Evaluation of Panentheism

This is a Christian evaluation of Panentheism. The author is a little off on some of the details of Panenth(d)eism and seems to be confusing it for Pantheism.

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Evaluation of Panentheism

Its Success:

Panentheism does strive toward a fully comprehensive worldview.
It correctly stresses that God has an intimate relationship to the world and universe.
It also brings out that the universe is dependent upon God.

Its Failure:

At its foundation, we see that Panentheism is self-contradictory, since it posits a "God" that is both finite and infinite, necessary and contingent. ----The panentheist replies, however, that those contradictories belong to two different poles of the P-God. But the Christian theist responds that the poles must either be a true and real part of God or not... "make up your mind." ----If the potential (infinite, absolute, eternal) pole can never be an actual reality in their "God" (as panentheists say), then the actual pantentheistic "God" can only and forever be finite, temporal, relative, changing, perishable, limited and dependent on something else for his existence. Such a "God" has virtually nothing of consequence in common with the infinite, almighty God of the Bible. There is still a serious problem of logical coherence in panentheism, and thus, by being internally inconsistent, the Panentheistic Worldview clearly fails the first Truth Test.

The above situation leads into another serious problem: Since the panentheistic "God" is temporal, changing, perishable, limited, contingent and dependent ---then, who or what initiates and sustains his existence? Such a changing, perishable, dependent being must have something (a "being") that is the basis and foundation of his existence and continuance. Since this must be true, then the panentheistic "God" is not actually God. There is something greater than the panentheistic "God" upon which he depends for his existence.

Further, the findings of modern cosmology point strongly and to a time in the past when the universe had a beginning. Astronomers and astrophysiologists tell us that the universe originated from a "singularity." A singularity is a situation in which all the mass, forces, and dimensions (including time) of a potential cosmos were shrunken infinitely down to zero volume. It is from this "singularity" of zero volume that the universe was created in an immense, hot explosion called the "Big Bang." In this explosive event, time, space and the material cosmos had their beginning. ----Since the panentheistic "God" is totally dependent and cannot exist without some universe or another (as his "body"), and he is limited to space and time, it follows that the panentheistic God did not exist before the Big Bang... therefore, the P-God is not eternal in either direction, past or future. ----The Christian theologian asserts that it must be the true God (described in the Bible), who is infinite, eternal, timeless, perfect and all-powerful, who created the universe through the powerful event of the Big Bang.

Finally, because of these points, the panentheistic "God" must clearly not be in control of the events and eventualities in the universe. What most people need and desire and hope for in a God, cannot be found in the panentheistic "God," --but rather, true deity and godhood is only found in the eternal, all-powerful and all-knowing God of the Bible, who is the creator of the cosmos, and who controlls all that occurs in it... this is the true God.

When one considers the reality of the universe we all live in , as well as the facts of human need and experience (love, hate, ethics, suffering), it is extremely doubtful that the Panentheistic worldview even remotely satisfies the second Truth Test.

Hence, we Christians commend to you, dear reader, the God of the Bible. ----Bless you.

http://www.geocities.com/worldview_3/panentheism.html