Introducing PanenDeism
Larry Copling
www.PanenDeism.com
�2004, Larry Copling
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Continuing with Part 2...
Four Noble Paths to the Divine
1. Classical Theism
We might begin by explaining that the belief in any god or gods is known generally as theism; taken from Theos, the ancient Greek word for God. Of course, Atheism is the belief in no god and Polytheism is the belief in more than one god. However, when discussing the various approaches to understanding the Divine, Theism is usually referred to as Classical or Classic Theism.
As it happens, Christianity is, by far, the largest �Classical Theistic� religion on the planet, therefore the Christian interpretation of the nature of Deity easily carries the most weight in defining Classical Theism for the rest of us. Understanding that there are significant differences within Christendom as concerning God�s nature, Classical Theism can be generally described as the belief in a personal, male Deity with a distinctly human form (i.e. God does not look like a turtle or a tree, but sits on a Great White Throne as a human-looking Heavenly Father) and is said to sometimes display some distinctively human characteristics (emotional reactions to human action; rewards, punishments and judgments of human behavior; the physical walking among, and sometimes personally interacting with, humanity; etc.).
The God of Christianity is said to be Trinitarian in nature; in other words, God is best thought of as a Godhead comprised of three distinct persons in one Unitary nature- God the Father (Creator), God the Son (Jesus as Savior) and God the Holy Spirit (Divine Guide and/or Comforter). This conception of God also posits the Deity as transcendent (physically located apart from, or outside of, the material universe in a place known to Christians as Heaven). Although not directly relevant to our discussion of the nature of God, Christians strongly believe that God has also created a host of angelic beings (�angels�) that assist in the management of the universe, as well as a supremely evil, �fallen� angel called, �Satan� (or, �Lucifer�) who, among his demonic and human followers , reside in a horrible place called �Hell�; daily attempting to dissuade mankind from following an ethical path towards an afterlife of endless bliss with God in Heaven.
In addition, most Christians believe God to be Omnipotent (All-Powerful), Omniscient (All-Knowing), and Omnipresent (Everywhere-Present). Lastly, God is believed to be directly involved with all aspects of daily life; in that He is in control at all times of everything in existence, although He allows each one of us to freely choose our actions and individual paths; a concept known in Christianity as free will.
2. Pantheism
A doctrine going back to early Indian philosophy, Pantheism (from the Greek, pan, meaning �all� and theos, meaning �god�) is the term that is used to describe the general idea that God and the created universe are equivalent or equal. In this conception, God is not just with us, but IS us. There are many variations in actual usage of this term, as evidenced by the number of great thinkers who have each added their own special application of the concept to their respective systems of thought. The writings of Spinoza, Kant, Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel all contain ideas about the nature of God that can be described as pantheistic. Indeed, there has apparently always been an overwhelming temptation in the minds of many philosophers to find a Divine Unity operating behind the material universe.
The term pantheist was first introduced by John Toland (1670-1722) in the year 1705 in his major work "Socinianism Truly Stated"[i]; which was written during the time immediately following the Protestant Reformation, and has been identified with the beginnings of what is now Unitarianism. But for our purposes here, and perhaps for the benefit of our fictitious, extra-terrestrial visitors, let us just say that Pantheism is the idea that everything that exists in the material universe is a manifestation of, or an emanation from, God.
Continue to Part 3...