Transcendence?
Whilst the statements of monotheism are unambiguous, the assertion of the transcendence of God is not:
- in the trifold declaration of God’s holiness, or divine “otherness”:
And they were calling to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”[5]
- in the substitution of Adonai (“my Lord”) for the tetragrammaton (YHWH) in the reading of the Bible itself
Immanence? Immaterial?
According to Jews, the Jewish God is immanent:
- in the Haggada [“Storytelling”] recited during the Passover meal: …and the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt—not by an angel, and not by a seraph, and not by a messenger…
Passover is the Jewish festival celebrating the death of the first born sons of the ancient Egyptians on the eve of the Jew’s Exodus
- in the divine name Shekhina, being “Presence” of God in the world, and this is derived from a Hebrew root meaning “to dwell”
The Jewish God is therefore material.
However, the evidence from the Hebrew Bible is contradictory:
- Then Moses said, “Now show me Your Glory.” And the Lord said, “I will cause all My Goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim My Name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. “But,” He said, “You cannot see My Face for no one may see Me and live.”[6]
In other words, God cannot be present in the material universe, because His Essence would consume the universe. Since He created matter, energy, space and time of the material universe, His Essence must be immaterial.
- The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.[7]
However, God was also present in the material universe which was not destroyed.
Therefore, the Jewish God is confused as to His immanence and immateriality.