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16 - The Metaphysics of Divine Presence and the Appropriateness of Worship

from Part IV - Forms and Functions of Worship

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2025

By
Dean Zimmerman
Edited by
Aaron Segal  and
Samuel Lebens
Aaron Segal
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Samuel Lebens
Affiliation:
University of Haifa, Israel
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Summary

Acts of worship typically involve expressions of fealty: One takes off one’s shoes, bows low, or falls on one’s face. Experiences that naturally prompt such expressions – the sense that one is in the presence of God in an unusual and profound way – raise interesting metaphysical questions about divine presence and absence. Talk of special divine presence poses serious puzzles. In the Jewish scriptures – and in the writings and words of those who treat these scriptures with reverence, whatever their religion – there is much talk of God’s presence and of God’s absence. And yet, God is also affirmed to be everywhere. How can God be everywhere, but also absent from some places, and especially present in others? Metaphysics is a likely place to look for a range of possible answers to this simple but puzzling question.

Keywords

presenceomnipresenceubietyentensionmereologylocationTzimtzumEliezer Berkovits
Type
Chapter
Information
The Philosophy of Worship
Divine and Human Aspects
 , pp. 296 - 326
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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