The Demise of our Old Definition of God

There are five basic approaches to God:

· theist
· atheist
· agnostic
· pantheist
· panentheist

For the first three, God is defined as an entity “outside of time and space who created the world and judges, rewards, and punishes everyone in it” (Shapiro 16). While theists believe in the existence of this God, atheists do not and agnostics aren’t sure.

The Pantheists’ God is the same as nature; god is nature and nature is god. Panentheists, however, believe in a broader definition that “includes and transcends the universe” (16). This is the belief that “everything is within God.” Panentheism includes pantheism, since nature is part of the universe but goes beyond to include more than just this physical world.

The theist view of God is the one that most of us grew up with and the one has dominated. Many writers, however, are recording the demise of this old definition. Current views include a more integral God, as many people are moving away from the director and controller.

Shapiro, Rabbi Rami. “Why Aren’t You An Atheist?” Spirituality&Health, March – April 2007, 16.