Pantheism
In general, albeit controversial, pantheism (meaning "all” or everything, and "god, divine") is the belief that the physical universe is equivalent to god, and that there is no division between a creator and the substance of its creation. Panentheism (meaning "all-in-God") is the the belief that the physical universe is joined to a god or gods. However, it also believes that the divine pervades and interpenetrates every part of the universe and also extends beyond time and space. Panentheism claims that "God" is greater than the universe. Some versions of panentheism suggest that the universe is nothing more than the manifestation of "God". In addition, some forms indicate that the universe is contained within "God".
Pantheism (from Greek pan- "all" + theos "god") is the view that the whole universe is God and there is no God but this.
Contents
History
Pantheism may be described as not recognizing a distinct personal god or gods, humanlike or otherwise. However, many folk religions have a mixture of pantheism and views such as polytheism and animism. Pantheism is popular in modern spirituality and new religious movements. Naturalistic pantheism, also known as scientific pantheism, is a form of pantheism rejecting the supernatural. Creativity is one example.
- One of the strongest and most commonly raised objections to pantheism is that it is simply inappropriate to call the universe ‘God’. Thus Schopenhauer complains that “Pantheism is only a euphemism for atheism,” for “to call the world God is not to explain it; it is only to enrich our language with a superfluous synonym for the word world” (Schopenhauer 1851, I:114, II:99). It has been described as nothing more than ‘materialism grown sentimental’ (Illingworth 1898, 69), while more recently Richard Dawkins in The God Delusion complains that “Pantheism is sexed-up Atheism” (Dawkins 2007, 40). It is clear that the more naturalistically the cosmos is conceived the stronger that objection must seem, but to estimate more carefully its validity the following six sections take in turn a number of characteristics which the cosmos possesses or might possess and which could be thought to make it divine.[1]
National Socialism
Kurt Hildebrandt, a National Socialist philosopher and theologian, argued that pantheism and panentheism were the proper cosmology of natural history and therefore "National Socialist ideology".[2]
Notable pantheists
See also
External links
Encyclopedias
- Encyclopedia Britannica: Pantheism
- Encyclopedia Britannica 1911 Edition: Pantheism
- Encyclopedia.com: Pantheism
- Encyclopedia.com: Pantheism and Panentheism
