World view: Panentheism
Pan-en-theism is not to be confused with pantheism.
Like pantheism is believes that God is in the world, but not equal to
it. It believes that God is in the world the way like a soul or mind is in
a body. This word view is also known as: finite-godism, bipolar theism,
quasi-theism, and organicism, at last, by those that follow process
theology.
It differs from theism in that it believes
that God is finite and limited in nature and power. (That is why some
call it finite-godism.)
It also maintains the idea that there are two poles to God, namely,
an actual temporal pole and a potential eternal pole. (That is why
some call it bipolar or quasi-theism.)
Resources
Exposition of Panentheism:
- Space, Time and Deity, by Samuel Alexander.
- Creative Evolution, by Henri Bergson.
- A Christian Natural Theology, by John Cobb.
- The Logic of Perfection, by Charles Hartshorne.
- A Natural Theology for Our Time, by Charles Hartshorne.
- The Reality of God and Other Essays, Shubert Ogden.
- Process and Reality, by Alfred N. Whitehead.
- Adventures of Ideas, by Alfred N. Whitehead.
- Modes of Thoughts, by Alfred N. Whitehead.
Evaluation of Panentheism:
- Process Philosophy and Christian Thought,
edited by Brown Delwin, et al.
- Process Theology, by Ewert Cousins.
- Process Theology, by N.L. Geisler, in
Tensions in Contemporary Theology,
edited by Alan F. Johnson and Stanly N. Gundry.
- Concepts of Deity, by H.P. Owen.
- Process and Divinity, edited by William Reese.
- What Present-Day Theologians are Thinking,
Daniel Day Williams.
Based on Chapter 11 of
Christian Apologetics, by Norman L. Geisler.
About the existence of God