transcendence
Quick Summary
In religious contexts, transcendence refers to the divine being distinct from and beyond the material world and humanity. This concept contrasts with immanence, which describes the divine as being present within the world.1
Religious experiences often involve an individual's focus on an "other," or divine reality. The interpretation of this divine reality can be understood through concepts of transcendence and immanence. Some traditions describe the divine as utterly transcendent, beyond human comprehension and even beyond being itself. This can lead to descriptions of the divine as the Ineffable or Infinite.12
While mystical experiences are limited to the spiritual, they can lead to inferences about a creator who transcends these spiritual phenomena. The idea of transcendence is fundamental in understanding the relationship between the divine and finite realities.21
Ask Britannica AI about this topic
Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.
ChristianityThe belief in the oneness of the Father and the Son…the pre-personal depths of the transcendence of Godhood.
Read More…the pre-personal depths of the transcendence of Godhood.
Read More
Eastern OrthodoxyThe transcendence of GodAn important element in the Eastern Christian understanding of God is the notion that God, in his essence, is totally transcendent and unknowable. In this understanding, God can only be designated by negative attributes: it is possible to say what God is…
Read MoreAn important element in the Eastern Christian understanding of God is the notion that God, in his essence, is totally transcendent and unknowable. In this understanding, God can only be designated by negative attributes: it is possible to say what God is…
Read More
existentialismEmergence as a movement…an insistence upon the absolute transcendence of God with respect to the individual, who could place himself in relationship with God only by denying himself and by abandoning himself to a gratuitously granted faith. On the other hand, there was the requirement to demythologize the religious content of faith, particularly…
Read More…an insistence upon the absolute transcendence of God with respect to the individual, who could place himself in relationship with God only by denying himself and by abandoning himself to a gratuitously granted faith. On the other hand, there was the requirement to demythologize the religious content of faith, particularly…
Read More- existentialismThe human situation in the world
…and when the being of transcendence, or of God, is reduced to the possibility of the relationship, although ineffable and mysterious, between transcendence, or God, and humanity.
Read More…and when the being of transcendence, or of God, is reduced to the possibility of the relationship, although ineffable and mysterious, between transcendence, or God, and humanity.
Read More 
theismHumanism and transcendenceIt is indeed from certain modern studies of human beings and their environment that some of the most disturbing challenges to the theist have come. It has been argued that the very idea of God, as well as the more specific forms that it…
Read MoreIt is indeed from certain modern studies of human beings and their environment that some of the most disturbing challenges to the theist have come. It has been argued that the very idea of God, as well as the more specific forms that it…
Read More
Indian philosophyConcepts of bhedabhedaThe philosophies of transcendence and immanence (bhedabheda) assert both identity and difference between the world and finite individuals on the one hand and brahman on the other. The world and finite individuals are real and yet both different and not different from the brahman.
Read MoreThe philosophies of transcendence and immanence (bhedabheda) assert both identity and difference between the world and finite individuals on the one hand and brahman on the other. The world and finite individuals are real and yet both different and not different from the brahman.
Read More