So what d'you think?
Taken to their logical extremes, can God be both those things at the same time?
What do you believe about God's immanence?
What do you believe about God's transcendance?
Do you rate any one of them higher than the other?
General opinions?
First question first, what do those words mean?
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
From what I have read, the problem with saying "God is everywhere" or "God is over there" is that both of them involve issues of time and space, both of which are created.
There is an interesting read on this over at sunnipath: Pantheism Contradicts Islamic Belief.
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
Transcendent: Exceeds all bounds.
Immanent: Present everywhere all the time
.... I think.
#Before you look at the thorns of the rose , look at it's beauty. Before you complain about the heat of the sun , enjoy it's light. Before you complain about the blackness of the night, think of it's peace and quiet... #
well, immanent then seems to be pantheist, which according to my other link is not what we believe (though I can see how especially for kids, the whole concept can be simplified to that to make it "easier" to explain...).
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
Isn't the thing with sufis that 'everywhere they look they see the face of God'?
Not literally, obviously. But I always understood it that they saw the evidence of God - His handiwork etc in everything.
Personally I understand God as transcendent, and can't understand Him in terms of being immanent. But I acknowledge that all understandings of God that everybody has will be flawed/incomplete.
There is one school of thought that says we can only use words/names to describe Allah (swt), that He Himself has used in the Qur'an, any other words (no matter how positive/heartfelt/loving) are not allowed because that would involve ascribing characteristics to Allah (swt) of which we have no knowledge.
The other school of thought is that we can use any words/names in regards to God which are good characteristics, because Allah (swt) is 'Good' in it's purest sense.
Not exactly related to the question, but just something I've found interesting.
Don't just do something! Stand there.
I think transcendant means beyond all things, and immanent means very close by.
As for transcendancy, that's not a problem. The phrase SubhanAllah means 'God is transcendant' (transcendant beyond all negativeness). Immanent is interesting. God's closeness is from His Mercy to His creation. He comes near to them out of kindness. However its harder to understand because we can't see God, so we have to understand almost all the scriptural referances of God's immanence in a figurative sense.
But God is both transcendant and immanent.
Gentleness and kindness were never a part of anything except that it made it beautiful, and harshness was never a part of anything except that it made it ugly.
Through cheating, stealing, and lying, one may get required results but finally one becomes
From there:
He is "close to us"but at the same time, the physical world in its entirety is creation and God is not creation.
(How do you define closeness when distance itself is a creation? I think in the Qur'an it says that God is closer to you than your jugular vein.)
Seems pretty close to ashari aqeedah.
More transcendent than immanent (where immanent can be neglible in the traditional sense - it is more metaphorical in my understanding).
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
How did the essay go Rawry?
Gentleness and kindness were never a part of anything except that it made it beautiful, and harshness was never a part of anything except that it made it ugly.
Through cheating, stealing, and lying, one may get required results but finally one becomes
Good thank you :]
I did well in it, coz i did it from a vair philosophical perspective and i think that impressed her as it's an RS class and most essays in RS tend to be quite soppy. In a nice way x]
Ty for help, like with all essays once you've found your foundations, fleshing it out's easy, almost fun :]
#Before you look at the thorns of the rose , look at it's beauty. Before you complain about the heat of the sun , enjoy it's light. Before you complain about the blackness of the night, think of it's peace and quiet... #