Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Panentheism Anyone?

“Two practical conclusions follow from panentheism. A panentheistic consciousness demands ‘more of our powers of awareness’—we see ‘God in a grain of sand; and in a towering mountain; and in a crippled old man; and in an act of love; and in a tragic happening.’ To be panentheistic is to believe ‘in a living God, a God living everywhere.’
The second consequence of moving into panentheistic awareness is ‘the democracy of it all. A God who is everywhere is everybody’s. A truly democratic God. Available to the least as well as the greatest.’ The God of panentheism is not a ‘God of power-control; a sort of commander-in-chief of the universe’s ecstasies….No, a panentheistic God has shared the fun, the ecstasy, the joy, and the pains…with the littlest among us. That is spiritual democracy.’ Following that path will move us from an ‘I’ consciousness to a ‘We’ consciousness. It will render us vulnerable and may make us enemies of powers and principalities. A panentheistic God is an incarnational one in whom we recognize that ‘the world, and all of its pieces, is ultimately a manifestation of God.’…
…A panentheistic theology is an ecological theology in the deepest sense of that word. Why? Because panentheism restates the sacredness of all things, the Divine in-ness in all things, the presence of God in all things, creation (basileia) as ‘kingdom or reign of God.’ Recovering the sacredness of all beings from forests to oceans, rivers to polar bears, eagles to tigers, is to recover a lost relationship with the holiness of being. In this way, we are in a position to re-imagine our politics, economics, education and religions as agents for honoring the rights and dignity of all beings. Our home (‘eco’ in Greek) becomes livable again. Theism distances the Divine from the rest of nature. Panentheism reunites them. No wonder Carl Jung warned that one can lose one’s soul by worshiping a ‘God out there.’ Theism does that (and atheism is not far behind).”
— Matthew Fox in "How I found God in everyone and everywhere" by Andrew M. Davis(p. 149,154)






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