Could Panentheism Be an Understanding of God’s Nature?
Alan Shlemon of Stand to Reason answers the question: “Is it possible that panentheism is a lost understanding of God’s nature?”
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The issue I struggle with. If God is infinite and "all" but then creates ex nihilo something that is separate from Him, doesn't that make Him no longer "all" and infinite? You now have two things: God and Creation.
I does not make any sense to rule out certain beliefs against another. Belief is something you are searching for. If you find it, you just belief. There is no space for logic or pseudoscientific reasoning.
Thank you so much!! Added to my blog… Grateful for STR!
How can you be so sure it's a mistaken view rather than another view?
Aren't you saying it's mistaken simply because it goes against your view, or doesn't fit in with the other views you mentioned?
These are all interpretations, not truth!
Hate to break it to you, but if you want to cling to the idea of something divine, Pantheism is the ONLY model that aligns with what we see and observe in reality. Nature IS changing, Nature is in process, and Nature permeates and encompasses all things. Who cares the 'biblical' model says? Why would you base your ideas about reality on a mythical storybook written thousands of years ago that is full of contradictions and inconsistencies? How do YOU know what "God's nature" is? Because you read it in fictional book filled with Bronze and Iron Age mythology? Seriously?? You're only a Christian because that's the culture you were raised in. Religion is an accidental product of geography. Learn to think for yourself and start questioning things from a rational, logical perspective. Why would anyone automatically accept the false and grandiose claims of ancient religions without authenticating and verifying the source material first? Stop idolizing the bible and use the brain that NATURE gave you.
Trying VERY hard to be nice; but I can't hear myself think because of that loud wind tunnel blowing through your head. I'm not sorry to say, that you've presented as much substance here, as someone describing the McNugget dipping sauce selection. I find myself wondering how much you understand anatomy and physiology (which would be a GREAT start), then Cosmology, Physics, etc..; I'll wager…NOT MUCH!
How I would LOVE to go head-to-head with you, regarding the Holy Scriptures. Just do me a favor, and read the WHOLE thing! I'll need you to read the one with 73 books, not 66. I'll be patiently waiting. Otherwise, you've just told the equivalency of a bad joke about three drunk theologians who walk into a symposium. Uhmkay?
If you interpret the Bible with a traditional theistic lens, then sure it doesn't support panentheism, but a panentheist can cherry pick just as well as the theist and interpret it with a panentheistic lense. The point is the Bible doesn't give any one perfectly coherent picture of God, so who cares if panentheism is "Biblical". Panentheism simply makes more sense…to me anway.
The very thoughts you were using to make this video were God himself. Panentheism is His nature, and he did in fact cause the Big Bang.
Well done. I enjoy your work. Thanks
Where in the bible does it say God is distinct from the universe?