Pantheism is mere philosophy.

[Walt Zingmatilder]

Isn't Pantheism no more than just an ordering and categorising of philosophical ideas....for existence a God of War,,,,,,why not a cross departmental God of conflict for instance?

I think that asks the question who decides demarcation of jobs and the reason for it.

Monotheists suspect pantheists of mere philosophical categorising, atheists can smell it....and often like it which is why they give pantheists an easier ride.

But look at it this way....Thinking must inevitably turn away from Gods to the one or the one God and we see this in monotheism, platonic philosophy and in scientific theories of everything.

[ProfessorDavey]

Isn't Pantheism no more than just an ordering and categorising of philosophical ideas....for existence a God of War,,,,,,why not a cross departmental God of conflict for instance?

I think that asks the question who decides demarcation of jobs and the reason for it.

Monotheists suspect pantheists of mere philosophical categorising, atheists can smell it....and often like it which is why they give pantheists an easier ride.

But look at it this way....Thinking must inevitably turn away from Gods to the one or the one God and we see this in monotheism, platonic philosophy and in scientific theories of everything.

Surely all religions are merely forms of philosophy.

[Walt Zingmatilder]

Isn't Pantheism no more than just an ordering and categorising of philosophical ideas....for existence a God of War,,,,,,why not a cross departmental God of conflict for instance?

I think that asks the question who decides demarcation of jobs and the reason for it.

Monotheists suspect pantheists of mere philosophical categorising, atheists can smell it....and often like it which is why they give pantheists an easier ride.

But look at it this way....Thinking must inevitably turn away from Gods to the one or the one God and we see this in monotheism, platonic philosophy and in scientific theories of everything.

Surely all religions are merely forms of philosophy.

Nope. I think mythos forms a part of it as much as logos and therefore agree with Karen Armstrong.....Note I do not see mythos in the modern antitheist sense of myth as being ''wrong logos.''

[Rhiannon]

Don't you mean polytheism?

[jeremyp]

Don't you mean polytheism?

Ha ha.  I think you're right, I think he does.

[Walt Zingmatilder]

Don't you mean polytheism?

Ha ha.  I think you're right, I think he does.

Yes I am talking about Polytheism and I should maybe have used that term rather than the other meaning of Pantheism which is belief in a pantheon.

[jeremyp]

Don't you mean polytheism?

Ha ha.  I think you're right, I think he does.

Yes I am talking about Polytheism and I should maybe have used that term rather than the other meaning of Pantheism which is belief in a pantheon.

Yes I think you should have, since nobody else uses it in the sense that you thought it meant and my (admittedly brief) research on the Internet found no reference to your meaning whatsoever.

You wouldn't want anybody to think you use long words you don't understand, would you?

Update: found one http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pantheism (scroll quite a long way down)

[trippymonkey]

Will ANYONE here ever be able to prove ONE or Many gods anyway ?!?!?!!? 

Nick

[Rhiannon]

Pantheism means all is God ie the Universe, creation. A believer in pantheism is a pantheist.

A pantheon (all gods) refers to a distinct group of gods eg the Greek pantheon, and a believer in a pantheon is a polytheist.

[Leonard James]

Will ANYONE here ever be able to prove ONE or Many gods anyway ?!?!?!!? 

Nick

Nope, but that won't stop them believing they exist.

[Sriram]

Pantheism is just about the 'one becoming the many'.  This has its scientific parallel in the String theory. 

Along with this pantheism, polytheism can also exist if there is a hierarchy of creation.   They are not mutually exclusive. 

[Rhiannon]

Some pantheists - or more usually panentheists - can be monotheists (Quakers for example) or polytheists, or not. But a pantheist does not mean a believer in a pantheon.

[Outrider]

Isn't Pantheism no more than just an ordering and categorising of philosophical ideas....for existence a God of War,,,,,,why not a cross departmental God of conflict for instance?

Why not a god of love?

I think that asks the question who decides demarcation of jobs and the reason for it.

I think that sentence lacks a meaning, or certainly some punctuation.

Monotheists suspect pantheists of mere philosophical categorising, atheists can smell it....and often like it which is why they give pantheists an easier ride.

Some monotheists, possibly - atheists typically give pantheists/polytheists an easier ride because they don't run up against the problem of evil in quite so self-destructive a manner.

But look at it this way....Thinking must inevitably turn away from Gods to the one or the one God and we see this in monotheism, platonic philosophy and in scientific theories of everything.

The evidence of the long history of Hinduism, paganism and Shintoism (amongst others) and the rise of atheism suggests that this isn't, in fact, 'inevitable'.

O.

[ProfessorDavey]

Don't you mean polytheism?

Ha ha.  I think you're right, I think he does.

Yes I am talking about Polytheism and I should maybe have used that term rather than the other meaning of Pantheism which is belief in a pantheon.

So explain to me please how exactly polytheism is 'mere philosophy' but presumably in your view monotheism (or perhaps more specifically christianity) isn't 'mere' philosophy.

[Jack Knave]

Will ANYONE here ever be able to prove ONE or Many gods anyway ?!?!?!!? 

Nick

No. Like philosophy it all comes from the mind of man.

[Sriram]

Will ANYONE here ever be able to prove ONE or Many gods anyway ?!?!?!!? 

Nick

No. Like philosophy it all comes from the mind of man.

Yes..and unfortunately the only way we can understand anything is through our senses, our mind & logic...all of which are limited!  But since we have managed so much of science and technology by using these faculties...they can't be too bad I think.

Even our philosophy may be meaningful.

 

[trippymonkey]

Sriram-Ji
We ALL love a good story anyway.

Just wait for all the replies from the anti-theists & atheists now ?!!?!?
What exactly IS the difference, if any?

Nick

[SweetPea]

Will ANYONE here ever be able to prove ONE or Many gods anyway ?!?!?!!? 

Nick

No. Like philosophy it all comes from the mind of man.

Yes..and unfortunately the only way we can understand anything is through our senses, our mind & logic...all of which are limited!  But since we have managed so much of science and technology by using these faculties...they can't be too bad I think.

Even our philosophy may be meaningful.

Sriram.... so are you saying you don't believe in the existence of the Hindu gods?

[Sriram]

Will ANYONE here ever be able to prove ONE or Many gods anyway ?!?!?!!? 

Nick

No. Like philosophy it all comes from the mind of man.

Yes..and unfortunately the only way we can understand anything is through our senses, our mind & logic...all of which are limited!  But since we have managed so much of science and technology by using these faculties...they can't be too bad I think.

Even our philosophy may be meaningful.

Sriram.... so are you saying you don't believe in the existence of the Hindu gods?

Hi SweetPea and Nick,

I was only responding to Jack Knave's comment that all philosophy comes from the human mind. My point is that all our ideas and thoughts, including philosophy, beliefs and scientific theories come only from the human mind. We cannot know or perceive or conceive anything except through our mind.

If from this limited mind we can come up with so much of science and technology...our other ideas could also be meaningful. 

That is all.

Cheers.

Sriram 

[SweetPea]

Will ANYONE here ever be able to prove ONE or Many gods anyway ?!?!?!!? 

Nick

No. Like philosophy it all comes from the mind of man.

Yes..and unfortunately the only way we can understand anything is through our senses, our mind & logic...all of which are limited!  But since we have managed so much of science and technology by using these faculties...they can't be too bad I think.

Even our philosophy may be meaningful.

Sriram.... so are you saying you don't believe in the existence of the Hindu gods?

Hi SweetPea and Nick,

I was only responding to Jack Knave's comment that all philosophy comes from the human mind. My point is that all our ideas and thoughts, including philosophy, beliefs and scientific theories come only from the human mind. We cannot know or perceive or conceive anything except through our mind.

If from this limited mind we can come up with so much of science and technology...our other ideas could also be meaningful. 

That is all.

Cheers.

Sriram

That's interesting but I don't entirely agree. My 'belief' in Ahayah, God comes far more from my inner than my mind. It's difficult to explain, but my relationship with God and Jesus Christ resonates in my heart and even beyond my heart.

[Maeght]

That's interesting but I don't entirely agree. My 'belief' in Ahayah, God comes far more from my inner than my mind. It's difficult to explain, but my relationship with God and Jesus Christ resonates in my heart and even beyond my heart.

Nice poetic language Sweetpea but it is the brain which hosts our thoughts, not the heart. Those thoughts, beliefs etc may be deeply felt but that doesn't mean they come from anywhere other than the brain.

[Jack Knave]

That's interesting but I don't entirely agree. My 'belief' in Ahayah, God comes far more from my inner than my mind. It's difficult to explain, but my relationship with God and Jesus Christ resonates in my heart and even beyond my heart.

Nice poetic language Sweetpea but it is the brain which hosts our thoughts, not the heart. Those thoughts, beliefs etc may be deeply felt but that doesn't mean they come from anywhere other than the brain.

You have no proof for that, that is a mere assertion and speculation.

[trippymonkey]

As is religion !!!!

[Maeght]

That's interesting but I don't entirely agree. My 'belief' in Ahayah, God comes far more from my inner than my mind. It's difficult to explain, but my relationship with God and Jesus Christ resonates in my heart and even beyond my heart.

Nice poetic language Sweetpea but it is the brain which hosts our thoughts, not the heart. Those thoughts, beliefs etc may be deeply felt but that doesn't mean they come from anywhere other than the brain.

You have no proof for that, that is a mere assertion and speculation.

Which bit? All scientific evidence shows that are thoughts are associated with activity in the brain, there is no evidence that the heart does anything other than pump blood that I know of. Even those who believe in an external consciousness seem to accept that the brain is the receiver and processor of that consciousness, not the heart. So do you think a relationship can resonate in the muscle we call the heart?

[Rhiannon]

We feel emotion in the body - in the heart and stomach among other places. This is usually as the result of hormonal changes because we detect fear, or pleasure, or satisfaction. CBT takes the model that emotion arises as a result of thought, consciously or subconsciously. I've known people dispute that, but I think it indisputable that we experience our beliefs about the world in our body as well as our mind.