PANENTHEISM

Panentheism is the belief that the universe is part of God, but not all of God. Is it orthodox or heretical? What prompts some theologians to consider this explanation? This site provides links to a variety of viewpoints.

• Cockroaches aren't God - critique of panentheism by Sidney Callahan
  "In our ongoing conflict my ecofeminist friends keep asserting God's immanence in Creation, capital C, using images of Creation as God's body. I, in turn, object by bringing up viruses, plagues, genetic disease, brain tumors, breast cancer, tornadoes, cockroaches, lice, etc. (And this list leaves out the failings of the human creature.) My point is not to deny that God made the world and that it is good, or to disavow that the Holy Spirit continues to create and sustain creation; but I do believe that creation, which is somehow wounded, should not be identified with God."
  
• CounterBalance pages on Panentheism
  Pantheism: "A model of the relation between God and the universe which regards the whole created order as contained within God, and yet considers that this does not exhaust the divine being. Compare with pantheism."

  • General Term: Panentheism
  • God, Humanity and the Cosmos Topic: Peacocke and Polkinghorne Compared
  • God, Humanity and the Cosmos Topic: Peacocke’s View of Divine Action
  • Divine Action Topic: Clarke, Chris. “The Histories Interpretation of Quantum Theory and the Problem of Human/Divine Action."
  • Divine Action Topic: Clayton, Philip. “Tracing the Lines: Constraint and Freedom In the Movement from Quantum Physics to Theology."
  • Russell Survey Topic: A. God and Nature
  • Russell Survey Topic: 2. Evolution and Continuous Creation
  • Russell Survey Topic: c) Eschatology and Scientific Cosmology

• Emerging God: theology for a complex universe.
  "Conceived according to the model of emergence God is no longer the cosmic lawgiver. The result is a far cry from Calvin's God, who must predestine all outcomes "before the foundation of the world." Instead, Cod [sic] guides the process of creativity. God and creatures together compose the melodies of the unfolding world, as it were, without preordaining the outcome."
  
  
• God in All Things, Biblical Panentheism: The "Everywhereness" of God
  "No view of God is larger than the panentheistic view. All other theisms (deism, theism, polytheism, animism, pantheism, atheism) are fragmented theologies compared to panentheism. This is the ground for an inexhaustible faith—that God is present right now, in every cell of our bodies, in every beat of our hearts, in every person, in every star, in every loving thought, birthing every particle of every atom of the entire Creation into a constant stream of existence, the invisible Nothing and Nowhere that brings forth Everything and Everywhere. God in all things and all things in God invites wonder, and wonder invites all to touch God."
  
  
• How do the concepts of ancient philosophy reinforce the concept of panentheism?
  "All appear to be moving towards the perception that there is a greater Reality than our reality, that our universe lies within something greater than itself and the material of which it is composed, and that our reality lies in a Causative Force, which is the definition of panentheism. If these three areas merge to build a model of existence and a temporary consensus as to why we, you and I, exist, then they will have brought themselves back to where ancient philosophy left off."
  
  
• Is God Subject To Change? (Panentheism, Process Theology)
  "Process theology, or Panentheism, does not believe in the God who is revealed in Scripture. The god of Panentheism is constantly evolving – he does not remain the same in his attributes. This is contrary to the God of the Bible who never changes in His basic nature."
  
  
• Jürgen Moltmann and Panentheism: Includes links to numerous articles on Moltmann's view on Panentheism.
  
  
• Marcus Borg Adopts Panentheism
  "He said all the great religions of the world, including Christianity, Judaism and Islam, suggest that God is an encompassing spirit who is part of everyday life. He described this not as pantheism but as ''panentheism,'' which suggests that God is not only transcendent and beyond human experience, but also immanent, or dwelling within all of us."
  
  
• Moltmann, Jurgen. “Reflections on Chaos and God’s Interaction with the World from a Trinitarian Perspective.”
  
  
• Panentheism: History and definition of panentheism with links to various articles on the topic.
  
  
• Pantheism Articles linked from the World Embracing Hope Foundation
  
  
• Pantheism and Panentheism by Harold Wood
  "According to the Encyclopedia Americana, 'Several varieties of pantheism are acknowledged. Some strictly equate God and the universe. Of these, absolute pantheism defines God as the basic reality and the universe merely as the way he appears.... In contrast, for panentheism, the universe or its animating force are just part of God, who is also transcendent.'"
  
  
• Panentheism v. Pantheism
  "[A]n excerpt from New Thought: A Practical American Spirituality, pp. 89-92."
  
  
• Panentheism.com, Introducing a Universal Philosophy and Ethic
  "At the same time, symbiotic panentheism provides the understanding as to how it is possible for God to be omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, and contain all the parts of singularity while not being composed of parts. The process of God being the whole void parts is thoroughly rationalized through the process of ‘separation through inclusion’ versus present day perceptions of ‘separation through exclusion’.’ Separation through exclusion’ is what permeates present day ontological and metaphysical models of reality."
  
  
• Panentheism & Trying to make sense of things By David Fisher
  "Panentheism fails however to categorically differentiate between who Jesus was in relation to the Father, and who human beings are in relation to the Father. Hence there may have been more of God in Jesus than there has been in anyone else, but that is not to say that Jesus occupies a role that is categorically different, (ie. the Son, very God of very God), than you are I in relation to God the Father. Therefore there is resistance to "worshipping Jesus" or making the declaration that he was/is God."
  
  
• Wikipedia Encyclopedia: Panentheism.
  "Panentheism holds that the universe is a part of God or Goddess, or both, but that it is not the whole of God's being. Nature is thus an aspect of divinity."
  
  
• Working Toward a Panentheistic New Thought By C. Alan Anderson
  "We have a good illustration of the panENtheistic worldview in the words of David Ray Griffin, 'if God is the soul of the universe, that all-inclusive creative unification which makes the many finite things into a unity, then neither God nor the world can be understood apart from the other.' So panENtheism says that God and we are a one made up of many. "
  
  
• Yahoo Groups: Panentheism "Panentheism is a little corner on the net created for the purpose of, but certainly not limited to, discussion pertaining to the idea that all is in God. Anyone is welcome to join. Moderation is at a minimum, and will only be applied to dedicated trolls, obviously offensive material or intentionally hurtful or arrogant behaviour."