PANTHEISM
Pantheism believes that God and nature are the same. They believe that God is everything, including man, animals, nature, space, and that all these make up the one god. This belief is found in New Age teachings, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Pantheism is not to be confused with animism (see ANIMISM). If pantheism were true, we could worship idols of stone or wood or a car or your big toe. But the second commandment forbids this (Exodus 20:4–6).
God created all things (Genesis 1:1–31), He is present in all places (see GOD), but He is still distinct and unique from all things, and He is eternal, having neither beginning nor end. “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” (Psalm 90:2). Contrary to what most pantheists believe, the universe is not eternal, as the true God is. If God were nature, how could He create Himself? And how could a universe that had a beginning be explained by a pantheist?
Pantheism believes that God and nature are the same. They believe that God is everything, including man, animals, nature, space, and that all these make up the one god. This belief is found in New Age teachings, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Pantheism is not to be confused with animism (see ANIMISM). If pantheism were true, we could worship idols of stone or wood or a car or your big toe. But the second commandment forbids this (Exodus 20:4–6).
God created all things (Genesis 1:1–31), He is present in all places (see GOD), but He is still distinct and unique from all things, and He is eternal, having neither beginning nor end. “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” (Psalm 90:2). Contrary to what most pantheists believe, the universe is not eternal, as the true God is. If God were nature, how could He create Himself? And how could a universe that had a beginning be explained by a pantheist?