1307.Speaking About God

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H. R. NIEBUHR'S WAY OF SPEAKING ABOUT GOD

" . . . the power by which all things are . . ."(RS: 44)

", , . not the commander who gives laws but the doer of small and of mighty deeds, the creator of sparrows and clother of lilies, the ultimate giver of blindness and of sight, the ruler whose rule is hidden in the manifold activities of plural agencies but is yet in a way visible to those who know how to interpret the signs of the times" (67).

". . . the ultimate person, the ultimate cause, the center' of universal community . . . " ( 86)

" . . . the radical action by which the self is, and is thus and so, among the equally contingent beings and processes which in its animal faith it takes for granted II (114), II,the inscrutable power by which I am. , . , the power that threw me into being in this mortal destructible body .. ," (114). II. ,the radical action that flings [the self] into existence and
•holds it there^{ll (115). IIII
that otherness by which the self is self. (116).II IIthe radical action whereby the I is thrown into existence (117).II. . the alien and inscrutable power that elects us and all things into existencell (119). IIII ...the act by which we ourselves are and are in the world. , (119). IIthe power by which I am and we areII (119 f.). II. the ultimate power of being (120).IIII}

the power by which [the self] is. (120). II
.. the radical act .. (120)
II
II •••the ultimate power ..." (120)
II [the] uni ty that lies beyond, yet expresses itself in, all

·
l~s~'-t]the manifold systems of acti ons upon 4+. . . . the One in all that acts upon ;'\
_me

ll (122) . IIthe One beyond all the many . . .II(123).IIthe One other beyond all the finite systems of nature and soci
etyll (123).IIthe One creative power .. , the Transcendent One .. ," (123 f.).IIthe radical action by which I am, by which my society is, by
which this world is ...11(124),IIthe power by which all things are and by which I am ..,II(124 f.),IIcenter and source of a11 existence . , .II(125).
II 
the self responds. . . . the Determi ner of Desti ny
"... the universal, omnificent One, whom Jesus Christ called Father (164).
~. . . the f"j na1 end, the ultimate source, . the last environment to which the Christian is related in all his relations. the ultimate spirit that moves in the depths of his life and of all creation" (155).• II
II
· . the universal that contains and transforms, includes and fashions~every particu1ar" (164).11 •••
the overflowing creativity, ... the infinite artistry, that rejoices in its creations, that
rejects~because it is allgrace~the censorships of human laws, not because it falls below the common human standard, but because it rises far above itl! (166).II
the omnificent intention that is wholly affirmative of what it brings into being. . the action, which hates nothing that it has made but wills it to be and to be whole
ll(166).II
the infinite intention, behind or inclusive of all the finite intentions .... the will beyond all finite wills. .I!(166). omn ifi cence, . . . the all-doerll (170)."
II
the universal
intention~the meaning of the One beyond the many . . .II(170).II
· . the universal action beyond all particular action
ll(172).II II
the determining power, the One who acts in all the many. (173).
II •
the decisive action by which we are, and all things are, by which we are destroyed and all things are destroyed (175).
II
II •
the oneness behind and in and through all the many-ness in which we live and which we knowll(175).4
II
.. the One beyond all the many, the power present in all powers, the reason present ina11 reasons, the idea inc1usi ve of all ideas, the nature behind and through all natures, the environment envi roni ng all our envi ronments . . .
II(175).II •
the uni versa1 source of the uni versa1 real i ty . . . the transcendent, the all-enveloping .... the mysterious shadow of the Power we do not know, but somehow bel i eve . . .II(liThe Tri ad of Fa; thII:12