I think there are very strong panentheistic themes in the Bible. For example, if the incarnation is at al revelatory of God, then it reveals God's general MO with creation. As such, it is a revelation that God is incarnate throughout the entire universe. I can cite many other examples as well. However, moving along, I believe that theology, historically, missed these themes. The problem was that the Bile is not a book of metaphysics, tells us very little how God is built, provides snap shots that often conflict. It's up to us to pout these pieces together to make up a meaningful whole. Therefore, the early fathers leaned heavily on Hellenic metaphysics and standards of perfection. The Greeks had trouble with the world of time and change. Certain predominant schools viewed these as all a big illusion, evil, not "really real,"etc., as we find in Parmenides, Zeno, and especially Plato. The truly divine, the "really real," was taken to be a wholly immaterial, simple, immutable plane of existence. The Greeks enshrined the immune and the immutable. Incorporated into theology, that meant God was described by the fathers and in the official creeds and confessions as wholly immaterial, wholly immutable, simple, void of body, parts, passions, compassion, wholly self-sufficient and independent from the world, having no "real relationship" to creation and standing wholly "outside" of it (Aquinas). Naturally, this world-negating image of God ruled out anything like panentheism. Augustine once said one of the worst ideas was that the universe was the body of God, as that would mean pain and suffering were in God, anytime a child is smacked, God is smacked. Apparently, he forgot all about the biblical passage where Christ says that if to you do it to the least of these, you do it to me. Biblical passages which suggested otherwise than this world-negating model were simply written off by the fathers as mere figures of speech, accommodations to our feeble intellects, mere "baby talk" (Calvin) that have nothing whatsoever to do with the actual nature of God.
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The Pantheistic side of the Gospels
- Thread starter Nefelie
- Start date
I think there are very strong panentheistic themes in the Bible. For example, if the incarnation is at al revelatory of God, then it reveals God's general MO with creation. As such, it is a revelation that God is incarnate throughout the entire universe. I can cite many other examples as well. However, moving along, I believe that theology, historically, missed these themes. The problem was that the Bile is not a book of metaphysics, tells us very little how God is built, provides snap shots that often conflict. It's up to us to pout these pieces together to make up a meaningful whole. Therefore, the early fathers leaned heavily on Hellenic metaphysics and standards of perfection. The Greeks had trouble with the world of time and change. Certain predominant schools viewed these as all a big illusion, evil, not "really real,"etc., as we find in Parmenides, Zeno, and especially Plato. The truly divine, the "really real," was taken to be a wholly immaterial, simple, immutable plane of existence. The Greeks enshrined the immune and the immutable. Incorporated into theology, that meant God was described by the fathers and in the official creeds and confessions as wholly immaterial, wholly immutable, simple, void of body, parts, passions, compassion, wholly self-sufficient and independent from the world, having no "real relationship" to creation and standing wholly "outside" of it (Aquinas). Naturally, this world-negating image of God ruled out anything like panentheism. Augustine once said one of the worst ideas was that the universe was the body of God, as that would mean pain and suffering were in God, anytime a child is smacked, God is smacked. Apparently, he forgot all about the biblical passage where Christ says that if to you do it to the least of these, you do it to me. Biblical passages which suggested otherwise than this world-negating model were simply written off by the fathers as mere figures of speech, accommodations to our feeble intellects, mere "baby talk" (Calvin) that have nothing whatsoever to do with the actual nature of God.
Sand Dancer
Crazy Cat Lady
There are other things that are in there that don't go along with everything else. I am willing to bet that they just got sloppy. Having to make so many copies by hand couldn't have been fun.
