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

  • from Part IV - Forms and Functions of Worship
  • Edited by Aaron Segal, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Samuel Lebens, University of Haifa, Israel
  • Book:
    The Philosophy of Worship
    Published online:
    09 January 2025
    Print publication:
    23 January 2025, pp 296-326

  • 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.