Where is God?
Professor Thomas Pratt, formerly of Bethany College, once asked in chapel: “Is God in everything or is everything in God?” He noted that the question was not original to him, but that he felt it was appropriate for the devotions that day.
I am reminded of St. Augustine’s quest for the knowledge of God: “Do heaven and earth, then, contain the whole of you, since you fill them? Or, when once you have filled them, is some part of you left over because they are too small to hold you?” (Confessions).
The answer is somewhere between Pratt’s two propositions.
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Originally posted 2008-09-11 01:16:07.
Since we’re on the topic of “where is God,” I’ve always pondered about God’s presence in Hell. People commonly say that Hell is the absence of the presence God, yet I question: is it even possible for something to exist outside the “presence” of God? Does he not fill all things, and do not all things exist and move in him? If they do, then certainly it means that God is active in Hell. Am I assuming correctly?
Michael W
11 Sep 08 at 1:40 am
I’m comfortable saying I don’t know. According to John, all things came to be through Christ. This must extend to hell. But whether God is present in hell, I do not know. Perhaps hell exists within his presence but apart from him.
admin
11 Sep 08 at 1:51 am
Perhaps hell exists within his presence but apart from him.
Similar to God manifesting himself to meet with Moses, while the rest of the people looked on. In reality, God’s presence was with them the same as it was with Moses, however the special manifestation of God with Moses was different: Moses saw his glory, while God hid his glory from the people.
Perhaps it is similar with hell.
Michael W
11 Sep 08 at 8:59 pm
Paul wrote (I believe quoting a philosopher) that in God “we live, move and have our being.” I do believe this is the direction Pratt was going. This provides a framework for developing ideas about God’s presence.
admin
12 Sep 08 at 2:34 am