Omnipresence

Omnipresence is the state of being everywhere at once. It is one of the major qualities that theologians attribute to God, along with omnipotence, omniscience and omnibenevolence. 
===Whence cometh evil?===
See also: Evil is the absence of God
A variation on the problem of evil arises from saying that God is perfectly good and in all places. 
Another way to think of it is this: if there is perfect heat, and it is in all places, then there ought to be no cold, because everything should be perfectly hot. If there is cold, then there either is not perfect heat or perfect heat is not in all places. If there is perfect brightness, and it is in all places, then there ought to be no darkness because everything should be perfectly bright. If there is darkness, either there is not perfect brightness or that perfect brightness is not in all places.
This problem was mentioned by Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica. As he put it, “…if one of two contraries be infinite, the other would be altogether destroyed. But the word "God" means that He is infinite goodness. If, therefore, God existed, there would be no evil discoverable; but there is evil in the world”. Aquinas denies this argument by claiming that God "…should allow evil to exist, and out of it produce good."Question 2. The existence of God. Article 3. Whether God exists? (2021) New Advent. This arguably ignores the problem — that under the premises, evil shouldn’t exist to begin with.
===See you in Hell===
An interesting point from theologians who believe in Hell is that an omnipresent God must be in Hell as well, roasting with us sinners. So much for Hell being “separation from God”!Hell is Not Separation from God by Michael Horton, The Gospel Coalition, 2019, July 31Is God in Hell? by Aaron Currin, Bldg28 Church, 2013, May 30
===Always there when you need Him===
Attachment theory is a psychological and evolutionary theory developed by John Bowlby. Since children, especially young children, are not self-sufficient, they have evolved an innate desire to seek caregivers, called attachment figures. These attachment figures provide the child with a “safe haven” during danger or uncertainty and a “secure base” from which they can explore and learn about the world. It’s easy to see how having a deity watching over someone would provide them with such safety.Attachment Theory and Religion, by Aaron Cherniak, et al, Current Opinion in Psychology, Volume 40, August 2021, Pages 126-130
Children need to maintain a close proximity to attachment figures. When they cannot find their attachment figure, they suffer separation anxiety. Conversely, knowing that one can always reach their attachment figure minimizes anxiety. 
By making God omnipresent, people can believe that they need never fear being separated from Him. Instead, He is always there, providing comfort and safety. 
===He’s watching you!===
In an experiment, Jessie Bering and his former PhD students, Jared Piazza and Gordon Ingram performed the “Princess Alice” experiment.Godlike Princess Curbs Childhood Cheating by Andy Coghlan, New Scientist, 2011 April 19 In short: kids were told to try to hit a ball at a target for a certain number of points. They were given rules they could not break while aiming at the target. 
The kids were divided into three groups. In one group, an experimenter would monitor the children playing. In another group, the experimenter would pretend to need to leave the room. The last group of kids were told that the room had 'Princess Alice', "(a) friendly magical princess … that could make herself invisible … and is in the room with us right now and is sitting in that chair" before the experimenter left the room. Of course, the kids whose experimenter left the room were blatant cheaters. Interestingly, "(t)hose in the 'invisible agent' condition, by contrast, were just as well-behaved when they thought Princess Alice was in the room as were those kids being watched by an actual, flesh and blood person sitting in the chair before them and supervising their behavior."
However, "(t)his rather astonishing Princess Alice effect only panned out statistically for those children who said that they believed that she was real. The more sceptical children in the 'invisible agent' condition, by contrast, were just as likely to cheat when left alone as those in the "no supervision” condition".
Bering argues that the idea of a God or gods (or angels or spirits or whatever) who are watching you no matter where you are was invented to control social behavior. "If our ancestors thought that they were alone and/or could get away with something, but were in fact underestimating other people’s finding out, then the illusion of a concerned 'invisible agent' would have helped them to inhibit selfish, impulsive decisions that could have seriously compromised their reputations, and hence their genetic interests…
===See Also===
*Monism, the belief that everything in existence shares one substance 
*Pantheism, the belief God is the universe
*Pandeism, the belief that God created the universe by becoming the universe 
*Panentheism, the belief that God both exists inside of everything and is transcendent of everything
==References==
Category:Philosophy
Category:Religious terms