Pantheism and the Bible

2018-11-15

Pantheism is a worldview that says that God is all, and all is God. This is distinct from Christianity, which teaches that God is separate from His creation (theism).

They Believe All is God, and God is All

God is all, and all is God, according to pantheistic religions. However, the Bible teaches that God is distinct from His creation:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

God already was in the beginning, and then He created everything, from the highest heaven down to earth, and everything in between.

All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:3)

God created everything that was made. God always was; He was not “made.” He is distinct from His creation.

Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things? (Acts 7:48-50)

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded? (1 Kings 8:27)

God created everything, and He is bigger than His creation. The “heaven of heavens cannot contain Him” (1 Kings 8:27). He is holy, set apart from His creation.

They Believe Time is Cyclical

To the pantheist, history is unimportant, and there is no eschaton. The Bible teaches that there was a definite beginning (Genesis 1:1), and that there will be an end of the world:

But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. (1 Peter 4:7)

After the millennial reign of Christ, all things will be made new:

And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. (Revelation 21:5)

They Believe the World is an Illusion

The pantheist believes that individuality is an illusion. However, the Bible teaches that people are individuals with their own conscience, distinct from other people:

For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 2:11)

Every human being has a spirit apart from other human beings, having their own wills.

Also, they believe that morality, and good and evil, are illusions. However, the Bible teaches that people are responsible to God for their actions:

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (Revelation 20:12)

No one would really believe that good and evil are an illusion. To murder and rape is not the same as not to murder and rape; it is madness and folly.

They Believe that God is Unknowable

How can they truly assert that God is unknowable? They are claiming they know something about that God, i.e., that He is unknowable. The Bible tells us that God is knowable:

But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:24)

Conclusion

Pantheism and the religion of the Bible do not have the same God. The God of the Bible created everything out of nothing and is distinct from His creation. The pantheist lives with the contradiction of an infinite god that is a part of a finite creation. Christianity and the pantheistic religions are mutually exclusive.

For further reading, see the article on pantheism in Norman L. Geisler’s Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999.