Absurdities of immaterialism

by Orson Pratt

That the all-powerful matter called the Holy Spirit is very widely diffused, is evident from the fact that the time will come when it will be poured out upon all flesh. It is very certain that the Psalmist had some idea of the immense quantities of this substance, and of its extensive diffusion, when he exclaims, "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?" &c. The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the deep, and by his Spirit the heavens were garnished. When we speak of the Spirit of God, extending through all space, we do not mean that it absolutely fills every minute portion of space, for if this were the case, there would be no room for any other matter. A substance, to absolutely fill all space, would be an infinite solid, without pores and immovable in all its parts; therefore, the Spirit exists in different parts of space in greater or less degrees of density, like heat, light, or electricity. It is this glorious and all-powerful substance that governs and controls all other substances by its actual presence, producing all the phenomena ascribed to the laws of nature; in it we exist, we live, we move, and by it we receive wisdom and knowledge, and are guided into truth in proportion as we permit it to dwell within us and receive its heavenly teachings.

2.—"The next consideration," says our author, "is their denial of the infinity, perfection, and omnipresence of the Godhead." (Taylder's Tract, page 31.) Under this head he quotes many passages of scripture to show that the presence of God fills heaven and earth, and that the heaven of heavens cannot contain him. All these things we freely admit. The Holy Spirit is called God in the scriptures, as well as the Father and Son. This, we presume, Mr. Taylder will admit. It is God, the Holy Spirit, then, that is everywhere, substantially and virtually. The Holy Spirit is infinitely perfect and wise, one in substance, but one in wisdom, power, glory, and goodness. Jesus prayed that all his disciples might be made one, as he and his Father are one. If Jesus and the Father are one person, then all the disciples must, according to the prayer of Jesus, lose their individual identity and become one person: this would be perfect nonsense. Therefore, Jesus and the Father are two persons or two substances, the same in kind but not the same in identity—in the same sense that his disciples are different persons: and, consequently, distinct substances. His disciples are to be made one with him, and with each other, the same as Jesus and the Father are one; that is, they are to be one in wisdom, power, and glory, but not in person and substance. The substance of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three distinct substances, as much as the substance of three men are distinct.

These three substances act in concert in the same way that all the innumerable millions of his disciples, after they are glorified, will act in concert. The disciples will then be like him. Their glorified bodies will be similar to that of Christ's but not the same as Christ's: they will all maintain their separate individualities, like the Father and Son. The one-ness of the Godhead may be in some measure illustrated by two gallons of pure water, existing in separate vessels, representing the Father and Son, and an ocean of pure water, representing the Holy Spirit. No one would say of these three portions of water that they were identically the same. Every portion would be a separate substance of itself, but yet the separate portions would be one in kind—one in quality, but three in separate distinct identities. So it is with the Godhead so far as the spiritual matter is concerned. There is the same power, wisdom, glory, and goodness in every part, and yet every part has its own work to perform, which accords in the most perfect harmony with the mind and will of every other part.

Each atom of the Holy Spirit is intelligent, and like all other matter has solidity, form, and size. It is because each acts in the most perfect unison with all the rest that the whole is considered one Holy Spirit. All these innumerable atoms are considered one Holy Spirit in the same sense that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are considered one God. The immense number of atoms, though each is all-wise and all-powerful, is, by virtue of their perfect concord and agreement, but one Holy Spirit, the same as the intelligent particles of a man's spirit are, by their peculiar union, but one human spirit. Their unity or oneness does not consist in that inexplicable, incomprehensible, imaginary something without extension or parts, as taught in the first of the "Thirty-nine Articles," but it consists in a unity or oneness of wisdom, power, and glory, each part performing its own splendid works and operations in union with the mind and will of every other part. No one part can perform any work but what is the mind of the whole. Therefore, in this sense it is the same mind—the same will—the same wisdom that pervades the whole.

Mr. Taylder, in order to establish his views of a god without parts, quotes from the theological works of a very celebrated writer on the omnipresence of God, which reads as follows:—

"The essential presence is without any division of himself. I fill heaven and earth, not part in heaven and part in earth: I fill one as well as the other. One part of his essence is not in one place, and another part of his essence in another place; he would then be changeable, for that part of his essence which was now in this place he might alter to another, and place that part of his essence which were in another place to this; but he is undivided everywhere. It is impossible that one part of his essence can be separated from another: for he is not a body, to have one part separable from another. The light of the sun cannot be cut into parts; it cannot be shut into any place, and kept there; it is entire in every place: shall not God, who gives the light that power, be much more present himself? Whatsoever hath parts is finite, but God is infinite; therefore, hath no parts of his essence. Besides, if there were such a division of his being, he would not be the most simple and uncompounded being, but would be made up of various parts; he would not be a spirit, for parts are evidences of composition, and it could not be said that God is here or there, but only a part of God is here and a part of God is there. But he fills heaven and earth; he is as much a God in the earth beneath as he is in heaven above. 'The Lord he is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath; there is none else.'—Deut. iv. 39. Entirely in all places, not by scraps and fragments of his essence." (Charnock on the "Omnipresence of God.")

Of all the absurdities ever imagined up by mortal man in relation to God, the above caps the climax. "One part of his essence," says Charnock, "is not in one place and another part of his essence in another place." How does he exist? According to this theologian, the whole of the essence of God entire must exist in every place. The whole of his essence, not a part, must exist in every cubic inch of space. In one cubic foot of space, according to Charnock, there would be seventeen hundred and twenty eight cubic inches, each containing the whole of the essence of God. As each cubic inch of space is susceptible of being divided into an infinite number of fractional spaces, each fractional space must contain the whole of the essence of God; hence the whole of his essence would be repeated an infinite number of times in every cubic inch. Therefore, if the whole of the essence of God constitutes God, we shall have an infinite number of gods in every cubic inch of space.

But the absurdity does not stop here. Charnock admits the omnipresence of God; he supposes his essence to fill the infinity of space. Now the whole of this infinitely extended essence must exist in the smallest fractional space that can be imagined, and must be repeated an infinite number of times in all finite spaces, in order that the whole of his essence may be in every possible space.

"It is impossible," says Charnock, "that one part of his essence can be separated from another." But, we ask, are not the different parts of space separated from each other? And if he fills all space, then his essence that is in one part of space must be separate from his essence in another part of space. If the whole of his essence occupies a cubic foot of space on the earth, and the whole of his essence occupies another cubic foot of space at the distance of the sun, how is it that these essences at this great distance are not separate from each other? But does not every school-boy know that the whole of any essence cannot be in two separate places at the same instant? And does not every one know that the whole of an essence, infinitely extended, cannot possibly exist in a finite space.

Charnock endeavours to illustrate his absurdities by referring to the rays of light. "The light of the sun," he says, "cannot be cut into parts,"—it is entire in every place." What does this great theologian mean by this? Does he mean that the light of the sun is without parts like his god? or that the whole light of the sun is in every place? Does the whole light of the sun enter our eyes or only a part of his rays? If the whole light of the sun "is entire in every place," then the intensity of his light must be equal in all places. If this be the case, philosophers must be entirely mistaken, for they say that light varies in intensity inversely as the square of the distance from the luminous body; they inform us that a body situated at twice or three times the distance of the earth from the sun will enjoy only one-fourth or one-ninth of the amount of light that we enjoy; but how could this be possible, if the whole light of the sun, instead of part, "is entire in every place?"