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Panentheism: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Panentheism
In 1828, a German philosopher named Karl Christian Friedrich Krause coined a single word to solve a theological puzzle that had baffled thinkers for centuries. He called it panentheism, derived from the Greek phrase meaning all in God. This was not merely a new label for an old idea but a precise philosophical tool designed to distinguish the views of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling from the rigid identity claimed by Baruch Spinoza. While Spinoza argued that God and nature were identical, Krause proposed that the divine intersects every part of the universe while simultaneously extending beyond space and time. This distinction created a third path between theism, which places God entirely outside creation, and pantheism, which collapses God into the universe. The result was a vision where the universe is contained within God, yet God remains greater than the sum of all things. This concept would eventually ripple through Hindu scriptures, Christian mysticism, and modern process theology, challenging the very boundaries of how humanity understands the divine.
The One And The Many
The roots of this belief stretch back to ancient Greece, where Neoplatonism taught that an ineffable transcendent God, known as the One, was the source of all reality. Plotinus, the great philosopher of the third century, described how subsequent realities emanated from this One, flowing into the Divine Mind and the Cosmic Soul. Unlike later Christian thinkers who separated the creator from the creation, Neoplatonists viewed the world itself as a manifestation of God, a concept closely tied to the Logos, or cosmic reason, which Heraclitus had described centuries earlier. Heraclitus famously stated that all things originate from this Logos, suggesting that the universe is not a separate entity but a living expression of divine thought. Later philosophers like Iamblichus attempted to reconcile these perspectives by adding a new all-pervasive monad that encompassed all creation and its original uncreated emanations. This ancient framework established a pattern where the divine was not a distant ruler but the very fabric of existence, a pattern that would reemerge in the works of modern philosophers like Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne.
The God Who Becomes
In the twentieth century, American philosopher Charles Hartshorne revolutionized the understanding of divine perfection by arguing that God could become more perfect over time. Hartshorne, who lived from 1897 to 2000, developed process theology to replace classical views of an unchanging deity with a dynamic being who interacts with the world. He formulated God as a being who possesses absolute perfection in categories where it is possible, yet relative perfection in categories where perfection cannot be precisely determined. This view allowed for a God who is affected by the world and who grows in response to human actions, a radical departure from the static God of traditional scholasticism. Hartshorne's work influenced a generation of theologians, including John Cobb and Sallie McFague, who applied these ideas to ecology, feminism, and social justice. His lifelong membership in the Methodist church and later participation in a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Austin, Texas, demonstrated how panentheism could bridge denominational divides. By suggesting that God has always been related to some world or another, Hartshorne denied the idea of creation out of nothing, proposing instead that God and the world are the primary conceptual starting blocks for theology.
Who coined the term panentheism and when did this occur?
German philosopher Karl Christian Friedrich Krause coined the term panentheism in 1828. He created this word to distinguish his views from the rigid identity claimed by Baruch Spinoza and the views of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling.
What is the difference between panentheism and pantheism according to Karl Christian Friedrich Krause?
Karl Christian Friedrich Krause proposed that the divine intersects every part of the universe while simultaneously extending beyond space and time. This distinction creates a third path where the universe is contained within God, yet God remains greater than the sum of all things, unlike pantheism which collapses God into the universe.
How did Charles Hartshorne redefine divine perfection in the twentieth century?
Charles Hartshorne lived from 1897 to 2000 and argued that God could become more perfect over time through process theology. He formulated God as a being who possesses absolute perfection in some categories yet relative perfection in others, allowing God to be affected by the world and grow in response to human actions.
What ancient Hindu texts describe a vision of the divine that mirrors panentheism?
The Purusha Sukta, a hymn from the Rig Veda compiled before 1100 BCE, described the Purusha as both immanent in the manifested world and yet transcendent. The Advaita Vedanta school and other schools like Nimbarka's differential monism and Ramanuja's qualified monism maintained that the relationship between Brahman and creation is panentheistic.
Which Jewish mystical traditions incorporate panentheistic concepts?
The Kabbalistic system of Moses ben Jacob Cordovero and the Hasidic movement founded by the Baal Shem Tov in the eighteenth century taught that the infinite Ein Sof exists in a state that is both transcendent and immanent. The doctrine of tzimtzum associated with Isaac Luria suggested that God contracted to make space for the universe yet remained present within it.
How does Islamic mysticism describe the concept of panentheism?
Islamic mysticism developed the concept of Wahdat ul-wujud or the Unity of All Things, which is primarily associated with the Asharite Sufi scholar Ibn Arabi. This concept teaches that the divine is present in all things while remaining transcendent, a belief adhered to by Sufi Orders such as the Bektashis and the Universal Sufi movement.
Long before Krause coined his term, Hindu philosophy had already articulated a vision of the divine that mirrored panentheism in striking detail. The Purusha Sukta, a hymn from the Rig Veda compiled before 1100 BCE, described the Purusha, or cosmic being, as both immanent in the manifested world and yet transcendent. This spiritual unity of the cosmos held that the original creative will proceeds from this being to project the vast universe in space and time. The Advaita Vedanta school, the dominant school of Indian philosophy, insisted that Brahman, the ultimate reality, is without parts or attributes and is identical with the whole reality. Yet other schools like Nimbarka's differential monism and Ramanuja's qualified monism maintained that the relationship between Brahman and creation is panentheistic. In Kashmir Shaivism, all things are believed to be a manifestation of Universal Consciousness, where the phenomenal world is real and exists within Consciousness. The Shaktism tradition further developed this by viewing Shakti as the cosmos itself, the embodiment of energy and dynamism, while Shiva remains the transcendent masculine aspect. These ancient texts established a theology where the divine is not separate from the world but is the very ground of all being, a concept that resonates with modern scientific understandings of interconnectedness.
The Light Within
In the Jewish mystical tradition, the concept of panentheism found a home in the Kabbalistic system of Moses ben Jacob Cordovero and the Hasidic movement founded by the Baal Shem Tov in the eighteenth century. These traditions taught that the infinite Ein Sof exists in a state that is both transcendent and immanent, merging the ideal of nullification with a transcendent God. The doctrine of tzimtzum, associated with Isaac Luria, suggested that God contracted to make space for the universe, yet remained present within it. This view influenced Mordecai Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism, who argued that aspects of panentheism were evident in the theology of Baruch Spinoza, a Jew who had been excommunicated from his community. In Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib describes God as immanent residing within all creation, not external or remote. The phrase Ek Roop Saglo Pasara, meaning One Form Extended into Everything, captures the idea that the universe is an expansion of that Oneness. The divine is seen as Hukam, the Law of Nature, where all operations of the universe occur within this law. This theology rejects dualism, asserting that the divine is not a separate entity to be feared or worshipped for rewards but is the sustaining structure and principle by which all things unfold. The path to spiritual union is purely inward and ethical, emphasizing realization over ritual.
The Unity Of All Things
Islamic mysticism, particularly the Sufi tradition, developed the concept of Wahdat ul-wujud, or the Unity of All Things, which is sometimes described as pantheism or panentheism. This concept is primarily associated with the Asharite Sufi scholar Ibn Arabi, who taught that the divine is present in all things while remaining transcendent. Some Sufi Orders, notably the Bektashis and the Universal Sufi movement, adhere to similar panentheistic beliefs, as do the Nizari Ismaili who follow panentheism according to Ismaili doctrine. In Pre-Columbian America, the Mesoamerican empires of the Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas have been characterized as polytheistic, yet philosopher James Maffie argued that Aztec metaphysics was panentheistic since Teotl was considered the ultimate all-encompassing yet all-transcending force. Native American beliefs in North America emphasize a single, unified divine spirit that is manifest in each individual entity, often referred to as the Great Spirit. Philosopher J. Baird Callicott described Lakota theology as panentheistic, in that the divine both transcends and is immanent in everything. These indigenous traditions, along with the Japanese New Religion Konkokyo, which views the spirit as having a personal identity and mind, demonstrate that the idea of a divine presence within all things is a universal human intuition.
The Universal Christ
In the Christian tradition, panentheism has found a home in the theological writings of Richard Rohr, David Steindl-Rast, and Thomas Keating, who argue that it is the original view of Christianity. Rohr, in his 2019 book The Universal Christ, suggests that the divine is present in all things, while Steindl-Rast posits that Christianity's original panentheism is being revealed through contemporary mystical insight. Keating's 1993 article on Centering Prayer mirrors this sentiment, emphasizing the presence of God within the human heart. Process theology, a movement generally regarded as unorthodox in the Christian West, has paved the way for open theism, which tends to associate itself primarily with the Evangelical branch of Protestantism. The Latter Day Saint movement teaches that the Light of Christ proceeds from God through Christ and gives life and light to all things. These modern theologians, including John Polkinghorne, a theoretical physicist and theologian, and Sallie McFague, a feminist theologian, have used panentheism to address issues of ecology, social justice, and the problem of evil. They argue that God's love for the world is essential to who God is, and that the universe is not a separate entity but a manifestation of the divine.