In the pursuit to explaining the creations, mankind has developed theories and beliefs to feed the curious minds. Transcendence is an important concept at understanding the theories and beliefs. For Christian theology creation is found in the Bible specifically in the Genesis. Transcendence in the Bible is the existence of a supreme being who has created all the living and non-living things from nothingness. The Creator is the lord of everything under the sun.
Transcendence in the Bible
In the Christian Bible, transcendence means that God is the most powerful who is above all the creations. God created all the creatures including a male and a female to rule all the living beings of the ocean, of the air and of the land. From nothingness, the book of Genesis stated, “The earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (King James Version, Gen. 1.2). God is then on top of the creation and is not part of the earth. He has the attribute that goes beyond his creation. Not only God is not a normal human being but powerful and mystical. He ordered the coming of the light divided the light by day and night (King James Version, Gen. 1.3-4).
On the seventh day, God sanctified it as a rest day and there begins the practice that every seventh day of the week is for the service to the creator. The Creator observed that Adam was unhappy so he create a woman named Eve to be his companion. Eve was formed from the ribs of Adam. In the Christian life, these are very important. Because of the belief that there is a supreme being who created all the things under the sun, they see to it that they are abiding to all His rules because it is believed that God sees every transgression. It is believed that there is a life after death where they can join their creator in another world which flowing with milk and honey. It is transcendence which is the belief that there is another world aside from earth. Thus, people observe the seventh day as a day to worship the creator and offer any of their harvest to Him in the Church.
The very first transgression is committed by Adam and Eve in the Garden if Eden when they were tempted to eat the forbidden fruit which the Creator instructed them not to touch and eat. They were lured to it by a devilish creature in the form of a snake and God sent them away from the Garden of Eden where they experienced (King James Version, Gen. 3.1-24). It is this part of the Bible that governed human beings in following the orders of an unseen powerful being who is the Creator. This story of creation reinforces the Christian’s belief of transcendence that apart from the world we are living in, there is a another more prosperous world where believers secures a place.
The story of brothers Cain and Abel in Chapter 4 of Genesis taught human beings the lesson of on killing and cheating. The Creator punished the lineage of Cain for killing his brother Abel. Again, it reinforces the belief that there is somebody powerful out there who knows everything that is happening and has the power to punish those who committed transgression (King James Version, Gen. 4. 1-26).
God can be dreadful which is shown in the story of Noah’s Arc when people who did not believe in Him died of flood. Only those who believed Noah and the instructions of the Creator was saved during the great flood. All the human beings and the livestock that entered Noah’s Arc were saved. Those who mocked Noah were all drowned. It is in this story that made people believed that unconditional faith to the Creator can save from any wrath that God wills to punish the sinful.
Lucretius’ Transcendence
Lucretius (2008) in his book, “Of the Nature of Things” does not share the transcendence belief in the Bible. He believes that all thing on earth begun not in a magical manner but through begun in atoms and voids. Lucretius believe that atoms and voids are the building blocks of nature. Nature changes not because of the will of a Supreme being but because if human activity and nature is constantly changing. Lucretius mentioned, “Bodies, again, are partly primal germs of things and partly unions deriving from primal germs. And those which are the primal germs of things, no power can quench; for in the end, they conquer by their own solidness” (31-32). Unlike the Bible that things are created by a supreme being which is God, Lucretius stressed that things are formed from the unison of primal germs which became solid that nobody, not even God, can conquer.
In the Bible, eternity is described as living in another life alongside God and angels. Lucretius however believed that only the generations born after another of the primal germs lives an eternal life. The solid matter which can refer to human beings, animals among others are fills the empty earth through eternity through the birth of generations.
Moreover, if the Bible tells that God is our maker, Lucretius tells otherwise. He said that we all came from the same mother which is the earth where the primal germs were formed into solid and thus, we became what we are. In the “Of the Nature of Things,” Lucretius said, “Once more, we all from seed celestial spring, to all is that same father, from whom earth, the fostering mother, as she takes the drops of liquid moisture, pregnant bears her broodsThat bears human race and of the wild, the generations all, the while she yields” (124). It is unsure in Lucretius writing if what he meant by the father is that he believed that earth was form by somebody more powerful than the primal germs.
All religions believe that human beings have immortal souls which will depart from the mortal body once death comes. Lucretius surprisingly mentioned stated that the soul is mortal and has birth and death. He however believes that human beings have souls. He believe that the mind and the soul is one and the same and the soul is also composed of lighter atoms which can be moved by the wind. The particles that made up the soul he said are easily broken down and can easily die. The mortal body can be stricken by illness and Lucretius believes that the mind and the soul too are partakers of illness like grief and depression. And so, the mind and the soul are partakers of death.
Lucretius stated, “Then, too, we see, that just as the body takes monstrous diseases and the dreadful pain, so mind its bitter cares, the grief, the fear; Wherefore it tallies that the mind no less partaker is of death, for pain and disease are both artificers of death” (160).
With this, Lucretius concept of transcendence is not like that of the Bible where we, human beings will transcend to another world after death beside our maker. Lucretius’ concept of transcendence is the more of self-transcendence where human beings are the most powerful creatures that their knowledge can transcend through generations. Also, he believes that in the unison of the powers of the human body and mind, we can achieve greatness. We can transcend from our normal life to a greater life on earth. He mentioned that like the way that things were formed from the unison of the primal germs and particles from the earth, human beings too will have to unite the mind, the body, and the soul to achieve greatness. He does not believed in afterlife but he believes that our souls transcends from our body and live a fleeting life before it dies eventually.
One of the reasons Lucretius does not believe in immortality of the soul is that we cannot remember anything that happened in our past lives. He said, “If soul immortal is, and winds its way into the body at the birth of man, why can we not remember something, then, of life-time spent before?” (172). With this, Lucretius does not believe in the concept of reincarnation like other religions believe. He does not believe that a soul can be rebirth in a new body. He believes that if that is so, our mind should have retained memories from our past lives as the mind is powerful enough to do so.
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
In Lewis’ novel, “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe,” transcendence is the presence of another dimensions in earth. It is a concept that another world is present on earth. We cannot see them and so are they to us because we live in separate dimensions. The novel is a story of siblings who transcended to another dimension through the wardrobe. Lucy was the first one to discover that there is another world beyond the huge wardrobe. They were four children who were sent away from London because of the air strikes during the war. They settled in the heart of the country and there Lucy was amazed with the huge wardrobe that pushed her to touch what was inside. There she touch something like leaves of trees. Her curiosity peaked and she went into the wardrobe and followed where she touched the leaves and there she found a passage to another world called Narnia where she found Mr. Tummus, a faun. Lucy and the other three children had a great adventure in Narnia but they had to go back to Earth.
Taking into account the concept of Lucretius on transcendence which he believes in the power of the mind, the transcendence in the novel is through the power of the mind. The children were sent away from the harsh situation during the war and they have created an imaginary world where they can act freely thus, the idea of Narnia. In order to cope from the war, the power of their imagination worked and took them to a world of fantasy.
In the Time of Jesus
In the gospel of Thomas one of the disciples of Jesus Christ, the son of God who was born in Nazareth, mentioned regarding the Kingdom of God. Unlike in the Old Testament like in Genesis that there is a belief in another life with God in heaven, the gospel of Thomas explained that the Kingdom of God is within every human being. Jesus said, “If those who lead you will say to you, look, the Kingdom is in the sky, then the birds will go there first” (Gospel of Thomas). Jesus added that if the Kingdom is in the ocean, then the fish will go there first. He expounded that the Kingdom is within and outside the people. The people only need to know themselves and accept the Kingdom of God within them. The Gospel stated, “and you will know that it is you who are the children of the living father.”
Moreover, in the Gospel of Thomas, it explained that the human beings are all sons and daughters of God like Jesus. Jesus is only the instrument used by the Creator to send a message of salvation only in having faith on God and his son, Jesus. It is in this Gospel that self-transcendence is clear as it compels people to know their selves if they can believe unconditionally and accept and love unconditionally the teachings of the Lord. The Kingdom of heaven starts within while human being are alive on earth.
The Gospel of Thomas also explained that the human soul is the only existing matter and it transcends to another world after death in the arms of the God the Father. However, human beings will have to build the Kingdom God within them which means following the teachings of Jesus and have. Jesus said in the Gospel of Thomas that we are only passers by on earth and it is by having faith and creating the Kingdom of God within that will decide whether eternity will mean a prosperous life in the Kingdom of the Father or an eternity in flames of hell.
The Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew is written by one of Jesus’ disciples which revolve on the birth, genealogy, and the mysteries of his birth and death. The immaculate conception of Mary speaks of the power that God wields over His people. God chose the Virgin Mary to bear his son, the messiah. It was in this Gospel that Mary spoke to God and had faith in what He wills. Even his husband Joseph was said to have spoken to the Lord regarding the baby that Mary was carrying. It was pure faith and obedience that compelled Mary and Joseph to protect the Messiah in the person of their son, Jesus.
In the Gospel of Matthew, the transcendence is seen in the death of Jesus. The Messiah always told them that when he dies, he will rise on the third day to join His father in heaven. The Gospel spoke of the mysteries and vividly described how Jesus appeared to his disciples on the third day after he was buried. He was also described to be flying towards heaven as He has already fulfilled His mission.
In the New Testament of the Bible, it reinforced the belief that God is the most powerful, and all knowing of his peoples’ actions. It means that people exist in God’s plan and whoever transgresses to the plan that He plotted will not be welcomed to the gate of heaven. Like the life of Jesus Christ which was planned to be the messiah of the sinful sons and daughters of the Lord. His life was planned to be lead people to God and that get to be killed. It was a plan that he kept mentioning when he was alive and it happened. It sends a message that peoples’ existence is because of the plan of God. God has a plan to every human being.
Transcendence in the reading materials is based on the state of the mind. The Bible would tell that the earth was made through divine action from a supreme being which is God. He also created all the things on earth including human beings. Christians believe this because of faith that beyond the realities in this world, there is a heaven waiting for them after life. Lucretius however believe that the mind is the most powerful of all and that the world was created in the unison on germs and other particles. Human beings are the product of evolution’s perfection. He believes that transcendence is the power of the mind to go beyond reality. The mind is and the body must unite in order for human beings to create great things. The novel, “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” is an example of the greatness of the mind. The mind can create an imaginary world where children have freedom to express their minds.
References
Jay Smith. (2004-2016). “Matthew.” Bible Hub. Retrieved from http://biblehub.com/summary/matthew/1.htm
King James Version. “Bible.” Retrieved from http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/GenesisChapter10/
Lewis, C.S. (n.d.). “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.” Harper Collins e-books. Pdf file.
Lucretius (50 B.C.). “On the Nature of Things.” Trans. Leonard, W. Pdf file.
Pagels, E. (1998). “The Gospel of Thomas.” Frontline. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/story/thomas.html
