ubiquity
Omnipresence or ubiquity is a theological technical term that characterizes the all-encompassing presence (of God ). The synonymous omnipresence as a non-theological term is used synonymously for omnipresent, for example " nitrogen is omnipresent in the atmosphere ". See also the law of the omnipresence of substances .
Omnipresence has several theological aspects:
So there is the panentheistic idea that God is present in all things. It is not completely determined by things ( pantheism and pandeism ), but it can be felt in everything.
Furthermore, there are special aspects in the anthropomorphic ideas of God that aim at observing and caring for people (God as Father, God as Shepherd, education of the human race ). This is clearly expressed in Psalm 23 (“The Lord is my Shepherd”) and in Psalm 139 : “I sit or get up, then YOU know it”. The idea of a divine omnipresence is also constitutive for the image of the all-seeing eye .
In the Lutheran doctrine of ubiquity , the real presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper is justified by the idea of an omnipresence of the exalted Christ , the power of his divinity also belongs to his glorified body. Martin Luther formulated this view towards Ulrich Zwingli , and his students developed it further against Johannes Calvin .
The Orthodox theology rejects the ubiquity and teaches instead that God can be excluded from any place ( negative theology ).
literature
- Jörg Baur : Ubiquity. In: Theological Real Encyclopedia . Volume 34. de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 2002, ISBN 3-11-017388-3 , pp. 224–241 (comprehensive introduction with further literature).
- Jörg Baur: Ubiquity. In: Oswald Bayer , Benjamin Gleede (eds.): Creator est creatura. Luther's Christology as a doctrine of idiom communication (= Theological Library Töpelmann. Vol. 138). de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 2007, ISBN 978-3-11-019276-6 , pp. 186-301.