[1] From the Bull _Ineffabilis Deus._
[2] See Passaglia's work, referred to below.
[3] _De natura et gratia_, cap. xxxvi.
[4] S. Bernardi Epist. clxxiv. 7.
[5] _Summa theologia_, part iii., quaest. 27, art. 3.
[6] _In librum III. sententiarum distinct._ 3 quaest. i. art. 2.
[7] _In librum III. sententiarum dist._ 3 quaest. i. n. 4; _Cfr.
Distinct_. 18 n. 15. Also the _Summa theologia_ of Scotus (compiled
by a disciple), part iii., quaest. 27, art. 2.
[8] Sess. v. _De peccato originale_.
[9] _P. G._, tom. cxvii. p. 1305.
IMMANENCE (from Lat. _in-manere_ to dwell in, remain), in philosophy and
theology a term applied in contradistinction to "transcendence," to the
fact or condition of being entirely within something. Its most important
use is for the theological conception of God as existing in and
throughout the created world, as opposed, for example, to Deism (q.v.),
which conceives Him as separate from and above the universe. This
conception has been expressed in a great variety of forms (see THEISM,
PANTHEISM). It should be observed that the immanence doctrine need not
preclude the belief in the transcendence of God: thus God may be
regarded as above the world (transcendent) and at the same time as
present in and pervading it (immanent). The immanence doctrine has
arisen from two main causes, the one metaphysical, the other religious.
Metaphysical speculation on the relation of matter and mind has
naturally led to a conviction of an underlying unity of all existence,
and so to a metaphysical identification of God and the universe: when
this identification proceeds to the length of expressing the universe as
merely a mode or form of deity the result is pantheism (cf. the
Eleatics): when it regards the deity as simply the sum of the forces of
nature (cf. John Toland) the result is naturalism. In either case, but
especially in the former, it frequently becomes pure mysticism (q.v.).
Religious thinkers are faced by the problem of the Creator and the
created, and the necessity for formulating a close relationship between
God and man, the Infinite and Perfect with the finite and imperfect. The
conception of God as wholly external to man, a purely mechanical theory
of the creation, is throughout Christendom regarded as false to the
teaching of the New Testament as also to Christian experience. The
contrary view has gained ground in some quarters (cf. the so-called "New
Theology" of Rev. R. J. Campbell) so far as to postulate a divine
element in human beings, so definitely bridging over the gap between
finite and infinite which was to some extent admitted by the bulk of
early Christian teachers. In support of such a view are adduced not only
the metaphysical difficulty of postulating any relationship between the
infinite and the purely finite, but also the ethical problems of the
nature of human goodness--i.e. how a merely human being could appreciate
the nature of or display divine goodness--and the epistemological
problem of explaining how finite mind can cognize the infinite. The
development of the immanence theory of God has coincided with the deeper
recognition of the essentially spiritual nature of deity as contrasted
with the older semi-pagan conception found very largely in the Old
Testament of God as primarily a mighty ruler, obedience to whom is
comparable with that of a subject to an absolute monarch: the idea of
the dignity of man in virtue of his immediate relation with God may be
traced in great measure to the humanist movement of the 14th and 15th
centuries (cf. the Inner Light doctrine of Johann Tauler). In later
times the conception of conscience as an inward monitor is symptomatic
of the same movement of thought. In pure metaphysics the term
"immanence-philosophy" is given to a doctrine held largely by German
philosophers (Rehmke, Leclair, Schuppe and others) according to which
all reality is reduced to elements immanent in consciousness. This
doctrine is derived from Berkeley and Hume on the one hand and from
Kantianism on the other, and embodies the principle that nothing can
exist for the mind save itself. The natural consequence of this theory
is that the individual consciousness alone exists (solipsism): this
position is, however, open to the obvious criticism that in some cases
individual consciousnesses agree in their content. Schuppe, therefore,
postulates a general consciousness (_Bewusstsein überhaupt_).
IMMANUEL BEN SOLOMON (c. 1265-c. 1330), Hebrew poet, was born in Rome.
He was a contemporary and friend of Dante, and his verse shows the
influence of the "divine poet." Immanuel's early studies included
science, mathematics and philosophy; and his commentaries on Proverbs,
Psalms, Job and other Biblical books are good examples of the current
symbolical methods which Dante so supremely used. Immanuel's fame
chiefly rests on his poems, especially the collection (in the manner of
Harizi, q.v.) entitled _Mehabberoth_, a series of 27 good-natured
satires on Jewish life. Religious and secular topics are
indiscriminately interwoven, and severe pietists were offended by
Immanuel's erotic style. Most popular is an additional section numbered
28 (often printed by itself) called _Hell and Paradise_ (_ha-Tophet
veha-Eden_). The poet is conducted by a certain Daniel (doubtfully
identified with Dante) through the realms of torture and bliss, and
Immanuel's pictures and comments are at once vivid and witty.