In simple terms, the statement suggests that God or a divine force does not simply create everything once and then step away from the world. Instead, it proposes that God's presence permeates all things continually, influencing and sustaining them at every moment. This concept challenges the idea of a deity who intervenes sporadically in the universe, instead suggesting an omnipresent and constant influence.
The deeper meaning of this quote delves into the nature of divine causality and existence itself. By stating that God is not merely the initial cause but rather the ongoing and enduring force behind everything, Spinoza argues for a profound interconnectedness between the divine and the natural world. This perspective suggests that there is no separation between God and nature; they are one and the same. It implies that every event and entity in existence is an expression of this underlying unity, which means that understanding the natural world better helps us understand the divine as well.
Baruch Spinoza was a 17th-century Dutch philosopher whose ideas have had a significant impact on Western philosophy. He rejected the traditional views of God held by many religions at the time and developed his own system of metaphysics based on monism, which asserts that only one substance—God or Nature—exists fundamentally. His work challenged conventional religious beliefs about divine intervention and laid the groundwork for later developments in both philosophical and scientific thought.
