(the finite is capable of the infinite) is a term Luther used to describe the totality of incarnation - God became human.
Actually it is a 500 years old try to encounter the divine by holographic thinking - the finite is mysteriously containing the infinite.
I`ll post that in order to remember the depths theological thoughts always had and tried to express.
Finitum capax infiniti is not comprehensible, it is exceeding our imagination. Nevertheless it is an explanation of "God dwells in the flesh". In a former post (coincidentia oppositorum) I picked a similar medieval try to express a comming together of opposite happenings in the infinite or God.
Holography means in all parts there is the whole (holos = greek "whole"). In a holographic universe there is the whole picture even in one single electron.
And in every human there is the whole picture of God. That means incarnation as pointed out in John 1:14:
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Thus a human is capable of the infinite, as well as all parts of being. But as far as we experience our humanity, humans are capable of being aware and conscious of the infinite.
Not that we understand the infinite, nor do we comprehend it. There is only the language of symbols and intuition. There is only a kind of "inner knowledge" even without being able to prove it in logical ways. We simply know.
The divine finds its expression in all - connectness. And love in many faces and unfoldings is ground and reason, as well as goal. It is the embedding matrix of all being, because the essence of the divine is love in many faces and unfoldings.
And the essence of love is - it simply happens, as all happens as it supposed to happen. No ritual can catch it, no regulation, no conservation and no compulsion. It simply happens. Love happens.
It happens in the finite - broken and often unclear, but it happens, because the finite is capable of the infinite.
A shy smile, a short look with the eyes, a short note, a tiny move of the heart, not more. These are all faces of love happening.
The world is a mysterious place indeed, far away from boredom and monotony...
Replies