Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Obiter Dictum Pertaining to Pantheism

Writers define the concept "pantheism" as the belief that God is everything and everything is God; or some prefer to define nature in its totality as sacred, that is, all of nature is God.

However, pantheism is not going to work as a serious Judeo-Christian doctrine of God despite the 17th century efforts of Baruch Spinoza. I'm sorry, but pantheism is less than credible in my estimation and it conflicts with Scripture (Genesis 1:1; Acts 17:24; Romans 1:20; Hebrews 11:3; Revelation 4:11). Furthermore, pantheism has unseemly implications for human nature and it abolishes the ontological distinction between the Creator and the creature. I also have trouble seeing how a contingent universe could be God. Spinoza's alternative was to posit the universe as God, say everything else is a divine mode, then declare freedom to be non-existent. We call that view, hard determinism.

7 comments:

Duncan said...

Regarding Hebrews 11:3 it is interesting that αιωνας should be used as a plural.

Edgar Foster said...

I believe the point has been discussed before on this forum (maybe not), but I don't see any metaphysical/theological significance to the writer's use of the plural.

Robertson's WP: The worlds (τους αιωνας — tous aiōnas). “The ages” as in Hebrews 1:2 (cf. Einstein's fourth dimension, time). Accusative case of general reference.

Vincent's WS: "Lit. the ages. The world or worlds as the product of successive aeons. See on Hebrews 1:2."

Henry Alford GT: "the ages (see note on ch. Hebrews 1:2, where I have maintained that the expression οἱ αἰῶνες includes in it all that exists under the conditions of time and space, together with those conditions of time and space themselves, conditions which do not bind God, and did not exist independently of Him, but are themselves the work of His word. Chrys. here replaces τοὺς αἰῶνας in his paraphrase by τὰ πάντα, the universe. Since writing the note above referred to, I have seen Delitzsch's commentary, which strongly maintains the mere material sense of οἱ αἰῶνες, but not to me convincingly)"

Cambridge GT: "τοὺς αἰῶνας. The word for 'worlds' means literally ages (Hebrews 1:2), i.e. the world regarded from the standpoint of human history. The 'time-world' necessarily presumes the existence of the space-world also. See Hebrews 1:2."

Dr. Thomas Constable on Heb. 11:3: "Notice that the writer did not say that God created the universe out of nothing (creation ex nihilo), an idea that the Greeks rejected. [Note: Guthrie, p227.] He simply said that the universe did not originate from primal material or anything observable. His description does not rule out creation ex nihilo, but neither does it affirm it. Genesis 1:1-3 and logic seem to indicate that God did indeed create the universe, something visible, out of His word, something invisible."

Edgar Foster said...

Here is one other thought regarding Heb. 11:3 from Gareth Lee Cockerill's commentary on Hebrews:

Yet we must not let the natural way in which the pastor introduces this topic blind us to the fundamental significance of his assertion: “the worlds [ages] were ordered by the word of God.”¹⁸ These words take the hearers back to the first chapter of Genesis. There God created the physical world and arranged its parts in a harmonious whole by merely speaking his word.¹⁹ But the term translated “worlds” also means “ages.”²⁰ It is by the word of God that the “ages” of the world have been ordered and will be brought to their climax (cf. 1:2). The next phrase brings out the significance of these facts—“so that what is seen has not come into being from things that appear.”²¹ “What is seen” is singular, describing the whole created order. It has not come into being from any “things that appear” or have the quality of visibility. This affirmation is the foundation of the faith exemplified in this chapter—it is not the visible world of daily experience but God and his word that constitute ultimate reality. His word is ultimate because it is the means of creation. Thus, it is also the means of redemption (see the comments on 1:1–4) and final Judgment (12:25–29). To live “by faith,” then, is from beginning to end to live in accord with the word of God.

In a footnote from this commentary, we read:

For αἰῶν in the temporal sense, “age,” see Heb 1:8; 5:6; 6:5; 7:17, 21, 24, 28; 9:26; 13:8, 21. The spatial connotation “world” is dominant in 6:5, 20 (Johnson, 279). Rose, Die Volke, 157, is guilty of overinterpretation when he tries to make this verse a reference to the present age/visible world and to the age-to-come/invisible world.

Duncan said...

Looking at revelation 1:6 do we have to connect the term to genesis. What in the context demands it?

Edgar Foster said...

Cockerill is not saying that τους αιωνας hearkens back to Genesis everytime that it occurs: he only connects the expression in Hebrews 11:3 with Genesis because "the word of God" is mentioned along with τους αιωνας. Compare Heb. 1:2-3.

Throughout Genesis 1, God's word is responsible for earth becoming habitable. That same word somehow brought all things into being.

Duncan said...

"the word of God" is mentioned ?

Edgar Foster said...

Yes, the word of God is mentioned in Heb. 11:3: ῥήματι θεοῦ. But God also speaks in Genesis and things are produced.