Confused Again... Pantheism vs. Panentheism... or Something Else?

[gwendar]

Hello.... For awhile I've been trying to figure out what I believe about God/dess, Divinity, those kinds of things. For a while I felt agnostic, but then I remembered pantheism and panentheism. (Forgive the length of this post, please!)

Wordiq.com says:


"Pantheism, simply stated, means "God is All" and "All is God". It is the view that everything is of an all encompassing God. More detailed definitions tend to emphasize the idea that natural law, existence and/or the universe (the sum total of all that is was and shall be) is personified in the theological principle of 'God.'

One way to describe certain interpretations of pantheism is to say "you are to God, as an individual blood cell in your vein is to you." While a cell may be aware of its own environs, and even has some choices (freewill) between right and wrong (killing a bacteria, becoming malignant, or perhaps just doing nothing, among countless others) it likely has little conception of the greater being of which it is a part. Another way to understand this relationship is the Hindu concept of atman. It is important to note that not all interpretations of pantheism would find this analogy meaningful; for that matter, not even all pantheists believe in free will. This is indicative of the wide diversity of pantheist belief."

And, Wordiq.com says:


"Panentheism holds that the universe is a part of God and that Nature is thus an aspect of divinity. Unlike pantheism, it does not say that the universe is synonymous with God; it maintains that there is more to God than the material universe. In panentheism God maintains a transcendent character, and is viewed as both the creator and the original source of universal morality."

Right. So, for awhile now, I've been kind of back and forth, for a few days, I feel pantheism makes the most sense to me, then I feel, no, it's panentheism that holds the deepest meaning.
Then, very recently, actually, I felt like I really knew what I was, "I am a Panentheist," I thought. And I felt very great about that.
But now, not a long time after, I'm back to wondering which I am, or if I am neither. I'm wondering if what I believe is one or the other, somewhere in between, or something else entirely, with no name (that I know of).
Here's a journal entry of mine from today:


I'm a little confused again....
I'm wondering (again) if I'm a Pantheist or a Panentheist, or something in between... or maybe what I believe doesn't have a name!

I believe in the inherent Divinity of Nature/the Universe. I believe Nature/the Universe has "spiritual" {note: I don't believe that spirit is entirely separate from material.} energy that can be harnessed (for magick{k}, etc. {another note: I believe "magic{k} is the manipulation of energy to achieve an end, but I do not practice as of yet}). I believe that I have my own Divine Energy, but if I want a "boost," I can call upon Nature's Divine Energy.
To me, Nature/the Universe = Divine = God/dess. But I feel like I can pray... But is that just another way of joining energies, or am I talking with something/one that can hear and respond?? I do not believe in God/dess as a singular, individual entity.
I have no particular beliefs in an afterlife.

So.... I'm wondering.... Am I missing something in the definitions of Pantheism and Panentheism, and do my views fit with either definition? Or am I someplace in between, or am I something else entirely, with no name?
I know that I need to answer these questions for myself, but a little advice, or an outside opinion wouldn't go astray! And also, I'm not especially concerned about having a title, but if there is a word to describe my views, it'd be a lot easier to use that than to go on a big schpiel every time!

Any opinions?
(Again, sorry for the length!!)

[Ben Gruagach]

Here's how I think of pantheism and panentheism.

Pantheism considers everything as a whole to be the Divine. This means that the Divine is in everything. Another word that is often used is "immanent" which means the Divine is present in physical reality.

But this doesn't really mention anything specifically about whether there is a nonphysical reality too. Is there a spirit world? Are there nonphysical entities?

The word "transcendant" is used to refer to the belief that the Divine is present in an invisible realm. Many essentially dualist philosophies believe there is a physical realm (where we are in our everyday existence) and then an invisible spiritual realm (where our souls go when we die, where the Divine lives.) Many of these dualist faiths believe that the Divine is only in the invisible realm and is therefore exclusively transcendant.

Then there are those who believe that the Divine is both immanent and transcendant at the same time. This belief sees the Divine as present in both the physical realm (pantheism) and also in the invisible realm at the same time. That's what I consider to be panentheism. I guess I'm saying that it's pantheism but includes the specific idea that the Divine also exists outside the physical realm, and that the Divine is greater than the sum of its parts (greater than the physical and invisible realms combined.)

But I could be wrong of course.

[gwendar]

Nice ideas there, Ben. I've thought of them a little like that on occasion.

You bring up the question of whether there are non-physical entities, and you've got me thinking about that now! Hmmm.... I tend to think that anything non-physical is made up of pure energy.... But, isn't energy a physical thing? I wish I could remember my high school physics, but I don't even know if that came up. Anyway.... If entities made up of only energy are physical, then I probably wouldn't think there would be a non-physical realm, and I'd think that the beings are just lacking a solid body.
I don't know enough science to be thinking about this... :tongueout

Well, for now, I'm going to assume that entities without a solid body are physical, until some science-type person corrects me! So, I would have to say that, no, the Divine is not in a non-physical realm, because there isn't one.... But I don't know. How could I know that?
Hmm.... I'm going to have to think about this some more!

[Theres]

you might also want to investigate neo-Platonism.

[gwendar]

I'll do that. Thanks for the suggestion!
Is google trustworthy, I wonder? I don't know where else to look right now, having no library nearby!