nature in the world. Since God was not created, in himself he is without
limits, or infinite.
What is infinite may seem to us to be nothing, because we are finite
and limited, and we base our thinking on things that are limited. If the
limitations in our thought were taken away, we would see whatever was
left as nothing. Yet the truth is that God is infinitely everything; of our-
selves, we are relatively nothing.
3. Since the world was made, God has existed in space independently of 30
space, and in time independently of time.God, and the divine emanation
that comes directly from him, is not in space, yet he is omnipresent and is
with every human being in the world, every angel in heaven, and every
spirit below heaven. This fact is inaccessible to thinking that is merely
earthly, but spiritual thinking can comprehend it to some extent. Thinking
that is merely earthly cannot comprehend it because space is part of the
thinking. Earthly thinking is based on things in the world; and everything
visible in the world has spatial dimensions. Size here, whether large or
small, has to do with space; length, width, and height here have to do with
space. In fact, every measurement, shape, and form in our world has to do
with space.
Still, we can to some extent understand God’s relationship to space
through material thinking, provided we let in some spiritual light; but first
I will say something about spiritual thinking. Ideas in spiritual thought
have no relationship to space; they relate in every way to state. State
applies to love, life, wisdom, emotions and inclinations, and enjoyment—
generally to goodness and truth. A truly spiritual conceptualization of
these things has nothing in common with space. It is higher. It sees spatial
concepts below itself the way heaven sees earth.
[ 2 ] God is present in space independently of space and in time inde-
pendently of time because God is always the same, from eternity to eter-
nity. What God was like before creation, God was like after creation.
Before creation, there was no space or time in and with God. After cre-
ation, there was. Because God remained the same, then, he is in space inde-
pendently of space, and in time independently of time. As a result, nature
is separate from him and yet he is omnipresent in it. It is similar with the
life that is present in every substantial and every physical part of us, but
does not integrate itself into those parts. A similar thing is true of light in
relation to our eyes, sound in relation to our ears, and taste in relation to
our tongues. A similar thing is also true of the ether in landmasses and
§30 god the creator & creation 41