THE TRANSCENDENCE AND IMMANENCE OF GOD IN ISAIAH 40:12-31 (1)

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Background of the Problem

Recently years, the transcendence of God has been questioned again by some scholars as David Cairns wrote: “There has been time in the History of Christian thought when it seemed as if the solid earth had moved beneath men’s feet. This happened once again today, and it is time to re-examine out theological foundations. In this day of the shaking of the theological foundations it is not hard to say in what are the tremor occurred. They have been felt in relation to the doctrine of God’s transcendence.” In addition Eric Marshal mentioned, “The lost of the sense of transcendence in modern theology is a direct result of, and reaction from the extreme doctrine of Karl Barth, Emil Brunner and other modern protestant theologians.”[1]
In a similar view is expressed by David Jenkins, Bishop of Durham, in his book Living with Question, wrote, “The collapse of men understanding of transcendence today is due to the sharp split between reason and revelation made by these protestant theologians.[2] It is clear that the transcendence of God is needed to re-examine to give a comprehensive of God’s nature. However, we need to have a clear understanding of not only of God’s transcendence that but also His immanence. We need to have a correct understanding of these both God’s nature because this understanding will affect Christian beliefs.

Statement of the Problem

There is a need of having the right concept of God nature in His transcendence as well as in His immanence. Having a wrong or vague view of God can affect Christian faith and doctrine in the way we worship, preach, teach and even our practical theology. As Ray Sherman Anderson wrote, “The great theological irony of the twentieth century is that so called modern man, with his sophisticated secular world-view, is rapidly creating a culture which is relativizing the loss of transcendence through the occult, the tribal, quasi-religious community, and the folk hero.[3] The question emerge, what is the transcendent and immanent of God and how could a Christian understand the uniqueness of God’s nature from biblical perspective?  What is the correct interpretation of the God’s nature particularly His transcendence and immanence in relation to how one should behaves toward God? The answers to this question would give a right attitude of Christian toward the particular nature of God.   

The Purpose of the Study

Since there are many people who are confusing of God’s nature, there is a necessity research and study of the biblical concepts to have a correct comprehension. The study demands that components be considered in order to understand more clearly the biblical concept of divine transcendence and immanence. 

Delimitations

The scope of this paper is delimited on the investigation of the transcendence and immanence of God from the biblical perspectives. This study will discuss the uniqueness of divine nature in his transcendence and immanence. This study would not discuss all nature of God, but limited the uniqueness of the transcendence and immanence of God in Isaiah 40:12-31.

Methodology

The writer of this paper will research primarily uses the Historical Grammatical Method to arrive at answers. Through theological reflection the following steps will be taken: firstly, the historical background, structural, contextual aspects; secondly, extra-biblical scholarly sources such as commentaries, journals, papers and other works will be consulted, studied and considered; Finally summary and conclusion will be made.

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[1]David Cairns, Go Up There: A Study in Divine Transcendence (Edinburg: The Saint Andrew Press, 1967), 18.

[2]David Jenkins, Living With Question: investigations into the theory and practice of belief in God (London: SCM Press, 1969), 63.  

[3]Ray Sherman Anderson, Historical Transcendence and the reality of God, (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1975), 6.