Preliminary Considerations 3 



But when these conclusions have been reached men 

 have only touched the fringe of the problems they in- 

 volve. What do we mean by immanence and transcend- 

 ence? Do we all mean the same thing? Apparently not, 

 if we may judge by the very various doctrines that are 

 held compatible with belief in these two aspects of the 

 activity of God. One says God is Impassible, another 

 that He suffers with His creation. To one change is an 

 illusion of limited existence 1 , to another it is the reflec- 

 tion of the process by which God is making Himself 8 , to 

 another it is the expression of a kind of relaxation of the 

 limitations set upon free action by matter 8 . The exist- 

 ence of such a range of different conceptions, all acknow- 

 ledging both aspects in some measure, yet varying 

 between an emphasis on transcendence that almost 

 excludes immanence to an emphasis on immanence that 

 almost excludes transcendence, surely points to a vague- 

 ness in definition of terms that is little short of disastrous 4 . 



We have dealt at some length elsewhere 6 with certain 

 aspects of the two conceptions of immanence and trans- 

 scendence and I do not propose simply to repeat the 

 arguments already used. It will be remembered that our 

 main conclusion was this. Because there is a creation, 

 and the cosmos shows many indications of order, and of 

 being a rational whole; because an ultimate standard of 

 morality is indicated; and because there appears to be 

 something that persists through change in an unchang- 

 ing self-identity, we believe that God is Transcendent. 

 Because change enters into our everyday experience, 



1 Buddhism, and some forms of Hinduism. * Bergson. 



1 Driesch; and, in a different manner, to a limited extent the 

 present writer. 



4 A useful summary of Christian and philosophic thought on 

 the matter will be found in F. Platt's Fernley Lectures on Im- 

 manence and Christian Thought. 



* Evolution and Spiritual Lift. 



i a 



