Here’s a simple short quiz to help you determine whether you are a Pantheist.
If you share these core beliefs then you are a Pantheist:
- The Universe (in its entirety) and Nature are worthy of profound awe and respect (i.e. reverence). In other words, you agree to this definition of the Pantheist Universe
- Do not believe in any supernatural God(s). In other words, you agree with this definition of God
- Accept the Universe as a unified whole. That all individual things within the Universe are interdependent parts in some way.
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December 13th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
I posted a revised quiz here http://www.pantheismtoday.com/beliefs/am-i-a-pantheist-v-1-2
December 19th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Dear Ethan:
Is there a simple discussion on how pantheism relates to morality? I saw you mention it briefly on your original definition post, but I guess I see how Nature fits into the morality picture from a pantheistic view, but what about right vs. wrong and “being a good person” as it relates to how humans treat one another? I would be open to your views or references, but they would have to be rather basic with respect to the language, as I am new to the field. Thank you, Christine
December 19th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
@ Chris
Christine, thanks for writing. You bring up a very good topic. I will respond in an article. Give me a couple weeks (busy holiday season) and I will let you know once the article is posted. Pantheism is very simple, my goal is to keep it simple and not complicate matters with terminology.
Thanks again for this great question!
Ethan
December 28th, 2009 at 8:53 am
I would suggest by recognizing the consciousness that pervades all things we will treat our new-found compatriots in this world with more respect, as well as each other. Empathy and respect are at the core of morality.
Pantheism makes rational sense too, once you fit a big missing piece back into the cosmic jigsaw puzzle. This is the conscious Sun, something intuitively recognized by every culture until the Church (not science) forcibly erased it. What brings life to our bodies is energy. Stars make their own energy fields as they release the light of life to the likes of us. Everything from an atom upwards has an energy field. Dive deeper at http://www.sunofgod.net
December 28th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
@ Gregory Sams
Thank you for your comment!
What I find very refreshing about Pantheism (in contrast to other ‘religions’) is that it does allow for a view such as that “consciousness pervades all things” and “a universe griming with intelligence and design but one that needs no intelligent design” – Pantheism is compatible with these views at its core (based on the core beliefs of Pantheism). Scientific Pantheists, however, may be less inclined to agree with this view since they cannot ‘measure’ consciousness scientifically, but I know of these concept being discussed in Pantheistic circles.
Pantheism does make rational sense, it is based on rational logic, it takes what we know to exist and does not ask people to believe in/or deny what we don’t know to exist. It does not claim a supernatural anthropomorphic god that can judge people, but takes the Universe (which we know exists — not excluding the unknown parts) as the object worthy of reverence. It allows people to love Nature (including life in all forms) and appreciate it. Unlike many theistic religions, Pantheism (not exactly theistic) is science-friendly, it relies on knowledge acquired through science, while accepting the limited knowledge of current science. For instance, it does not claim to know what makes a living cell alive, but can not deny that some element/force could make a cell alive. Since Pantheism does not make supernatural claims about life, gods, origin of the universe (the Pantheistic God) like other theistic religions do, Pantheism as a religion does not contradict science, it appreciates what science can add to the human knowledge. I will write a future article on Pantheism and Science.
What is consciousness, what organism is living/dead, what makes life in an organism possible? is Earth alive? Is a star alive? Is every living organism conscious? Do individual consciousnesses combine into a larger consciousness? All these, and more, are questions that have no definitive scientific answer yet, only philosophical and religious answers, science can prove something to exist but it cannot prove something to not exist, thus the proper scientific position is to say “we don’t know the answer to these”. Having said this, many do feel that a life force exists, that we are interconnected on levels that science has not yet detected, that we and the earth are one living organism, that there is so much more to learn.
From your comment I see that you are offering the view that a “living Earth” depends on the presence of a Star to give it life.
Think of the mind boggling number of stars in the universe, put them all together, along with their planets and all life that exists, this collective of life (or consciousness), what would you call that? Based on your book, would you view stars around the universe as mini gods?
A Pantheist would view that collective (i.e. Universe and everything in it) God, or simply the Universe to which we love and revere and are a part of.
Speaking of the Sun & religions, I had just recently told a friend (on CHristmas day) how Jesus of Nazareth was not the only messiah thought of to have been born on Dec 25th, we have many “solar messiahs” with stories very similar to Jesus’s such as Mithra of Persia, Attis of Phrygia, Horus, Osiris, Krishna, Heracles, Dionysus, Tammuz, Adonis, Hermes, Bacchus, Prometheus etc.. that we solar messiahs that were born on on December 25th. The sun played a very large part in the origins of ancient religions all the way to Christianity. One book that comes to mind is the Suns of God (similar to your book’s title) by Acharya.
I have been researching the definition of ‘life’ for some time, an article will be posted to define what makes a thing alive.
Finally,
I personally loved the couple statements you made:
“consciousness pervades all things” & “discover a universe griming with intelligence and design but one that needs no intelligent design”. I always like to ask people, what if “life” is the norm and is everywhere, what if “consciousness” is the norm and is everywhere, what if we are organisms living in a yet larger living organism that is Earth, what if the solar system is a living organism, what if we knew this consciousness and life existed just as we know matter exists?
Questions like these open up minds to endless possibilities, and possibly realities.
Thanks for dropping by Pantheism Today!
Your book is very intriguing. Thanks for sharing it.
December 28th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Please leave further comments at the updated article here: http://www.pantheismtoday.com/beliefs/am-i-a-pantheist-v-1-2