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{{short description|Property of being present everywhere}}

'''Omnipresence''' (''omni'' all + ''presence''; lit. all places) is the ability to be everywhere. This trait is usually attributed to [[God]].

{{redirect|Omnipresent|the albums|Omnipresent (Origin album)|and|Omnipresent (Hate Dept. album)|the 2017 Bulgarian film|Omnipresent (film)}}

{{Redirect|Ubiquitous|other uses of a similar term|Ubiquity (disambiguation)}}

{{Attributes of God}}

'''Omnipresence''' or '''ubiquity''' is the property of being present anywhere and everywhere. The term omnipresence is most often used in a [[religious]] context as an attribute of a [[deity]] or [[God|supreme being]], while the term ubiquity is generally used to describe something "existing or being everywhere at the same time, constantly encountered, widespread, common". Ubiquitous is also used synonymously with other words, including: worldwide, universal, global, pervasive, and all over the place.

The omnipresence of a supreme being is conceived differently by different religious systems. In [[Monotheism|monotheistic]] religions like [[Islam]], [[Christianity]] and [[Judaism]], the divine and the universe are separate, but the divine is in attributes present everywhere. In [[Pantheism|pantheistic]] beliefs, the divine and the universe are identical. In [[Panentheism|panentheistic]] beliefs, the divine interpenetrates the universe, but extends beyond it in time and space.

הלוא את־השׁמים ואת־הארץ אני מלא נאם־יהוה

==Etymology==

ho-lo ayth shaw-mah'-yim ayth eh'-rets an-ee' maw-lay' nah-oom' Yeh-ho-vaw'

The word ''omnipresence'' derives from the Latin prefix ''omni''-, meaning "all", and the words ''praesens'', meaning "present". Thus the term means "all present".<ref name="Omnipresence_Definition">{{cite web |title=Definition of Omnipresence |url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/omnipresence_n |language=en}}</ref>

==Introduction==

is it not actually heaven actually earth I fill said Jehovah —Transliteration

[[Hinduism]], and other religions that derive from it, incorporate the theory of ''transcendent and immanent omnipresence'' which is the traditional meaning of the word, [[Brahman]]. This theory defines a universal and fundamental substance, which is the source of all physical existence.

Divine omnipresence is thus one of the divine attributes, although in [[Western Christianity]] it has attracted less philosophical attention than such attributes as [[omnipotence]], [[omniscience]], or being eternal.

“Is it not the heavens and the earth that I myself actually fill?” is the utterance of Jehovah.”—Jeremiah 23:24 NWT

In Western theism, omnipresence is roughly described as the [[ability]] to be "present everywhere at the same time",<ref name="Omnipresence_Definition "/> referring to an unbounded or universal presence. Omnipresence means minimally that there is no place to which God’s knowledge and power do not extend.<ref>{{cite web|last=Craig|first=William Lane|title=Doctrine of God (part 9)|url=http://www.reasonablefaith.org/defenders-2-podcast/transcript/s3-9|access-date=20 May 2014}}</ref> It is related to the concept of ubiquity, the ability to be everywhere or in many places at once.<ref>{{cite web| work=Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary| url= http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ubiquity|title=ubiquity |access-date=2013-01-18}}</ref> This includes unlimited temporal presence.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06612a.htm#IIB |title=Nature and Attributes of God |encyclopedia= [[Catholic Encyclopedia]] | publisher=NewAdvent.org |date=September 1, 1909 |access-date=2013-01-18}}</ref>

[[William Lane Craig]] states that we shouldn’t think of God as being in space in the sense of being spread out like an invisible ether throughout space. He is not like an invisible gas that is everywhere present in space. This would be incorrect for several reasons. For one, it would mean that if the universe is finite, which is perfectly possible, then God would be finite. We do not want to say that because God is infinite. More seriously, if God is spread out throughout space, like an invisible ether, that means that he is not fully present everywhere. Craig argues that omnipresence is a derived characteristic: an [[omniscient]] and [[omnipotent]] deity knows everything and can be and act everywhere, simultaneously. Others propound a deity as having the "Three O's", including omnipresence as a unique characteristic of the deity. Most [[Christian denominations]] — following [[theology]] standardized by the [[Nicene Creed]] — explain the concept of omnipresence in the form of the "Trinity", by having a single deity (God) made up of three omnipresent persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.<ref>{{cite web|last=Craig|first=William Lane|title=Doctrine of God (part 8)|url=http://www.reasonablefaith.org/defenders-2-podcast/transcript/s3-8|access-date=20 May 2014}}</ref>

Is God omnipresent?

==Omnipresence in religions==

Several ancient cultures, such as the [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic]] and the [[Native American religion|Native American]] civilizations share similar views on omnipresent nature; the ancient [[Ancient Egyptian religion|Egyptians]], [[Religion in ancient Greece|Greeks]] and [[Religion in ancient Rome|Romans]] did not worship an omnipresent being. While most [[Paleolithic]] cultures followed [[Paleolithic religion|polytheistic practices]]{{Citation needed|date=January 2008}}, a form of omnipresent deity arises from a worldview that does not share ideas with mono-local deity cultures. Some omnipresent religions see the whole of [[existence]] as a manifestation of the deity. There are two predominant viewpoints here: [[pantheism]], the deity is the summation of Existence, and panentheism, the deity is an emergent property of existence. The first is closest to the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]]' worldview; the latter resembles the [[Vedic period|Vedic]] outlook.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}}. However, ample evidence exists in Vedic texts showing omnipresence and immanent transcendence. In one such Vedic text, namely Isavasya Upanishad,<ref>[[Srisa Chandra Vasu]] in his ''The Upanishads - with the commentary of Madhvacharya'', Part I (https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.282411)</ref> from Shukla Yajur Veda Samhita, verses 40:1,5 <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.282411|title=The Upanisads Part I|date=September 14, 1909|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> clearly shows immanence and omnipresence, while verses 40:4,8 clearly establish transcendence with respect to matter, time and no limitations of any kind.

===Judaism===

This seems to be the plain meaning of those solemn words which God speaks of himself: "Is it not the heavens and the earth that I myself actually fill?" Notice the context; “Am I a God nearby, and not a God far away?” Demonstrating God's presence was in question and sufficiently proving his omnipresence. Which may be farther proved from this consideration:

The monotheist worldview of mainstream Judaism rejects the belief of panentheism and an omnipresent God.<ref>[[Saadia Gaon]] in his ''HaNivchar BaEmunot U'va-Deot'', II, 11 (English translation of portion free online at end of [https://forthodoxy.org/2015/11/23/parashat-vayetze-yaakov-hamakom-gods-place-or-the-place-of-god/ this post] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817034317/https://forthodoxy.org/2015/11/23/parashat-vayetze-yaakov-hamakom-gods-place-or-the-place-of-god/ |date=2017-08-17 }}; Rosenblatt translation [The Book of Beliefs and Opinions, Yale University, 1948], p. 124-125; Arabic/Hebrew Kafih ed. [הנבחר באמונות ובדעות, Jerusalem, 1970] p. 106). Cf. [[Maimonides]]' rejection of panentheism in his Commentary on the Mishnah, Tractate Sanhedrin, 10:1, third principle (English translation by Rosner in ''Maimonides' Commentary on the Mishnah: Tractate Sanhedrin'' [New York, 1981], p. 151; p. 141 in Kafih's Hebrew edition of the Order of Neziqin with Maimonides' Commentary [Jerusalem, 1963]) and [https://forthodoxy.org/2016/02/03/is-judaism-panentheistic-a-mekori-perspective/ Is Judaism Panentheistic? – A Brief Mekori Perspective] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906035013/https://forthodoxy.org/2016/02/03/is-judaism-panentheistic-a-mekori-perspective/ |date=2017-09-06 }}.</ref> While the "entire concept of God occupying physical space, or having any category of spatial reference apply to him was completely rejected by pure Judaic monotheism," [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]] teachings, along with certain [[Kabbalistic]] systems, diverged to postulate belief in panentheism.<ref>Ilan, Yehudah B. [https://forthodoxy.org/2015/11/23/parashat-vayetze-yaakov-hamakom-gods-place-or-the-place-of-god/ Parashat Vayetze: HaMakom – God’s Place or the Place of God?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817034317/https://forthodoxy.org/2015/11/23/parashat-vayetze-yaakov-hamakom-gods-place-or-the-place-of-god/ |date=2017-08-17 }} Retrieved 2016-02-16.</ref>

===Islam===

Omnipresence definition; Present in all places at the same time; Put your intellect to the constituents of presence; The state of being within sight or call, or at hand;

Islam, Shia, or Sunni do not believe in omnipresence.

In [[Athari]] Islam, Allah is above his throne, in the direction of "aboveness", the Hanafi scholar Ibn Abi Al-ʻIzz said in Sharh At-Tahaawiyyah:

“There is not a creation that is not manifest to [God's] sight” (Hebrews 4:13) “The eyes of Jehovah are in every place” (Proverbs 15:3)

“The statements of the [[Salaf]] (righteous predecessors) about affirming the attribute of ʻuluww (aboveness, [[Allah]] being above his throne which is above the seventh heaven, therefore Allah is above everything) are many. For instance, Shaykhul-Islam Abu Ismaaʻeel Al-Ansaari said in his book Al-Farooq with a chain of narration up to Muteeʻ Al-Balkhi that he asked Abu Haneefah about the person who says, 'I do not know whether my Lord is in the heaven or on the earth.' He (Abu Haneefah) said, 'He has committed kufr (disbelief), because Allaah says (what means): {The Most Merciful (Who is) above the Throne established.} [Quran 20:5], and His Throne is above seven heavens.' He further asked Imaam Abu Haneefah, 'What if he says, 'He is above the Throne but I do not know whether the Throne is in the heaven or on the earth.'' Imaam Abu Haneefah replied, 'He is kaafir (a disbeliever) because he denies that He is in the heaven. Whoever denies that He is in the heaven has committed kufr.' Another narrator added, 'Because Allaah is above the highest heaven, and He is supplicated upwards not downwards (i.e. people raise their heads towards the heaven and stretch their hands upwards towards Allaah).'” [Sharh Al-ʻAqeedah At-Tahaawiyyah]<ref>https://www.islamweb.net/en/fatwa/326068/abu-haneefahs-view-on-istiwaa-over-throne {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2025}}</ref>

“For there is not a word on my tongue, But look! O Jehovah, you already know it all.” (Psalm 139:4)

and the scholars of the Salaf, who are the source of Athari theology state:

“Behind and before, you have besieged me; And you place your hand upon me.” (Psalm 139:5) Were I to go to any conceivable or inconceivable place “There, also, your own hand would lead me And your right hand would lay hold of me.” (Psalm 139:10)

Abu Nasr As-Sijzee Al-Hanafi (d. 444 H.) said in “Al-Ibanah”: “Our Imams such as Sufyan Ath-Thawri, Malik, Hammad bin Salamah, Hammad bin Zayd, Abdullah bin al-Mubarak, Al-Fudail bin `Iyad, [[Ahmad bin Hanbal]], and Ishaq bin Rahwaih, are upon agreement that Allah –Subhanahu wa Ta`ala is by His Essence (bi-dhatihi) above the Throne, and His Knowledge is everywhere.”

God's presence (state of being within sight or call, or at hand) is manifest everywhere so God is everywhere present, all present, omnipresent. It is really as simple as that. Yes, “Where can I go from your spirit, And where can I run away from your presence?” (Psalm 139:7). I know “[Such] knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is so high up that I cannot attain to it.” (Psalm 139:6) But “Is anything too extraordinary for Jehovah?” (Genesis 18:14)

In [[Ash'ari]] Islam, God has no body or direction and is not bound by space or time.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam |date=2009-05-28 |title=Where Is Allah |url=https://seekersguidance.org/answers/islamic-belief/where-is-allah/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230722211314/https://seekersguidance.org/answers/islamic-belief/where-is-allah/ |archive-date=2023-07-22 |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=SeekersGuidance |language=en |quote=Imam al-Tahawi (Allah have mercy on him) states in his famous al-Aqida al-Tahawiyya: “He (Allah) is beyond having limits placed on Him, or being restricted, or having parts or limbs. Nor is He contained by six directions as all created things are.” (P. 9). Imam al-Nasafi (Allah have mercy on him) states: “He (Allah) is not a body (jism), nor an atom (jawhar), nor is He something formed (musawwar), nor a thing limited (mahdud), nor a thing numbered (ma’dud), nor a thing portioned or divided, nor a thing compounded (mutarakkab), nor does He come to end in Himself. He is not described by quiddity (al-ma’hiya), or by quality (al-kayfiyya), nor is He placed in space (al-makan), and time (al-zaman) does not affect Him. Nothing resembles Him, that is to say, nothing is like Him.” (See: Sa’d al-Din al-Taftazani & Najm al-Din al-Nasafi, Sharh al-Aqa’id al- Nasafiyya, 92-97).}}</ref>

Can there be in the whole compass of nature a more sublime subject? Can there be any more worthy the consideration of every rational creature? Is there any more necessary to be considered, and to be understood, so far as our poor faculties will admit? How many excellent purposes may it answer! What deep instruction may it convey to all the children of men! And more directly to the children of God.

According to Shia tradition in [[Nahj al-Balagha]], a compilation of [[Ali]]'s teachings and letters, with commentary by [[Morteza Motahhari]], God is with everything, but not in anything, and nothing is with him. God is not within things, though not out of them. He is over and above every kind of condition, state, similarity, and likeness. [[Ali]] says about God's omnipresence:

Indeed, this subject is far too vast to be comprehended by the narrow limits of human understanding. We can only say, The great God, the eternal, the almighty Spirit, is as unbounded in his presence as in his duration and power. In condescension, indeed, to our weak understanding, he is said to dwell in heaven: but, strictly speaking, “'The heavens, yes, the heavens of the heavens, themselves cannot contain [God]”--1 Kings 8:27; but he is in every part of his dominion. The universal God dwells universally; so that we may say,

* "He is with everything but not in physical nearness. He is different from everything but not in physical separation."

* “He is not inside things in the sense of physical [pervasion or] penetration and is not outside them in the sense of [physical] exclusion [for exclusion entails a kind of finitude].”

* “He is distinct from things because He overpowers them, and the things are distinct from Him because of their subjection to Him.”<ref>http://www.duas.org/pdfs/Nahjul-Balagha.pdf pg 42</ref>

Sunnis however cite that those narrations lack any actual crediation or authentic [[isnad]] to [[Ali]].

===Christianity===

Hail, Father! whose creating call

In Christianity, as well as in Kabbalistic and Hasidic philosophy, God is omnipresent. However, the significant difference between them and other religious systems is that God is still [[transcendence (religion)|transcendent]] to his [[Genesis creation myth|creation]] and yet [[immanence|immanent]] in relating to creation. God is not immersed in the substance of creation, even though he can interact with it as he chooses. He can make his [[dyophysitism|human-divine body]] visible anytime and everywhere, whatever he wants: he cannot be excluded from any ___location or object in creation. God's presence is continuous throughout all of creation, though it may not be revealed in the same way at the same time to people everywhere. At times, he may be actively present in a situation, while he may not indicate that he is present in another circumstance in some other area. God is omnipresent in a way that he can interact with his creation however he chooses and is the very essence of his creation. While contrary to ordinary physical intuitions, such omnipresence is logically possible by way of the classic geometric point or its equivalent, in that such a point is, by definition, within all of space without taking up any space. The [[Bible]] states that God can be both present to a person in a manifest manner ([[Psalm]] 46:1, [[Isaiah]] 57:15) as well as being present in every situation in all of creation at any given time (Psalm 33:13-14).

Unnumbered worlds attend!

Jehovah, comprehending all,

Who none can comprehend!

Specifically, Oden states that the Bible shows that God can be present in every aspect of human life:

By sustaining all things, without which everything would in an instant sink into its primitive nothing; by governing all, every moment superintending everything that he has made; strongly and sweetly influencing all, and yet without destroying the liberty of his rational creatures. “in fact, [Jehovah] is not far off from each one of us.” Paul told the Athenian philosophers, “For by [God] we have life and move and exist, even as certain ones of the poets among YOU have said, 'For we are also [God's] progeny.'”--Acts 17:27,28. This truth was expressed repeatedly by the saints of old: “In whose hand is the soul of everyone alive And the spirit of all flesh of man?”--Job 12:10. The poets acknowledged that the great God governs the large and conspicuous parts of the universe;

* God is naturally present in every aspect of the natural order, in every level of [[causality]], every fleeting [[Instant|moment]], and meaningful event of [[natural history]]... (Psalm 8:3, Isaiah 40:12, [[Book of Nahum|Nahum]] 1:3)

* God is bodily present in the [[Incarnation (Christianity)]] of his Son, [[Jesus]] [[Christ]]. ([[Gospel of John]] 1:14, [[Colossians]] 2:9)

* God is sacredly present and becomes known in special places where God chooses to meet us, places that become set apart by the faithful remembering community ([[1 Corinthians]] 11:23-29) where it may say: "Truly the Lord is in this place". ([[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 28:16, Matthew 18:20)<ref>[[Thomas C. Oden]] ''The Living God''. ''Systematic Theology'' Vol. 1, 67-69 (1987)</ref>

Marbaniang points out that omnipresence does not mean divine occupation of all space, nor divine distribution overall space, nor indwelling of every entity, nor that God cannot move in space, nor the diversification of the universe, but means that God is fully present everywhere and that God can do different things at different places at the same time.<ref>Domenic Marbaniang, "Omnipresence", ''Light of Life'', Mumbai, February 2018</ref>

Totam Mens agitans molem,

et magno se corpore miscens:

==See also==

The all-informing soul,

* [[Ubiquitous computing]]

That fills, pervades and actuates the whole.

* [[Panentheism#Judaism|Panentheism in Judaism]]

* [[Uniformitarianism|Uniformity of nature]] and [[laws of physics]]

* [[Immanent realism]]

==References==

Presiding over all that he has made, and governing atoms as well as worlds. This we could not have known unless it had pleased God to reveal it to us himself. Had he not himself told us so, we should not have dared to think that "not one [sparrow] will fall to the ground without our Father's [knowledge]." and much less affirm, that "even the hairs of our head are all numbered!" (Mt 10:29-31; Lu 12:6,7)

{{Reflist}}

==External links==

And where no creature is, still God is there. The presence or absence of any or all creatures makes no difference with regard to him. He is equally in all, or without all. Many have been the disputes whether there be any such thing as empty space in the universe; and it is now generally supposed that all space is full. Even if one could remove all the photons and charged particles from space; “Even the darkness itself would not prove too dark for you, But the night itself would shine just as the day does; The darkness might just as well be the light.” (Psalm 139:12)

{{Wiktionary|omnipresence}}

* [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/omnipresence Omnipresence ] from the [[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]

{{Authority control}}

Your omnipresent sight,

Even to the pathless realms extends

Of uncreated night.

[[Category:Hindu philosophical concepts]]

It is intriguing to contemplate Jehovah's omnipresence and interesting to consider the similarities of what modern science knows of dynamic energy and Jehovah. Jehovah is "the abundance of dynamic energy, [God] also being vigorous in power"--Isaiah 40:26. Modern science has proved energy has always existed and always will, can never be destroyed and is everywhere in the universe. Only Jehovah has claimed these qualities and rightly so.

[[Category:Attributes of God in Christian theology]]

[[Category:New Thought beliefs]]

Dynamic energy is know to reach beyond the material universe. Yes 'empty' space is filled with gravitational and magnetic energies. That which we cannot see except by there influence on matter and particles. For example a space craft has felt the disturbance of the earth's magnetic field four million miles away! And the binary pulsar PSR1913+16 has been shown to emit substantial gravitational waves, and one expects that these waves will carry away energy. So according to general relativity its orbital period should change. Einstein's derived quadrapole formula bore out the predictions within a few percent.

[[Category:Superlatives in religion]]

E=m*c^2 does indeed describe the inseparableness of the material universe and the God of dynamic energy. "For [God's] invisible [qualities] are clearly seen from the cosmos’s creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship, so that they are inexcusable"--Romans 1:20.

Dialogue;

Wherever we suppose him not to be, there we suppose all his attributes to be in vain. He cannot exercise there either his justice or mercy, either his power or wisdom. In extra-mundane space, (so to speak) where we suppose God not to be present, we must, of course, suppose him to have no duration.

"Jehovah proceeded to go down to see the city" (Genesis 11:5). “as for Jehovah, he was still standing before Abraham.” (look at Genesis 18) The fact of God's omnipresence precludes taking such biblical depictions of God's ascending and descending and comings and goings literally. When such language is employed (Isaiah 64:1,2), it must be recognized for what it is - metaphorical language indicating or invoking a special manifestation of God's working either in grace or judgment.

But to all that is or can be said of the omnipresence of God, the world has one grand objection: They cannot see him. And this is really at the root of all their other objections. But is it not easy to reply, "Can you see the wind?" You cannot. But do you therefore deny its existence, or its presence? You say, "No; for I can perceive it by my other senses." But by which of your senses do you perceive your spirit? Surely you do not deny either the existence or the presence of this! And yet it is not the object of your sight, or of any of your other senses. Suffice it then to consider that God is a Spirit. Consequently, "You are not able to see my presence, because no man may see me and yet live." (Exodus 33:20) How is it that angels are able to materialize such that we can see them? Jehovah is far more than an angel and to conclude that Jehovah could materialize all his being as if into one body is silly. We certainly would not live through the experience.