Pantheism

Pantheism (Greek: pan = all and Theos = God) literally translates to mean "God is All" or similarly "All is God". The refers to the view in religion and philosophy that everything is subsumed within an all-encompassing immanent God. Pantheists, then, typically deny God's transcendence. Similarly, it can also refer to the belief that the universe (or nature), and God are equivalent. More detailed definitions tend to emphasize the idea that natural law, existence, and/or the universe (the sum total of all that is, was, and shall be) is represented or personified in the theological principle of 'God'. The term "pantheism" is a relatively recent one, and it is commonly accepted that the term "pantheist" was first used by Irish writer John Toland in his 1705 work, Socinianism Truly Stated, by a pantheist. Although concepts similar to pantheism have been discussed as far back as the time of the Ancient Greek philosophers, they have only recently been categorized retrospectively by modern academics.

Pantheism as a Category of Religion

Related Terms

Pantheism should not be confused with some other closely related concepts. Pantheism has features in common with panentheism, such as the idea that the universe is part of God. Technically, the two are separate, inasmuch as pantheism finds God synonymous with nature, and panentheism finds God to be greater than nature alone. Some find this distinction unhelpful, while others see it as a significant point of division. Many of the major faiths described as pantheistic could also be described as panentheistic, whereas naturalistic pantheism cannot (not seeing God as more than nature alone). For example, elements of both panentheism and pantheism are found in Hinduism. Certain interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita and Shri Rudram support this view.

Cosmotheism, a small but controversial racialist group which considers itself a form of pantheism, has an evolutionary interpretation of God, seeing him to be impersonal, but not taking a clear stance as to his sentience. “Cosmotheism”, like the terms “pantheism”, “monotheism”, and “polytheism”, was not used in antiquity. The term seems to have been coined by Lamoignon de Malesherbes in 1782 with regard to Pliny the Elder; various scholars have used it since then, but to refer to different sorts of religious belief.While the term cosmotheism is rarely used, and is most often simply a synonym for Pantheism, this unusual philosophy has been used rather differently, but in all cases, the feeling was that God was something created by man, perhaps even an end state of human evolution, through social planning, eugenics and other forms of genetic engineering. H. G. Wells subscribed to a form of Cosmotheism, which he called the "world brain" (from a book of essays by the same name he printed in 1937, one of which details the creation of a Library-encyclopedia hybrid), and detailed even more in his book God the Invisible King (in which he proscribes mankind to set up a socialist system, structuring itself on social and genetic statistics, education, and eugenics, idealy someday equating itself and possibly even merging with and conqeuring the Pantheist god itself. See: Omega Point) and there where also some sections of his great work Outline of History, which reflected this belief and his finding it in the teachings of Jesus Christ and Siddhartha. His book Shape of Things to Come (and the 1936 film Things to Come) also reflects this, in which mankind, surviving a Nuclear war and an extended Feudal period, unites to form a collectivist Utopia. In modern Israel, Cosmotheism was described by Mordekhay Nesiyahu, one of the foremost ideologists of the Israeli Labor Movement and a lecturer in its college Beit Berl. He felt that God was something which did not exist before man, and was a secular entity which the rebuilding Jewish Temple in Jerusalem has an instrumental role in "invent[ing]" God. In the 20th century United States, William Luther Pierce, a white nationalist associated with the American Nazi Party and founder of the National Alliance also utilised the term "Cosmotheism". In his eyes (similar to H. G. Wells'), God would be the end result of eugenics and racial hygiene (See: Nazism, Francis Galton and Theosophy). Vladimir Vernadsky's and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's "Noosphere" could be refferenced as a description of the Cosmotheist deity, as does Emile Durkheim's Collective consciousness and Carl Jung's collective unconscious.

Similarly, pantheism can easily be confused with monism, which is not surprising since the two terms attempt to describe similar worldviews. Monism refers to the metaphysical and theological view that totality of existence is derived from one essence, principle, substance or energy. Monism is often seen as synonymous with pantheism, however, pantheism can be differentiated from monism since, for the pantheist, the monistic essence which underlies the unverse is distinctly identified as divine. Whereas a monistic explanation could be non-spiritual (such as in materialist theories which reduce all phenomena to physical processes), pantheist beliefs are always infused with the divine. Thus, monism is a necessary but not a sufficent condition within pantheistic doctrines.

Implications and Debates

Pantheism has been a topic of much contention in religious and philosophical spheres alike, spurring many debates over the implications of its doctrines. An oft-cited feature of pantheism is that each individual human, being part of the universe or nature, is part of God. This raises the issue of whether or not humans can have free will. In answer, the following analogy is sometimes given (particularly by classical pantheists): "you are to God, as an individual blood cell in your vein is to you." The analogy further maintains that while a cell may be aware of its own environs, and even has some choices (free will) between right and wrong (killing a bacterium, becoming malignant, or perhaps just doing nothing, among countless others) it likely has little conception of the greater being of which it is a part. Another way to understand this relationship is the Hindu concept of Jiva, wherein the human soul is an aspect of God not yet having reached enlightenment (moksha), after which it becomes Atman. However, it should be noted that not all pantheists accept the idea of free will, with determinism being particularly widespread among naturalistic pantheists. Although individual interpretations of pantheism may suggest certain implications for the nature and existence of free will and/or determinism, pantheism itself does not include any requirement of belief either way. However, the issue is widely discussed, as it is in many other religions and philosophies.

The viewpoints encompassed within the pantheistic community are unavoidably diverse, but the central idea of the universe being an all-encompassing unity and the sanctity of both nature and its natural laws are found throughout. Some pantheists also posit a common purpose for nature and man, while others reject the idea of purpose and view existence as existing "for its own sake." Religious and philosophical scholarship typically distinguishes between two divergent groups of pantheists. First, there is Classical pantheism, a form of theological determinism which asserts that God determines everything, including the choices made by humans. This view was upheld by the Greeks as well as modern thinkers such as Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677). which is expressed in the immanent God of Kabalistic Judaism, Advaita Vedanta Hinduism, and Monism, generally viewing God in a personal manner. The other form is Naturalistic pantheism, based on the relatively recent views of Baruch Spinoza and John Toland, as well as contemporary influences. Classical pantheists generally accept the religious doctrine that there is a spiritual basis to all reality, while naturalistic pantheists generally do not and thus see the world in scientific terms. The vast majority of persons who can be identified as "pantheistic" are of the classical variety (such as Hindus), while most persons who self-identify as "pantheist" alone (rather than as members of another religion) are of the naturalistic variety. The division between the two varieties of pantheism is not entirely clear in all situations, and remains a source of some controversy in pantheist circles.

Another common criticism of pantheism is that it can be reduced to atheism. Rudolf Otto, a famed Christian theologian, claimed that pantheism denies the personality of the deity, and therefore represents disbelief in the traditional concept of God. Similarly, Schopenhauer commented that by referring to the natural world as "god", pantheists were merely creating a synonym for the world, and therefore denying the essence of God and rendering their belief atheistic. However, pantheists reply to these thinker's arguments and others of the like by claiming that such criticisms are rooted in a mindset holding that God must be anthropomorphic. Pantheist thinkers such as Michael P. Levine see this kind of demarcation of what beliefs in god must be as "stipulative" and illustrative of an attitude which "unduly" restricts the extent to which alternative theories of diety can be formulated" (p. 4). Even among the pantheists themselves are similar questions about the nature of God. Classical pantheism believes in a personal, conscious, and omniscient God, and sees this God as uniting all true religions. Naturalistic pantheism, in contrast, believes in an unconscious, non-sentient universe, which, while being holy and beautiful, is seen as being a God in a non-traditional and impersonal sense.

Pantheistic concepts in Religion and Philosophy

Ancient Greek

The ancient Greeks were among the first to lay out pantheistic doctrines, at least in philosophical form. Among the physicists and philosophers of the sixth and fifth centuries B.C.E., a monistic uniformity was hinted at. These thinkers commonly noted the idea that all things must spring from some common source in all things. Such a primordial substance was sometimes vaguely described as alive or animate in nature. Anaximenes believed it to be air; Thales thought the substance was water. Later on, Aetius interpreted Thales to mean that the god in all things was the divine energy of the water; hence, such an idea could be interpreted as an inchoate form of pantheism. In the works of Anaximander, this concept became more obvious, as the author proposed the existence of an uncreated and indestructable being which was indeterminate, yet had all things embedded within it. This being embraced all things and ruled them all, thus it could be classified as divine and therefore pantheistic. Diogenes of Appolloni furthered these pantheistic tendencies by by claiming that reason must dwell in the air, since air travels everywhere and is present in all things.

For Pythagoreans, all things were ruled by mathematics and geometry, hence numbers were seen to constitute the essence of all things, responsible for the harmony in the world. Xenophanes believed God to be changeless and undestroyable and unified in all things. This unity which was endowed with infinite intelligence, and Xenophanes called this unity God. The world of plurality, he contended, was merely a manifestation of this great changeless entity. Heraclitus also stressed the process of transformation as the essence of reality, claiming that all things are merely forms of a great primordial substance, which he called fire. The change upon which all thing's existence is dependent, Heraclitus claimed, was simply the act of divine wisdom taking action in the material world. Heraclitus claimed that humans could never truly know of this great force, although it was in them at all times. Plato often referred to the world as a "blessed god", conceiving of God as the supreme, ideal Form embracing all other forms within itself. That is, it represented a untiy comprehending all the true essences of things. Each idea, as well, is a unity which comprehends the many manifestations of matter within itself. All ideas are comprehended in the supreme idea of the Good, of which the entire world is a manifestation. However, Plato's ideas cannot be called true pantheism as there is a dualism proposed between good and evil, precluding the possibility that these moral categories originate from the same source.

It was among the school of Stoicism that the truest form of Greek pantheism developed. The Stoics proclaimed that God and nature are one and the same, and that the universe is the evolution of a germ of reason in all things. This "germ" was considered to be fire or breath, the intelligent, purposeful material which represented spirit and matter in absolute union. All elements in the world, even those which were inanimate and lifeless, were simply transformations of the original fire. From the fire, everything has arisen and proceeded to evolve; further, the Stoics held that everything will return to this state. The fire contains the germ of reason which acts in all things, and this germ proceeds to determine everything. Thus, the Stoic pantheism is markedly deterministic, as everything is subject to its own predestined fate. However, the Stoics were reluctant to deny humanity free will, claiming humans could fall away from their fate if they acted in discord with the logic of the pantheistic germ of reason.

Hinduism

In Hindu theology Brahman, the ultimate, both transcendent and immanent, the absolute infinite existence, the sum total of all that ever is, was, or ever shall be. As the sun has rays of light which emanate from the same source, the same holds true for the multifaceted aspects of God emanating from Brahman, like many colors of the same prism. This concept of God is of one unity, with the individual personal Gods being aspects of the One; thus, different deities are seen by different adherents as particularly well suited to their worship. Pantheism and panentheism are key components of Advaita theology.

In Smartist tradition, which follows Advaita philosophy, Brahman is seen as the one God, with aspects of God emanating therefrom. With all Hindus, there is a strong belief in all paths, or true religions leading to One God.Some of the Hindu aspects of God include Ganesa, Devi, Vishnu, and Siva. Hindus who follow the Smarta tradition believe that these different aspects of God can bring worshippers closer to Moksha, end of the cycle of rebirth.

Vedanta, specifically, Advaita, is a branch of Hindu philosophy which gives this matter a greater focus. Most Vedantic adherents are monists or "non-dualists" (i.e. Advaita Vedanta), seeing multiple manifestations of the one God or source of being, a view which is often confused by non-Hindus as being polytheistic.Other subdivisions of Vedanta do not strictly hold this tenet. For example, Dvaita school of Madhva holds Brahman to be only Vishnu. In contrast, Arya Samaj believes in worshipping Brahman directly, without conceptualizing God through form such as Ishta-deva or using an icon, the Hindu murti to focus. Arya Samaj only takes into consideration the formless Brahman while Advaita states that the formless Brahman (Nirguna Brahman) and the formful God Saguna Brahman are the same and hence worship of either is valid and equivalent. However, Advaita agrees with Arya Samaj that the Ultimate Reality is attributeless, in contrast to the theistic schools of Ramanuja, who also stressed panentheism, and Madhva, an advocate of duality.

According to Ayyavazhi theology, Ekam is supreme to all: the God beyond human consciousness. Though, through the concept of Ekam, Ayyavazhi states the Ultimate Oneness, there are some quotes in Vinchai in Akilam nine which indicate pantheism. In Akilam seven a new term 'Ekan' (One who appears as Ekam) was used to refer to God. In this expression, the Akilam lays the groundwork for viewing Ayyavazhi as a panthestic faith.

Taoism

The concept of the Tao is one of the best examples of a truly pantheistic belief. The Tao is The Ultimate, ineffable principle, containing the entirety of the universe yet embodying nothingness as its nature. Further, it is a natural law and a system of self-regulating principles. Thus, the Tao, in its totality, represents the central unifying metaphysical and naturalistic principle pervading the entire universe. This allows it to be classified as a form of naturalistic pantheism.

Jewish Tradition

It was Jewish rationalist Benedict Spinoza who developed the first system of pantheism is modern Western philosophy. He adhered to the idea that rationally there could only be one unlimited substance with infinite attributes throughout the entire universe. From this he concluded that the natural world and God were merely synonyms referring to identical reality; if this were not the case, then the combination of God and the world would actually be a greater union than God alone. Thus, God is as necessary as the world, and as a corollary, human free will is denied under Spinoza's assertions. Although Spinoza was Jewish, his pantheism was generally rejected by the orthodox Jewish communities, though it was highly respected among more secular thinkers such as Albert Einstein.

Spinoza's ideas were supposedly inspired by the decidedly immanent sense of the divine in the Jewish mystical Kabbalah tradition. The standard Kabbalah formulation of the nature of God and the universe contrasts the transcendental attributes of God described in the Torah. Jewish mystics typically have asserted that "God is the dwelling-place of the universe; but the universe is not the dwelling-place of God". Possibly the designation ("place") for God, so frequently found in Talmudic-Midrashic literature, is due to this conception, just as Philo, in commenting on Genesis 28:11 says, "God is called ha makom ("the place") because God encloses the universe, but is Himself not enclosed by anything" (De Somniis, i. 11). Kabbalists interpret this in pantheistic terms, although mainstream Judaism generally rejects such interpretations and instead accepts a more panentheistic view. Additionally, the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism, had a mystical sense of the divine that could be described as panentheism.

Christianity

From the tiny groups such as Process theology and Creation Spirituality, up to the Liberal Catholic Church, and as far back into history as the Brethren of the Free Spirit and many gnostics, the idea has had currency within some segments of Christianity for some time. Many Unitarian Universalists consider themselves pantheists. The Gnostic Illuminists of the Thomasine Church proclaim that they follow a more naturalistic pantheism or even a “scientific pantheism.” In their interpretations of Hymn of the Pearl they find a 2000 year old allegory of what has been termed by theoretical physicists as M-theory (sometimes also called U-theory).

Significance of Pantheism

Many pantheists believe that their fresh ideas concerning the deity could create a shift in the way we think about God, and that these ideas can serve to create both a new and a potentially far more insightful conception of both existence and God.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Garvey, A.E. “Pantheism (introductory)” Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics. James Hastings, ed. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1910. 609-613.
• Geden, A.S. “Pantheism (Hindu)” Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics. James Hastings, ed. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1910. 617-620.
• Hartsthorne, Charles. "Pantheism and Panentheism" Encyclopedia of Religion, Mercia Eliade, ed. New York: MacMillan Publishing, 1987. 165-171.
• Levine, Michael P. Pantheism: A non-theistic concept of deity. London: Routledge. 1994.
• Thilly, Frank. “Pantheism (Greek and Roman)” Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics. James Hastings, ed. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1910. 613-617.

See also

• Acosmism
• Collective unconscious
• Cosmology
• Cosmotheism
• Deism
• Emergence
• Hinduism
• Holism
• Kabbalah
• List of Pantheists
• Mordekhay Nesiyahu
• Naturalistic spirituality
• Oneness
• Pandeism
• Panentheism
• Ranters
• Tao
• Theism
• Theopanism
• Universal Pantheist Society
• World Pantheist Movement

External links

• Pantheistic Quotes
• Universal Pantheist Society Home Page
• World Pantheist Movement
• Pantheist Association for Nature
• Pantheist Awareness Network
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry
• Thomasine Church

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