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WHAT IS PANTHEISM?....

 

Modern Pantheism is often misunderstood. It has

nothing to do

with " pantheon " or " polytheism " - belief in many Gods.

It is neither

theism nor atheism, but transcends both. Its central

tenet is that

the universe is the ultimate reality, the ultimate

object of

reverence, while nature is a sacred part of the

totality of which

every one of us, in life or in death, is an

inseparable part.

 

Pantheism is an ancient religion - older than Buddhism

or

Christianity - and may already count hundreds of

millions among its

members. Most Taoists are pantheists, along with many

Chinese,

Japanese and Western Buddhists, deep ecologists,

pagans, animists,

followers of many native religions, and many Unitarian

Universalists. The central philosophical scriptures of

Hinduism are

pantheistic. Many atheists and humanists may be

pantheists without

realizing it.

 

Scientific or natural pantheism is a modern form of

pantheism that

deeply reveres the universe and nature and joyfully

accepts and

embraces life, the body and earth, but does not

believe in any

supernatural deities, entities or powers.

 

The word Pantheism comes from two Greek words " pan " =

all + " theos "

= god. In Pantheism, " all is god. "

 

Many Pantheists define " god " as Nature and its

creative forces. God

and Nature are one in the same.

 

In contrast, many Monotheists (from " mono " = one+

" theos " = god)

define " god " as a supernatural individual. God and

Nature are

separated.

 

To identify god with Nature, rather than with a

hallowed personage,

seems odd to those unfamiliar with Pantheism. But

actually

Monotheism is less common than Pantheism in the

history of religion.

For tens of thousands of years, humans viewed the

Earth as a sacred

place with divinity everywhere. Religious scholar

Denise Carmody

notes " The oldest God is nature...in the beginning,

human beings

sensed that their habitat was sacred. With twists and

turns and

numberless permutations, they played out this primal

intuition. "

 

Modern Pantheism revivifies our species' gene-deep

intuition that

the Earth is indeed holy. Divinity infuses the world,

the skies, the

seas, the rocks, the trees, the animals, and

ourselves. Pantheism

gives perspective to all we do and instills a

reverence for Nature

which can help reverse the ecological crises of our

times.

 

As old as antiquity, and as fresh as today, Pantheism

holds the

promise for a brighter tomorrow.

 

Additional Definitions

These definitions relate the oneness of God and Nature

as the

keystone of Pantheism.

 

The doctrine identifying the deity with the various

forces and

workings of nature. (The American Heritage Dictionary,

Second

Edition, 1970)

 

The belief that God is identical with the universe.

All is God and

God is all. The universe taken as a whole is God. God

and Nature (

the totality of all that there is) are synonymous, two

words for the

same thing. (The Harper Collins Dictionary of

Philosophy, Second

edition, 1992)

 

Pantheism denotes religions which identify God with

the universe.

(Dictionary of Comparative Religion, 1970)

 

The view that God is identical with everything. It may

be seen as

the result of two tendencies: an intense religious

spirit and the

belief that all reality is in some way united. (The

Cambridge

Dictionary of Philosophy, 1995)

 

The religious belief or philosophical theory that God

and the

universe are identical (implying a denial of the

personality and

transcendence of God); The doctrine that God is

everything and

everything is God. (The Oxford English Dictionary,

second edition,

1989)

 

The worship of nature (Greek pan=all) as divine (Greek

theos=god).

(The Harper Dictionary of Modern Thought, 1977)

 

The doctrine that the universe conceived of as a whole

is God and,

conversely, that there is no God but the combined

substance, forces,

and laws that are manifested in the existing

universe.(The New

Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th edition, 1998)

 

Pantheism is taken to express the belief that all is

God or God is

all, merging all things into the divine and denying

personality to

God or anyone else. (A Dictionary of Non-Christian

Religions,

Geoffrey Parrinder, 1971)

 

In pantheistic views, God and the world are

essentially identical;

the divine is totally immanent. (The Oxford Dictionary

of World

Religions, 1997)

 

The doctrine that the world as a whole, nature in the

widest sense,

is identical with God. (A Dictionary of Philosophy,

Edited by

Thomas Mautner, 1996)

 

The God Of Pantheism

 

If someone were to ask me whether I believed in God,

or saw God,

or had a particular relationship with God,

I would reply that I don't separate God from my world

in my

thinking.

I feel that God is everywhere.

That's why I never feel separated from God or

feel that I must seek God

any more than a fish in the ocean feels it must seek

water.

In a sense, God is the " ocean " in which we live.

Robert Fulghum

 

As Nature and its creative forces, God is everything

--all visible

matter and all invisible vibrating energy within

matter. Divinity

fills the universe, at once infinitesimal and

infinite, from the

smallest atomic particle to the largest galaxy. This

perception of

god as both the tangible world and the intangible

energy underlying

the world comprises the pantheistic concept of deity.

 

The stars, the Sun, the Earth, and every living thing

are

manifestations of Nature's creative energy. The origin

of it all

remains incomprehensible, the tremendous mystery.

Scholar Joseph

Campbell describes the energy as " an undefinable,

inconceivable

mystery, thought of as a power, that is the source and

end and

supporting ground of all life and being. "

 

Some Pantheists sense Nature's creative energy as a

divine presence,

and feel themselves at one with the Universe through

this felt

presence of divinity. Such feelings may be termed

'mystical' in

that they stem from direct communion with the

ineffable " supporting

ground of all life and being. " These feelings arise

from the wonder

and mystery of Nature, and have nothing to do with

supernaturalism. While other religions seek oneness

with a

supernatural deity, Pantheism finds oneness with a

natural deity, in

other words, with Nature (the material world, and the

powers and

processes that produce and control all phenomena in

the Universe).

Nature is ultimate reality.

 

Although Nature produced conditions amenable to life

on Earth, that

same energy brings death, disease, and natural

disasters. From a

human standpoint, Nature is far from perfect-- its

generative powers

show indifference to humanity.

 

But to realize that divinity resides in a rattlesnake

as well as in

a robin, and in a hurricane as much as in a breeze,

helps to explain

the good, the bad, and the ugly in the world. In most

cases, the

joys of living eclipse the darker happenings, and

Nature's greatest

treasure-- the gift of life itself-- enriches all our

days.

 

To accept Nature and its creative forces as they are,

rather than

accede to man-made visions of a ideal realm, engenders

a

surprisingly carefree confidence. The winds of truth

set us free,

and its exhilarating updrafts lift us to new spiritual

heights.

 

A Note On The Word " GOD. "

 

The word god, observes scientist and author Chet

Raymo, has a

independent usage, " that is universal, non-sectarian,

and inclusive,

that goes back to the origins of religious observance.

The Greek

novelist Nikos Kazantzakis writes: 'We have seen the

highest circle

of spiraling powers. We have named this circle God. We

might have

given it any other name we wished: Abyss, Mystery,

Absolute

Darkness, Absolute Light, Matter, Spirit, Ultimate

Hope, Ultimate

Despair, Silence. But we have named it God because

only this name,

for primordial reasons, can stir our heart

profoundly...' "

 

Some Pantheists don't use the term " god " because they

associate the

word with traditional beliefs. PAN respects this

position. No one

word or phrase is valid for everyone, and it's the

concept (the

divinity and oneness of matter and energy) that is

most important,

not the word.

 

In PAN's view, the term " god " evokes ultimate reality

far more

powerfully than any other term; monotheism or

polytheism have no

monopoly on its use. Also, the word " god, "

pantheistically defined,

acts as a bridge to interested persons from mainstream

religions

accustomed to using the term. Pantheism literally

signifies " all is

god. " A Pantheist, then, is an " all is god " person. To

acknowledge

the " theos " in Pantheism rings true to the meaning of

the word.

 

 

Varieties Of Pantheism

 

An extensive entry in The New Encyclopedia Britannica

lists seven

forms of Pantheism, but actually, there are as many

forms of

Pantheism as there are Pantheists to express them!

Why? In

Christianity and numerous other faiths, adherents

follow the

teachings of charismatic leaders. In Pantheism,

everyone is

the 'leader' of their own religion, frequently

self-discovered from

feeling a sense of divinity in Nature (many persons

are at first

unaware that there is a name for their

self-discovery).

 

Imagine looking through a colorful kaleidoscope to

view the

varieties of Pantheism. Like all pieces in a

kaleidoscope, all

Pantheists fit together harmoniously, united by their

belief in the

oneness and sanctity of creation. Yet every piece in

the

kaleidoscope has unique colors and shadings, just as

every Pantheist

has unique colors and shadings which personalize their

beliefs.

 

The following diagram generalizes contemporary

pantheistically

inclined viewpoints. Adherents spread across the

spectrum, some

in the center of a category, others at some point in

between. From

modern reference book-defined Pantheism, to the strict

materialism

of Scientific Pantheism, and the broad transcendence

of Panentheism,

all outlooks consider the Universe divine, and all

contain a

religious sensibility rich in poetry, mystery, and

imagination,

kindled by the enthralling wonder of Nature.

 

Note: PANENTHEISM, coined by K.C.F.Krause (1781-1832)

means God is

immanent in the universe, as a part though not the

whole of his

being. This view preserves the idea of God as Creator.

The

phrase " scientific pantheism " appeared in a biography

of John

Burroughs (1924) and in later works including a

Greek-Roman history

book (1960), a study of Spinoza (1971), and a

biography of John Muir

(1981). SCIENTIFIC PANTHEISM, as defined in the 1990's

by Paul

Harrison on his website refers to " a consistent,

empirical,

materialist and non-dualist brand of pantheism. " Paul

relates

that " Scientific pantheism never uses the word God. "

It

is " identical with religious atheism....scientific

pantheism is just

as materialist as atheism, the only real difference is

that

pantheists have strong feelings of reverence, love,

and sense of

belonging to nature and the universe. " Similarly, Paul

notes

that " many atheists hold powerful feelings toward

nature and the

universe; feelings of reverence, love, awe, and a

sense of belonging

to nature and the material universe. "

 

Scientific pantheism grades into atheism, naturalism,

and humanism,

which reject the divinity of Nature. Panentheism

grades into

theism, polytheism, and spiritualism, which may

acknowledge divinity

in Nature (and in so doing can lead to confusion with

Pantheism).

However, theism, polytheism, and spiritualism

incorporate

supernatural entities (such as angels and devils) and

otherworldly

elements (such as communication with the dead)

entirely incompatible

with Pantheism's view of a wholly natural world.

 

Pantheism is a metaphysical and religious position.

Broadly defined

it is the view that (1) " God is everything and

everything is God ...

the world is either identical with God or in some way

a self-

_expression of his nature " . Similarly, it is the view

that (2)

everything that exists constitutes a " unity " and this

all-inclusive

unity is in some sense divine (MacIntyre 1967: 34). A

slightly more

specific definition is given by Owen who says (3)

" `Pantheism' ...

signifies the belief that every existing entity is,

only one Being;

and that all other forms of reality are either modes

(or

appearances) of it or identical with it. " Even with

these

definitions there is dispute as to just how pantheism

is to be

understood and who is and is not a pantheist. Aside

from Spinoza,

other possible pantheists include some of the

Presocratics; Plato;

Lao Tzu; Plotinus; Schelling; Hegel; Bruno, Eriugena

and Tillich.

Possible pantheists among literary figures include

Emerson; Walt

Whitman, D.H. Lawrence, and Robinson Jeffers.

Beethoven and Martha

Graham have also been thought to be pantheistic in

some of their

work-if not pantheists.

The book recognized as containing the most complete

attempt at

explaining and defending pantheism from a

philosophical perspective

is Spinoza's Ethics, finished in 1675 two years before

his death. In

1720 John Toland wrote the Pantheisticon: or The Form

of Celebrating

the Socratic-Society in Latin. He (possibly) coined

the

term " pantheist " and used it as a synonym for

" Spinozist. " However,

aside from some interesting pantheistic sounding

slogans

(like " Every Thing is to All, as All is to Every

Thing " ), and

despite promising " A short Dissertation upon a

Two-fold philosophy

of the Pantheists " Toland's work has little to do with

pantheism.