In Memoriam A.H.H. Religion Quotes

From the very beginning it seems that the possibility of doubt is very much on Tennyson's mind. Jesus = God = Love, but humans cannot actually see him, so must take his existence on faith. There's no way to prove it. We can totes see how this might present a problem.

Tennyson hedges his bets here and uses "seemest" ("seems") in relation to his views on whether Jesus is really both human and divine. Compared to the more in-your-face moments of doubt he'll later have, this is a quiet and understated moment of questioning faith.

God is all-seeing and all-knowing. He's sort of like the eye in the sky, watching your every move. He can foresee and see things at the same time, because he's outside of time. There is "no before," meaning God-time doesn't work like puny human-time that can be counted on clocks or by mere chronology.

Here's where the theodicy comes in. This is all about trying to reconcile the idea that, if God is so good, why does he allow so much suffering to exist in the world that he has created?

Woah...heavy, man—this is a moment of deep spiritual connection between Tennyson and Arthur. In the speaker's imagination, the two connect beyond the bounds of time and space (and death) when Arthur's "living soul [...] flashed upon" Tennyson's.

In the end, buoyed by the idea that Arthur now dwells with God, Tennyson accepts that all of creation is united and everything moves by God's purpose. He has found his faith again, and things don't seem as hostile and senseless as before.