Just published: Divine Transcendence and Immanence!

The terms 'transcendence' and 'immanence' are often used casually and as self-evident. The spatial imagery contained in their meaning determines the way they are understood and used: as opposites, like 'there' and 'here'. As a consequence, the two concepts are seen as mutually exclusive when applied to God's being and to his activity and presence in our world and in our history. This view on the relationship between God and world is characteristic not only of deism and pantheism, but also of theism.
However, in the view of Thomas Aquinas, such an opposition cannot adequately capture the central tenets of the Christian faith. This book explores Aquinas' thought on transcendence and immanence in his discussions of creation, analogy, the Trinity, grace and Christ, and offers interpretations in which God's transcendence and his immanence do not exclude but imply one another.

How to order Divine Transcendence and Immanence in the Work of Thomas Aquinas
The book can be ordered directly at the website of Peeters in Louvain: Peeters-Leuven.be

Contents
The papers in this volume are not organized according to the chronology of the conference, but in three parts.
First, papers dealing with the meaning of the terms and the conceptual distinctions, particularly in the context of creation (Rocca, Te Velde, Goris, Cunningham, Vásquez, Kostelecky).
Secondly, papers dealing with the linguistic peculiarities of talking about the transcendence and immanence of God, focusing on the notion of analogy (Masson, Hart Weed, Besler).
Finally, papers that deal with the relationship between transcendence/ immanence and the theology of the Trinity, and with the theology of grace and Christology (Rikhof, Schmidbaur, Liberto, Mróz, Schoot, Mangnus).


Table of Contents
Introduction (Harm Goris, Herwi Rikhof, Henk Schoot)

I.
'Creatio ex nihilo' and the Being of Creatures: God's Creative Act and the Transcendence-Immanence Distinction in Aquinas (Gregory Rocca)

God and the Language of Participation (Rudi te Velde)

Divine Omnipresence in Thomas Aquinas (Harm Goris)

Being Recalled: Life as Anamnesis (Conor Cunningham)

The Influence of Dionysius the Areopagite on Thomas Aquinas's Understanding of the Knowledge of God (David Dawson Vásquez)

Human Nature Reflected in the Investigation of God: The Case of the Summa contra Gentiles (Matthew Kostelecky)

II.
Analogy as Higher-Order Metaphor in Aquinas (Robert Masson)

Creation as a Foundation of Analogy in Aquinas (Jennifer Hart Weed)

Two Thomistic Interpretations: Thomas Aquinas' Theory of Analogy Bocheński versus Krąpiec (Gabriela Besler)

III.
Thomas on Divine Adoption (Herwi Rikhof)

Can Transcendence Be Revealed in Immanence? Thomas Aquinas on Friendship of God and Image of God (Hans Christian Schmidbaur)

Ad Imaginem Dei. Asymptotic Assimilation in Thomas's Understanding of Grace (David Liberto)

Transzendenz-Immanenz und Entfernung-Gottesnähe im Zusammenhang mit Thomas von Aquins Auffassung von der Tugend der Hoffnung (Mirosław Mróz)

Divine Transcendence and the Mystery of Salvation According to Thomas Aquinas (Henk Schoot

Understanding God's Word. Thomas Aquinas' Explanation of John 1,1-5 (Stefan Mangnus)

Thanks!
We thank all those engaged in this project for their kind assistance and their patience. We hope the end result will be satisfactory to all participants of the conference, and many others.