Overview: Transcendence and Immanence

In the created universe, God's sovereignty is manifested in two complementary ways: transcendence and immanence. This dilogic defines these two manifestations and how they differ from the exaggerations of God as the undefinable "Other", on the one hand, and as a being identified with the universe itself, on the other hand. In both of these extremes, for practical purposes God becomes irrelevant. Only orthodox doctrine allows God to be fully sovereign -- the King of the universe, and also at work in the universe.
In the paired concept of transcendence and immanence there are intimations of the doctrine of Christ as the Incarnate Lord: at one and the same time He was the Lord and Maker of the world, and also a creature living and interacting in that world. Understanding the dilogic of transcendence and immanence prepares us for an understanding of the Incarnation.



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