PRESENCK
TRESENCE
267
in reference to the Second Advent or Parousia ; cf. 1 Th 2'-'). No man, however wise or strong, may hoast in the presence of ( iod ( 1 Co 1-'') ; in t hat pres- ence Clirist appears on our hehalf ( He i)-') ; and there ' before the presence of his ^'hjry ' we ourselves may liope to stand (Jude '"). Tliere is matter for reflexion in all these statements, but it is better to leave this somewhat artilicial and mechanical schedule of references in order to discuss tlie general idea of the presence of God as it is found in the writings of the Apostolic Age.
1. In some of the passages cited above there is unquestionably a reminiscence of the sense of sanctity with which the royal presence was invested in ancient times. The OT is full of references to this fact. We have it literally in such passages as Gn41-"» ('the presence of Pharaoh'), E.\ 10'', 1 S 19', 2 S 24^ 1 K 1-8 12=, 2 Ch 9^, Neh 2', Est 1'" 8". Generally speaking, these references to the kingly jiresence carry the suggestion of favour, gracious- ness, assent, or benediction. When a ruler turned his countenance towards a supjiliant or courtier, it meant that his desire was granted, or that he was a persona qrata in the court (cf. Est 8'^) ; when it was turned away, it foreboded refusal, the loss of favour, or serious disgrace (cf. 1 K 12'-). The same association of ideas governs the usage of such phrases as 'the presence of the Lord' (Gn 3', Job 112 o7 .23i5_ ps igu 975 14013^ etc.). Those hidden in the Divine presence are safe from harm (Ps 31"° 91') ; to be driven from God's presence is to be outcast indeed (Ps 51") ; it is even to perish utterly (68-). The minds of the NT writers were saturated with Hebrew notions, and their usage of language corre- sponds with this fact. Thus the ' presence of Pilate ' (Ac 3") means his seat of authority (of. 5'") ; the 'presence of the Lord' is the source of all spiritual blessing (3'"), of Divine authority (Lk 1'*), and of eternal felicity (Jude -*) ; while the opposite is suggested in Rev 14'". God's presence, in a word, saves or damns those who are exposed to its searching radiance, according to their spiritual relation to Him.
2. It is, however, the positive suggestions of the phrase that require exposition. The presence of God (or of Christ who brought ' life and incorrup- tion to light through the gospel,' 2 Ti 1'") means in apostolic literature all that is implied in the revelation of His nature, and the instrumentalities of His grace. In the OT that presence was largely mediated through nature and Providence (cf. Job and the Psalms /)(Tssirti) ; in the NT this aspect has largely faded into the background, probably as a result of the Deistic attitude of later Judaism, which substituted cultus or worship (especially in the form of a mass of liturgical and ceremonial acts and processes) as the t-liief medium of the approach of man to God, or of God to man. God Himself became remote. His very name was avoided. Belief in a present Deity, glad faith in a God who manifests Himself in actual experience is found only in such exalted experiences as the Maccaboean struggle. Men tried to bridge the chasm by angels, especially natural guardian angels, and by such quasi - personalities, quasi - abstractions as the Wisdom, the Word, Shekinah of Glory, the Spirit of God. But all such etlbrts were far from successful. What ditt'erentiated the heightened spiritual consciousness of the primitive Church was its assurance that in Jesus Christ God had come near to man in a new and living way. This fact is expressed with matchless felicity in St. John's words ' (we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth' (l'*), and in St. Paul's 'God' hath ' shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of (Jod in the face of Jesus Christ ' (2 Co 4"). The same idea is given in
He 1'-', 'God . . . hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son, . . . being the ellul- gence of his glory, and the verj- image of his sub- stance.' To His immediate disciples the physical person of Christ was evidently full of attractive- ness and |)ower, because of the spiritual radiance that shone from His presence ; they afterwards dwelt lovingly in tliought on the expression of His face, on His looks anil gestures, which must have been eloquent of His inner disposition, thoughts, and pu rj loses ; and they afterwards found a deep mystical sigiiilicance in these things as they brooded on His words and dealings with them. It was the Resurrection-life of .Icsus that provided the interpretative light in which all His earthly life w'as transhgured in tlie memory of His imme- diate circle of friends, and which brought home the real meaning of His dealings with them in the days of His tlesh.
3. This personal objective nearness of God in the ' presence ' of Christ as mirrored in the Gospels, becomes in the Epistles a subjective nearness in the souls of believers. Christ dwells in their hearts by faith (Ejih S") ; they 'have jieace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ ; through whom also we have had our access by faith into this grace wherein we stand ' ; they ' rejoice in hope of the glory of God ' (a synonym for His radiant favouring presence, Ro 5'- '-), and Christ who is the 'image and glory of God' (1 Co 11') becomes at last in them ' the hope of glory,' i.e. of a blessed immortality (Col 1-'). This indwelling presence of God in human hearts is not the mere 'inner light' of which the mystics speak, but that light made opulent with all the spiritual content for which Christ stands. It is a Life within the life, a Self within the self, a Divine presence enriching and irradiating the recesses of the soul with its high benefit and power. St. Paul is perpetually conscious of this new element in his lite which, when he hrst had it, made him 'a new creature,' and which made 'all things new' to him (2 Co 5" [Kai>'6s=' fresh,' 'bright,' ' glittering']). Whether he speaks of the believer being in Christ (Col 1"), or of Christ bein" »» him (v.-'), or of being toijethcr with Christ (Eph 2'*; cf. 2''-), he is referring to the same supreme experi- ence in its various aspects. This personal fellow- ship of the Risen Lord around and within him becomes at last apermeative and enfolding presence in virtue of which he becomes identilied with Him ' in inmost nearness,' as when he sa^'s, ' I have been crucilied with Christ ; yet I live ; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me ' (Gal 2™). The mystical sense of oneness with Christ is the highest and most distinctive experience of the Christian life. It is seen in its purity only in the very iinest saints, such as Origen, Athanasius, Augustine, Abelard, Tauler, Luther, Wesley ; but all true believers know it more or less in proportion to their spiritual sensitiveness, and to their faithful- ness in cultivating the ' practice of the presence of God 'in their hearts. This experience has natur- ally found abundant e.xpression in our hymns, e.g. in Eliza Scudder's