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Chapter 3, Experience of God

Hart states “to be the first cause pf the whole universal chain of per se causality, God must be wholly unconditional in every sense. He cannot be composed of and so dependent upon several constituents, physically or metaphysically, as then he would himself be conditional” and this statement is the piece of a definition of God (Hart, 134). This is the way Hart understands God to be. He cannot be related to us on any level because we are conditional, finite, and with limits. God is the beyond, the everything and the nothing, in a sense. To say God is the nothing along with the everything makes sense to me, because he is all that could ever be imagined and more, but also is something we could never comprehend completely because s/he is completely out of our element of grasp; our nothingness where no thought or understanding lives, there can be God. Hart also says God is simple. Not in the physical easy to understand simple, but in the metaphysical simple that goes over our heads. The type of simple where there is no limit, no conditions, no beginning and no end. S/he is just being and not being because he exists now, and existed before, and will exist forever in a way humans cannot. There is a simultaneous nature about God that s/he experiences and know all that was before, after, and during all at once and will forever experience.

Harts explanation of these abstract concepts cause me to think much broader than I’ve ever thought of God before. I use to see God as a large man in the clouds looking down on the little people judging and helping where he can. S/he is a comfort that I seek in my times of desperation, and believing that God is just a cloud away makes it closer to my understanding. Now analyzing God in the way where he can logically exists, makes she/him a much more difficult entity to grasp onto. The common understanding of God is easier, so the common person can relate to she/him. But with deeper thought, more perspective, and methodical processing, it is much harder to ‘feel the presence of God’ within our world since he must be so much more.

Comments

  1. Anna GraziosiOctober 11, 2017 at 9:39 PM

    I agree with you when you say that he/she is completely out of our grasp and that he is everything we can ever imagine and more, but a part of me feels like we can understand him in different elements... however I see where you are coming from and like the way you present your argument.

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  2. Leah L. MorrisOctober 12, 2017 at 1:37 PM

    I agree that trying to fully understand God is impossible. He is beyond our logic, intellect, understanding and abilities. However, I disagree that knowing these things make Him harder to feel or be close to. I think any entity with these qualities can do whatever they want, including making their presence obtainable for us. As a believer for 13 years I can personally say I have experienced God's presence. Knowing he is infinite and beyond us actually strengthens my faith even more. If God is all that than my issues, problems or inquiries are nothing for Him to handle.

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