God with us : toward trinitarian omnipresence after Barth and Pannenberg

Abstract

This thesis seeks to advance the integration of the doctrine of omnipresence with trinitarian doctrine that can account for the diversity of ways that the divine presence can be understood. This project is interested in a distinctly theological contribution to the present discussion of this divine attribute. Taking this as a task of doctrinal development, the thesis first examines the parameters set forth by Scripture and key figures and moments in the tradition, noting, among other matters, the requirements for proper distinction of creator and creature and essential omnipresence as well as the trajectory toward trinitarian differentiation and the rooting of omnipresence in an absolute sense. The thesis takes up Karl Barth and Wolfhart Pannenberg as taking up the trajectory of the tradition and elaborating positive doctrines of omnipresence that are inflected by trinitarian doctrine in different and distinct ways that allows for complementarity within some shared theological impulses. In respect of Barth, examination and critical discussion centers on the idea of a divine spatiality and the ordering of God’s omnipresence toward the Son. For Pannenberg, such evaluation focuses upon the more balanced trinitarian doctrine as well as the plurality of senses that his doctrine seeks to embrace. In the constructive chapter, these lines of thought are brought together to expound a doctrine of omnipresence in its absolute and relative aspects. This leads to a definition of omnipresence as radical immediacy, which is inclusive of multiple senses such as being in, to, and with creatures, a presence that is also empowering and accompanying, all this being a reflection of the omnipresence that is a perfection of God’s inner, triune life.