It has already been remarkerl in a previous chapter, in reference to this mode of reasoning, tliat it proceeds on a wrong idea of the infinite. A thing may be infinite in its own nature witliout pre- cTuduTg tlie possibility of the existence of things of a different na- ture. An infinite spirit does not forbid the assumption of. the ex- istence ormatter. There may even be many infinites of the same kmd, as we^canTimagine any number of infinite lines. The infinite, therefore, is not all. An_infinite_spirit is a^ spirit tq_whose attri- butes as a spirit no limits can be set. It no m^re precludes the ex- istence_ofother spirits tlian infinite goodness precludes the existence of finite goodness, or infinite power the existence of finite power. God is infinite in being because no limit can be assigned to his perfections, and because He is present in all portions of space. A being is saKl_to_b^j3resent wherever it perceives and acts. As God perceives juid acts everywliere. He is everywhere present. This, however, does not preclude the presence of other beings. A mul- titude of men even may perceive and act at the same time and place. Besides, we have very little knowledge of the relation which spirit bears to space. We know that bodies occupy portions of space to the exclusion of other bodies ; but we do not know that spirits may not coexist in the same portion of space. A legion of demons dwelt in one man.
B. Infinitude of God in relation to Space. The infinitude of God, so far as space is concerned, includes his im- mensity and his omnipresence. These are not diflferent attributes, but one and the same attribute, viewed under different aspects. His immensity is tiie infinitude of his being, viewed as belonging to his nature from eternity. He fills immensity with his presence. His omnipresence is the infinitude of his being, viewed in relation to his creatures. He is equally present with all his creatures, at all times, and in all places. He is not far from any one of us. " The Lord is in this place," may be said with equal truth and confidence, everywhere. Theologians are accustomed to distinguish three modes of presence in space. Bodies are in space circumscriptively They are bounded by it. Spirits are in space definitively. They have an uhi. They are not everywhere, but only somewhere. God is in space repletively. He fills all space. In other words, the limitations of space have no reference to Him. He is not absent fi'om any portion of space, nor more present in one portion than in another. This of course is not to be understood of extension or difiusion. Extension is a property of matter, and cannot be predi-
384 PART I. — THEOLOGY. [Ch. V. — Divine Attributes.
cated of God. If extended, He would be capable of division and separation ; and part of God would be here, and part elsewhere. Nor is this omnipresence to be understood as a mere presence in knowledge and power. It is an omnipresence of the divine essence. Otherwise the essence of God would be limited. The doctrine, therefore, taught by the ohler Socinians that the essence of God is confined to heaven (wherever that may be), and that He is else- where only as to his knowledge and efficiency, is inconsistent with the divine perfections and with the representations of Scripture. As God acts everywhere, He is present everywhere ; for, as the theologians say, a being can no more act where he is not than when he is not.
The older and later theologians agree in this view of the divine immensity and omnipresence. Augustine ^ says God is not to be regarded as everywhere diffused, as the air or the light : " Sed in solo coelo totus, et in sola terra totus, et in coelo et in terra totus, et nullo contentus loco, sed in seipso ubique totus." Thomas Aqui- nas says,^ Deus " est in omnibus per potentiam, in quantum omnia ejus potestati subduntur ; est per prasentiam in omnibus, in quan- tum omnia nuda sunt et aperta oculis ejus. Est in omnibus per essentiam in quantum adest omnibus ut causa essendi sicut dictum est." Quenstedt says,^ "Est Deus ubique illocaliter, impartibili- ter, efficaciter ; non definitive ut spiritus, non circumscriptive ut corpora, sed repletive citra sui multiplicationem, extensionem, divi- sionem, inclusionem, aut commixtionem more modoque divino in- comprehensibili." The Bible teaches the mfinitude of God, as involving his immensity and omnipresence, in the clearest terms. He is said to fill all in all, i. e., the universe in all its parts. (Eph. i. 23.) " Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him ? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth ? saith the Lord." (Jer. xxiii. 23, 24.) " Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence ? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there : if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea ; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." (Ps. cxxxix. 7-12.) It is "in Him we {i. e., all creatures) live, and move, and have our being." (Acts xvii. 28.) Everywhere in the Old and in the New Testament, God is repre-
1 Be Prmsentia Dei seu Epislola clxxxvii. iv. 14, edit. Benedictines, vdI. ii. p. 1023, d. a Summa, i. viii. 3, edit. Cologne, 1640, p. 16. > TTieobgia, i. viii. § 1, p. 413.