It is not metaphysically possible to kill the gods and seek to efface the imprint of the Divinity upon man without destroying man himself; the bitter experience of the modern world stands as overwhelming evidence to this truth.

"It is not metaphysically possible to kill the gods and seek to efface the imprint of the Divinity upon man without destroying man himself; the bitter experience of the modern world stands as overwhelming evidence to this truth. The face which God has turned toward the cosmos and man is none other than the face of man toward the Divinity and in fact the human face itself.

 

In all traditions the significance of the “face” is emphasized since it bears the direct imprint of the Divine upon the human. In the Quran there are several references to the “face of God” which have become sources of meditation for many Muslim sages.

 

One cannot “efface” the “face of God” without “effacing” man himself and reducing him to a faceless entity lost in an anthill. The cry of Nietzsche that “God is dead” could not but mean that “man is dead” as the history of the twentieth century has succeeded in demonstrating in so many ways."

Done