Pantheism
Pantheism is the belief that reality, the universe and the cosmos is identical with divinity and a supreme supernatural being or entity, pointing to the universe as being an immanent creator deity still expanding and creating, which has existed since the beginning of time,[1] or that all things compose an all-encompassing, immanent god or goddess and regards the universe as a manifestation of a deity.[2][3] This includes all astronomical objects being viewed as part of a sole deity.
Pantheist belief does not recognize a distinct personal God,[4] anthropomorphic or otherwise, but instead characterizes a broad range of doctrines differing in forms of relationships between reality and divinity. Pantheistic concepts date back thousands of years, and pantheistic elements have been identified in various religious traditions. The term pantheism was coined by mathematician Joseph Raphson in 1697 and has since been used to describe the beliefs of a variety of people and organizations.
References
- ↑ The New Oxford Dictionary of English p. 1341. Oxford: Clarendon Press (1998). ISBN 978-0-19-861263-6 "The term 'pantheist' designates one who holds both that everything constitutes a unity and that this unity is divine."
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Philosophy ed. Paul Edwards pp. 34. New York: Macmillan and Free Press (1967).
- ↑ Reid-Bowen, Paul (April 15, 2016). Goddess as Nature: Towards a Philosophical Thealogy p. 70 Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781317126348
- ↑ A Companion to Philosophy of Religion p. 340. “They deny that God is "totally other" than the world or ontologically distinct from it.”