Is it possible for the human mind to conceive of an infinite
personality?
THE Archdeacon says that it is, and yet in the same article he quotes
the following from Job: "Canst thou by searching find out God?" "It is
as high as Heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than Hell; what canst thou
know?" And immediately after making these quotations, the Archdeacon
takes the ground of the agnostic, and says, "with the wise ancient
Rabbis, we learn to say, _I do not know_."
It is impossible for me to say what any other human being cannot
conceive; but I am absolutely certain that my mind cannot conceive of an
infinite personality--of an infinite Ego.
Man is conscious of his individuality. Man has wants. A multitude
of things in nature seems to work against him; and others seem to be
favorable to him. There is conflict between him and nature.
If man had no wants--if there were no conflict between him and any other
being, or any other thing, he could not say "I"--that is to say, he
could not be conscious of personality.
Now, it seems to me that an infinite personality is a contradiction in
terms, says "I."