The Scandal of Divine Presence

Abstract

According to the Buber-Rosenzweig translation, the voice from the burning bush announces itself as “I will be-there howsoever I will be-there.” God is not only being, but being-there, being-present. Nicholas of Cusa spoke of the “omnivoyance” of God and Eric Voegelin placed the divine-human encounter at the center of his phenomenology. But God also appears concretely at particular times and places. In the Hindu concept of darshan, the worshipper sees and is seen by the god present through a consecrated image. Three theophanies are arresting cases of divine encounter – a Catholic priest with a Hindu goddess, Sojourner Truth with Jesus, and an Apinouye chief with a god. To credit these experiences involves a scandal due to their shocking anthropomorphism. But, as Dutch theologian Hendrikus Berthof argues, the anthropomorphic language is precisely apt. It is God’s language, not our own, Karl Barth reminds us. And, Voegelin argues, it is not for us to determine how the divine reality can and cannot present itself. The paper concludes that anthropomorphic language, in fact, fits the natural context and semantic field for these encounters. Our task is not to discount concrete divine presence, but to accept it “howsoever” it is available to us.