Preliminary Considerations 27 



But does the Transcendent God know about imman- 

 ent men fully? Again the answer must be no, for these 

 are different regions of His experience. As Transcend- 

 ent God he does not experience men fully, for He is not 

 transcendent in the region of His experience in which He 

 is immanent. 



Yet He is absolutely transcendent. How are we to re- 

 concile the two statements with each other, and, above 

 all, how can we reconcile them with the common con- 

 viction that 'God knows'? 



Let us consider this last point to begin with. Our 

 position, reached through our argument, is quite clear 

 and consistent, and it will be well to restate it, for the 

 correct statement of a problem generally brings us with- 

 in sight of the solution. 



God is immanent, which involves His limitation. 

 Men individually are free to develope as they will, but 

 they too are b'mited. Limitation means absence of free- 

 dom in some region or regions of experience. This means 

 a certain degree of impenetrability; and impenetrability 

 eventually meansimperfect love ; for all the transcendent 

 activities of the perfect personality are involved in that 

 term love. But men are limited externally; have never 

 been free; have never known perfect love. 



God too is limited, and this means imperfect pene- 

 trability; but not for Himself. He is perfectly pene- 

 trable, for His limitation is internal and self-determined ; 

 the very issue of eternal love. He can be penetrated, 

 but men have not yet learned union with Him; He 

 cannot penetrate their hearts unasked, for He has given 

 them freedom; they may and do bar Him out. Barred 

 out, He cannot know their inmost lives, for there is sin 

 there. Once more we see the creation and the Nature of 

 God as one Whole, whose individual parts are meaning- 

 less when isolated, and only acquire their true signifi- 

 cance when they are seen in relation to each other. 



