Our spatial reality and God

Modern scientific models of cosmological space and the theological concept of God’s immensity seem to exclude the possibility that God himself is personally present with us humans at particular places in space. Are God and our spatial reality incompatible? Or, is it possible to conceive the connecti...

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Autor principal:	Jan Muis
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	AF EN NL
Publicado:	AOSIS 2021
Materias:	creation einstein heim omnipresence religion and science space The Bible BS1-2970 Practical Theology BV1-5099
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/30379ea06c9e4129b0f5fe794adf87e1
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:30379ea06c9e4129b0f5fe794adf87e1
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:30379ea06c9e4129b0f5fe794adf87e12021-11-24T07:40:40ZOur spatial reality and God0259-94222072-805010.4102/hts.v77i3.6890https://doaj.org/article/30379ea06c9e4129b0f5fe794adf87e12021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/6890https://doaj.org/toc/0259-9422https://doaj.org/toc/2072-8050Modern scientific models of cosmological space and the theological concept of God’s immensity seem to exclude the possibility that God himself is personally present with us humans at particular places in space. Are God and our spatial reality incompatible? Or, is it possible to conceive the connection between God and space as ‘positive’, that is, in such a way that God himself can be fully and personally present with us at particular places in space? This essay explores how this question may be addressed in a theology which accepts the results of the natural sciences and acknowledges that God is the free creator of physical space. It describes how space can be conceptualised, and presents an overview of five different views on a positive relation between God and space in recent protestant theology. It concludes by some considerations on the question whether a positive relation between God and space requires that God himself is spatial. Contribution: This article contributes to the conversation between natural science and theology by making three points. (1) The scientific understanding of cosmological space and the biblical witness of God’s personal and local presence with humans require an alternative for the traditional theological view on God and space in terms of God’s immensity and omnipresence. (2) It is argued that new theological models for the interrelation between God and space have serious weaknesses. (3) A ‘positive’ relation between God and space may be articulated in terms of the correspondence among God’s uncreated movement, multiplicity and relationality, and the movement, multiplicity and relationality in the physical space of creation.Jan MuisAOSISarticlecreationeinsteinheimomnipresencereligion and sciencespaceThe BibleBS1-2970Practical TheologyBV1-5099AFENNLHTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies , Vol 77, Iss 3, Pp e1-e10 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	AF EN NL
topic	creation einstein heim omnipresence religion and science space The Bible BS1-2970 Practical Theology BV1-5099
spellingShingle	creation einstein heim omnipresence religion and science space The Bible BS1-2970 Practical Theology BV1-5099 Jan Muis Our spatial reality and God
description	Modern scientific models of cosmological space and the theological concept of God’s immensity seem to exclude the possibility that God himself is personally present with us humans at particular places in space. Are God and our spatial reality incompatible? Or, is it possible to conceive the connection between God and space as ‘positive’, that is, in such a way that God himself can be fully and personally present with us at particular places in space? This essay explores how this question may be addressed in a theology which accepts the results of the natural sciences and acknowledges that God is the free creator of physical space. It describes how space can be conceptualised, and presents an overview of five different views on a positive relation between God and space in recent protestant theology. It concludes by some considerations on the question whether a positive relation between God and space requires that God himself is spatial. Contribution: This article contributes to the conversation between natural science and theology by making three points. (1) The scientific understanding of cosmological space and the biblical witness of God’s personal and local presence with humans require an alternative for the traditional theological view on God and space in terms of God’s immensity and omnipresence. (2) It is argued that new theological models for the interrelation between God and space have serious weaknesses. (3) A ‘positive’ relation between God and space may be articulated in terms of the correspondence among God’s uncreated movement, multiplicity and relationality, and the movement, multiplicity and relationality in the physical space of creation.
format	article
author	Jan Muis
author_facet	Jan Muis
author_sort	Jan Muis
title	Our spatial reality and God
title_short	Our spatial reality and God
title_full	Our spatial reality and God
title_fullStr	Our spatial reality and God
title_full_unstemmed	Our spatial reality and God
title_sort	our spatial reality and god
publisher	AOSIS
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/30379ea06c9e4129b0f5fe794adf87e1
work_keys_str_mv	AT janmuis ourspatialrealityandgod
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Our spatial reality and God

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