This is the column for The Tahlequah Christian for the week of December 13-19.
After the various responses I received following the sermon this last Sunday, I thought it might be helpful to follow up a little on the doctrine of God that I was discussing. To jog your memory, our scripture reading came from the first chapter of John. After discussing how this story really reads as a new understanding of the creation of the world, I took a closer look at how some theologians have specifically interpreted verse three. When this verse discusses how “all things came into being through him,” meaning the eternal Word, or Logos, it opens the door to an understanding of God known as panentheism.
Now before this word becomes too scary, here’s how you say it: “pan – in – thee – ism.” It’s very similar to another word you may have heard before: pantheism. Pantheism literally means that everything is god. This belief has been widely rejected throughout Christian history. Panentheism; however, means that God contains everything that exists, but is not the same as everything that exists. To put it another way, panentheism means that everything exists within God and God is within every existing thing, but God and every existing thing are not the same. This view has been received much more sympathetically in the Christian faith.
However, it has always stood against the traditions that rigidly separate God from the created universe. This idea might sound familiar because it’s a lot like the simple children’s message answer we sometimes give when asked about God: God lives “up there” in heaven, and we all live “down here” on the earth. However, if this doesn’t sound like the understanding of God you hear in my prayers and my sermons, then you’ve been listening carefully. I believe that God is to be found everywhere, which is what panentheism means.
In my sermon I made reference to a type of thinking known as Process Theology, but I thought it might help to know that many Christian thinkers throughout history have believed in panentheism. Process Theology became its own school of Christian thought in the 1970’s. However, they were preceded by 20th century theological giant Paul Tillich, who described a panentheistic God in the 50’s and 60’s. These were preceded by many within the classical tradition. The mystical Angelus Silesius wrote poetry about God being present within everything in the 17th century, and theologian Nicholas of Cusa argued for this understanding of God in the 14th century. Even some of the early theological fathers, such as Augustine of Hippo in the 5th century and Athanasius of Alexandria in the 4th century, made the argument for understanding God-in-All and All-in- God.
As I look back on this article, I know that it’s a lot to chew on, but I wanted to share with you a little history behind the message I shared in worship. And I wanted to open the door for conversation – as you should know, I love to talk about our faith, and would be happy to talk with you about this further.
Celebrating in the joy of our faith,
Clint
