Panentheism

Panentheism (Greek words: πάν ( 'pan' ) =all, en=in and Theos=God; "all-in-God") is the view that God is immanent within all Creation or that God is the animating force behind the universe. Unlike pantheism, panentheism does not mean that the universe is synonymous with God. Instead, it holds that there is more to God than the material universe. In panentheism, God maintains a transcendent character, and is viewed as both the creator and the original source of universal morality. The term is closely associated with the Logos of Hellenistic philosophy in the works of Herakleitos, which pervades the cosmos and whereby all things were made.

Ancient Panentheism

There are more archeological records of panentheistic cultures than any other variety in the hunter-gatherer societies. Modern anthropologists have discovered that virtually all the aboriginees of various continents have deep panentheistic worldviews when they have the concept of a Goddess (there are vanishingly few male-centric gods in primitive tribes) and pantheistic when they do not. In fact, the difference is actually quite hemispheric: North American natives were largely pantheistic, with the exception of the Cherokee who were monotheistic, while South American peoples were largely panentheistic (as were ancient South East Asian cultures). The Central American empires of the Mayan, Aztec and Incans were actually polytheistic and had very strong male deities.

Neoplatonism is panentheistic. Plotinus taught that there was an ineffable transcendent God 'The One' of which subsequent realities were emanations. From the One emanates the Divine Mind (Nous), the Cosmic Soul (Psyche), and the World (Cosmos).

Panentheism in Christianity

Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Christianity

The Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches have a doctrine called panentheism to describe the relationship between the Uncreated (God, who is omnipotent, eternal, and constant) and His creation that bears surface similarities with the panentheism described above but maintains a critical distinction.

Most specifically, these Churches teach that God is not the "watchmaker God" of the Western European Enlightenment. Likewise, they teach that God is not the "stage magician God" who only shows up when performing miracles. Instead, the teaching of both these Churches is that God is not merely necessary to have created the universe, but that His active presence is necessary in some way for every bit of creation, from smallest to greatest, to continue to exist at all. That is, God's energies maintain all things and all beings, even if those beings have explicitly rejected Him. His love of creation is such that he will not withdraw His presence, which would be the ultimate form of slaughter, not merely imposing death but ending existence, altogether. By this token, the entirety of creation is sanctified, and thus no part of creation can be considered innately evil. This does not deny the existence of evil in a Fallen universe, only that it is not an innate property of creation.

This Orthodox Christian panentheism is distinct from a "fundamentalist" panentheism in that it maintains an ontological gulf or distance between the created and the Uncreated. Creation is not "part of" God, and the Godhead is still distinct from creation; however, God is "within" all creation, thus the Orthodox parsing of the word is "pan-entheism" (God indwells in all things) and not "panen-theism" (All things are part of God but God is more than the sum of all things).

Other Christian Panentheists

Panentheistic God-models are exceptionally common amongst professional theologians (exegetes, Christian ethicists, and religious philosophers.) Process theology, Creation Spirituality and Panentheist Circle, three Christian views, contain panentheistic worldviews. Their models of panentheism are distinct from that of the Orthodox Churches.

Some argue that panentheism should also include the notion that God has always been related to some world or another, which denies the idea of creation out of nothing (creatio ex nihilo). Thomas Jay Oord, advocates panentheism, but he uses the word "theocosmocentrism" to highlight the notion that God and some world or another are the primary conceptual starting blocks for eminently fruitful theology. This form of panentheism helps in overcoming the problem of evil and in proposing that God's love for the world is essential to who God is.

Panentheism in Judaism

When Hasidic Orthodox Jews first developed as a movement and a theology, their theology was somewhat panentheistic, in this that they believe that God is the force behind all natural forces, even though they themselves did not use this word. While not the mainstream point of view, panentheism has become more popular in the non-Orthodox Jewish denominations like Conservative Judaism, Reform Judaism, and Reconstructionist Judaism, through the writings of rabbis like Abraham Joshua Heschel, Arthur Green, Wayne Dosick, Michael Lerner and Lawrence Kushner.

Panentheism in Hinduism

Some interpretations of Hinduism can be seen as panentheistic. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, said that "panentheism is the view that the universe is part of the being of God, as distinguished from pantheism ("all-is-God doctrine"), which identifies God with the total reality. In contrast, panentheism holds that God pervades the world, but is also beyond it. He is immanent and transcendent, relative and Absolute. This embracing of opposites is called dipolar. For the panentheist, God is in all, and all is in God."

Certain interpretations of the Gita and the Shri Rudram support this view. For example, Lord Krishna's saying to Arjuna: "I continually support the entire universe by a very small fraction of My divine power," has been interpreted to support panentheism. (Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 10, verse 42.)

The panentheistic view of Hinduism has been termed by some scholars as monistic theism. For example, in Vaishnavism, it is interesting to note that the schools were all panentheistic. Vallabhacharya's school of pure monism, Nimbarka's school of Dvaitaadvaita and Ramanuja's school of qualified monism are all panentheistic. Additionally, Chaitanya's school of Gaudiya Vaishnavism is also panentheistic. In Saivite theology, some schools of Saiva Siddhanta and Kashmir Shaivism are also panentheistic.

Gnosticism, Manichaeism, and Kabbalism

Some branches of Gnosticism hold the inverse idea of panentheism: they regard matter as evil and ultimately flawed, and thus not a part of God. This rigid dualism is seen most clearly in the teachings of Manichaeism.

Valentinian Gnosticism claims that matter came about through emanations of the supreme being, and to some this event is held to be more of an accident than of being on purpose. To other Gnostics, the emanations are akin to the Sephirah of the Kabbalists - description of the manifestation of God through a complex system of reality.

External links

Arthur Peacocke, winner of the 2001 Templeton Prize and theology faculty member at Oxford University
Panentheism and Christian Existential Humanism
Christian Cadre, Panentheism Anyone?
Dr. Jay McDaniel on Panentheism
Biblical Panentheism: God in All Things, by Jon Zuck
Future Nexus
Symbiotic Panentheism

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