ABSTRACT
True simplicity is wonderful, if true; devastating, if false. If it turns out that the identity of the universe and its relation to itself is complex in relevant domains, simplicity will have been a conceit, which amounts to propaganda. Simplification that is tied to transient fashions in culture can operate like a rationality of totalitarianism, while seeming to be pluralistic. The notion of transcendence has not fared well in this situation. Past overblown claims have brought discredit on some concepts in this sphere. There are opportunities within current research areas of philosophy, logic and literary linguistics by which to construct fresh approaches to transcendence – ones that have consequences for philosophy, and for areas of theology, even in such arenas as the concept of resurrection. Internal to such enterprises is the topic of complexity and the ways it functions.
