Theological Term of the Week

 

panentheism

A belief system which views the universe as contained within God, yet God is also greater than the universe, extending beyond it. It is different from pantheism, which views God and the material universe as identical, and also different from biblical theism, which views God as present everywhere in the universe, sustaining everything in the universe, without the universe being a part of God.

 

• From the Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 2, Section 2. (A biblical Christian view of the relationship between God and the universe.)
  

  God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself; and is alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them: he is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things; and hath most sovereign dominion over them, to do by them, for them, or upon them whatsoever himself pleaseth. In his sight all things are open and manifest; his knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature; so as nothing is to him contingent or uncertain.

• From Panentheism—Part One by Norman Geisler.
  
  
  

  Rather than viewing God as the infinite, unchanging sovereign Creator of the world who brought it into existence, panentheist think of God as a finite, changing, director of world affairs who works in cooperation with the world in order to achieve greater perfection in his nature.
  
  Theism views God’s relation to the world as a painter to a painting. The painter exists independently of the painting; he brought the painting into existence, and yet his mind is expressed in the painting. By contrast, the panentheist views God’s relation to the world the way a mind is related to a body. Indeed, they believe the world is God’s “body”…. [L]ike some modern materialist who believe the mind is dependent on the brain, panentheists believe God is dependent on the world. Yet there is a reciprocal dependence, a sense in which the world is dependent on God.
  

Learn more

1. Norman Geisler:  Panentheism—Part One and Part Two
2. What is panentheism? from GodQuestions.org

The term panentheism was suggested by threegirldad, who says that panentheism is “another age-old heresy that is running rampant of late.”  Tune in next week for another age-old heresy that ain’t dead yet.

 

Have you come across a theological term that you don’t understand and that you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Complaint Department: Parcel Delivery

Yes, I do have a more substantial post coming (I hope) later today. Meanwhile, I’m amusing myself by tracking a parcel containing a gift I ordered for oldest son’s birthday last Wednesday.

Can you read that? According to this, my parcel has been right here in town since last Thursday (That’s eight days ago!) and on the truck for delivery every single working day since then, yet on three of those days, my parcel was not due for delivery. What’s up with that? Do they lug it around town just for the fun of it?

On Tuesday, it says I was not available, yet I was right here at home all day.

I’m taking bets on whether it will be delivered today or whether I’ll have to wait until next week. What’s your best guess?

Update on Friday, March 28, 2008 at 12:42PM by rebecca

Grrrrrr!

The very nice Purolator delivery man delivering another parcel suggested that I call the delivery company with the local contract for Fed Ex deliveries. He even gave me the number. Unfortunately, I must have remembered the number wrong. And I don’t remember who it is who does the local deliveries, either, so I can’t look the number up for myself.

I tried calling Fed Ex’s 1-800 number three times. Each time, it cut me off while I was holding for the first available customer representative. I’ve wasted 40 minutes and achieved nothing but a tension headache, so I’m leaving it alone for a while.

Oh and get this: When calling that toll free Fed Ex number, it asks that I punch in my tracking number. When I punch in the tracking number given right there on the Fed Ex tracking form shown above, it says the parcel is not in its system. Yet there it is, updated daily on their own tracking form.

Grrrrrr again! 

Update on Friday, March 28, 2008 at 3:11PM by rebecca

Tension headache is gone; the parcel has arrived.

Before I could say anything, the delivery guy said, “I’ve been trying to deliver this to your neighbour for 4 days. Sorry about that!” When she was finally home to recieve the parcel she pointed out to him that the address was for us, not her.

I told him I’d been tracking the parcel in Whitehorse for 8 days. He laughed nervously, so I laughed, too, and left it at that. 

Book Review: Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor

The Life and Reflections of Tom Carson by D. A. Carson.

I’ve listened to quite a few of D. A. Carson’s sermons and lectures (Okay, I’ll be honest. I’ve heard every single one I can download for free.), so I already knew some of his stories about his family and upbringing. I already knew that there were at least a few parallels between my own upbringing and his. My dad, for instance, was a small church pastor and missionary like Carson’s father, Tom Carson, and some of what I’d heard Don Carson say about his father made me think that he might have been a bit like my dad. My own mother used old adult-sized clothing to create cute clothing pieces for my sister and me, while Margaret Carson, Tom Carson’s wife, remade hand-me-down suits for her husband. And like D. A. Carson, I grew up poor, but unaware how much less we had than most people around us until later.

This is the reason I was hoping I’d be able to read and review Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor, Carson’s new book on the life of his father, who was a missionary pastor in Quebec. I can’t pass up a good biography, anyway, and if there are similarities between the people portrayed and the people I know and love, so much the better.  And this was a good biography. I received my review copy in the mail on Thursday and finished it a couple of nights later because I stayed up reading until 2:30AM on Easter morning.

As it turns out, Tom Carson was different than my own father in many ways. Still, the parallels are notable, making the book all the more engrossing for me. Like my dad, Tom Carson was a faithful, ordinary pastor. His congregations were small; he wrote no books. His circumstances were often difficult, but he kept on serving and loving God, serving and loving his family, and serving and loving God’s people. He was disciplined in his use of time, one thing I’ve decided I need to work at more consistently.

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