Pantheism

=Pantheism =

There are many different belief-systems/religions that have pantheistic undertones. The most prominent ones that you can look into at Pursued Faith are: Buddhism, Hinduism, and Scientology. On this page however, I will discuss the general overview of the patheistic worldview - how pantheists view: God, Humanity, Salvation, Authority, Time and Jesus Christ. To see how Buddhists, Hindus and Scientologists view these same issues specifically, refer to their pages.
 * God: Pantheism means “all” (pan) is “God” (theism). It is a worldview that affirms that God is all – He is the universe, He is the stars, He is the earth, He is the trees, He is you and me. God is not above or beyond the universe, rather He is the universe. In short, God is all and all is God.[1]
 * Humanity: In the pantheistic worldview, humans are not just part of God but they are God. Furthermore it is taught that “the body holds the human down, keeping him or her from uniting with God. So each must purge his or her body so the soul can be released to attain oneness with the Absolute One.”[2]
 * Salvation: There is no real salvation rather there is a liberation of ones self from the shackles of ignorance. We become enlightened or “free” only when we overcome ignorance and realize we are God.[3]
 * Authority: The Universe is the ultimate authority (which in this case is also God). In pantheistic religions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, there are specific “holy scriptures” that are regarded as authoritative.
 * Time: To most pantheists, time is cyclical (meaning it continually repeats in a circle). Pantheist’s primarily believe that time and history have no ultimate goal or end and further there are no unique events or final events of history. As a result of this view on time and history, most pantheists believe in reincarnation (a process of living from one life to the next continually in which once you die, your soul leaves the body and enters another mortal body to work off its karma).[4]
 * Jesus Christ: To pantheists, Jesus was either not a real person or He was a real person but not divine. Jesus does not save, because in the end, there is no real salvation except for liberation from ignorance.

[1] Information in this paragraph comes from: Geisler, Norman. //__Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics__//. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999) pg 580 [2] Ibid 581 [3] Ibid 581 [4] Ibid 580-581