Omnipresent is an adjective that makes it possible to describe someone who can have a simultaneous presence in all places . Omnipresence, like omnipotence and omniscience , are faculties attributed only to one divinity.
This means that only God can be everywhere at the same time, in addition to having unlimited power (he is omnipotent) and knowing everything (he is omniscient). Monotheistic religions were responsible for maintaining that God has these faculties, also understood as perfections .
Before moving forward with the meaning of the term, it is interesting that we proceed to make clear its etymological origin. In this sense, it can be said that it comes from Latin, since it is made up of the sum of several elements of said language: the prefix omni- , which is synonymous with “everything” ; prae , used to indicate “before” ; the verb esse , which can be translated as “to be” ; and the suffix -ente , which indicates present participle.
omnipresent god
As with the rest of the aforementioned capabilities, omnipresence has been the subject of multiple debates throughout history. The most common paradox is that, if God is everywhere and has infinite power, he should not allow evil to exist or people to suffer: otherwise, he would not have the absolute goodness attributed to him. And if God is not able to be in all places simultaneously or to reverse these situations, he would not be omnipresent or omnipotent.
This issue is one of the justifications for deistic- type religions , which recognize the existence of God as the entity that created the planet, but do not give him an active role (something that theistic creeds do).
The adjective referring to human beings
When the notion is not taken in a strict and literal sense, the term omnipresent is used to describe people who try to be in all those places that request their presence. For example: “I am an omnipresent father, who never misses school meetings,” “The president was once again omnipresent, participating in five events during the afternoon yesterday.”
Starting from this meaning, we can say that the adjective omnipresent is used a lot within the field of sport, and specifically football. Thus, for example, it is common for it to be used to define a good goalkeeper or goalkeeper, who is always attentive to any play and who makes all types of saves, even those that seem most impossible.
Other uses of the notion of omnipresent
Within the scope of literature, the use of the adjective in question is also used. Specifically, in this sector we talk about the omnipresent narrator , who is the one who knows everything about the characters and situations. It is present in the third person.
Likewise, we cannot ignore the existence of a digital medium that responds to the name “Omnipresent Newspaper” . It is an Internet publication through which any user can be informed of what is happening in the world in fields such as sports, music, gastronomy, the environment, literature or cinema. Likewise, it also gives news about science, history or leisure.