lot more than the immanent nature. This could be a faulty perception on my part though.