The Pantheist World View

by Harold W. Wood Jr., Lezlie L. Murray, Universal Pantheist Society

"The Pantheist World View” was first published in 1979 to provide a concise and succinct four page summary of the basic vision of life shared by most Pantheists. It was one of the first efforts of the Universal Pantheist Society, which formed in 1975, to help people learn about a way of life combining ancient inspirations with modern scientific understanding. Revised at intervals over the years, this Kindle edition is intended to bring wider knowledge of this world view as a form of religious naturalism. The length is deliberately limited, expressing the fundamentals of Pantheism in the most brief yet authentic way we can provide.Pantheists are persons who derive their fundamental religious experience through their personal relationship with the Universe. They feel that Nature is the ultimate context for human existence, and seek to improve their relationship with the natural world as their fundamental religious responsibility.In universal pantheism, religion is seen as a system of reverent behavior toward the Earth rather than subscription to a particular creed. Because Pantheists identify God with Nature rather than an anthropomorphic being, Pantheists oppose the arrogant world-view of anthropocentrism.About the AuthorDespite a long religious history, dating back beyond Spinoza to the Stoics of ancient Greece and the philosophers of ancient India, there was no modern organization to represent Pantheists until the formation of the Universal Pantheist Society in 1975. The Universal Pantheist Society is the oldest known organization dedicated to modern and universal Pantheism. Today, the need for an ethical, universal approach to Pantheism has never been greater.In Universal Pantheism, there is no creed or requirements to follow any particular belief or practices. Rather we seek to provide ways for individuals to promote their own spiritual growth and understanding. Our goal is to provide Pantheism with a unified worldwide presence -- bringing Pantheists of all varieties together to share in our commonality while providing a continually growing source of information and inspiration.Recognizing that freedom of belief is inherent in the Pantheist tradition, our bylaws prohibit any requirement for or subscription to any particular religious belief, doctrine, or creed. Persons uniting with the Society do so to further their own understanding of Pantheists attitudes, and through their fellowship with others find purposive means of expressing their faith in daily life. Our membership includes all varieties of pantheists, panentheists, religious naturalists, and other like-minded folks.The purposes of the Society "to unite Pantheists everywhere into a common fellowship, to undertake the conveyance of information about Pantheism to the interested public, to encourage discussion and communication among Pantheists, to provide mutual aid and defense of Pantheists everywhere, to stimulate a revision of social attitudes away from anthropocentrism and toward reverence for the Earth and a vision of the ultimate context for human existence, and to take appropriate action toward the protection and restoration of the Earth."

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction, Religion

14 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 3, 2013

Reviews

[John J · Rating 1 out of 5]

Shallow presentation

This book presented a very shallow description of pantheism. If I didn't know better, I would have concluded from this discussion that pantheists were just a bunch of tree huggers who are committed to recycling and using renewable energy. Nowhere to be found are profound revelations from the likes of Spinoza and Maimodise. Instead we are offered the kind of insights that might have come from one of Al Gore's videos on global warming.

One arrives at pantheism from two directions. The first is the path of direct experience or enlightenment. The second path is through an intellectual quest that often, but not always, takes the seeker to the dead end of material reductionism and atheism before the truth of radical relativity is revealed, wherein the seeker realizes that the universe is all that there is, there ever was, and ever will be. Once the inherent fallacy of dualism is eradicated, there is no longer any need to cling to atheism in order to refute nonsensical dualistic theism, which pits creator against creation. The seeker eventually comes to the realization that theism is not the opposite of atheism, because both are merely arguing over the existence of the same cartoonlike dualistic God. It is pantheism that is the opposite of atheism, because atheism asserts there is no God whereas pantheism asserts there is nothing but God.

Don't bother reading "The Pantheist World View," even though it is "free." If you don't already know what pantheism is, this book will seriously mislead you into equating it to animism or some other primitive belief system. There are a lot of other good books out there that cover this subject in much greater depth.

[Michael J. Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Explains perfectly the Pantheist world view. Very quick read and has all the philosophies of this earth-based faith perfectly summed up.

[Cassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

Provides a great overview of the beliefs and practices. Gives just enough information and provides resources in the text as well.

[Tanya · Rating 2 out of 5]

No new info

It was just a repeat of what is available already on their website. Just go to the website and read for free.

[Josh Bunting · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not being super familiar with pantheism, I can't really judge how well this reflects pantheistic views. But it's consistent with the little I've read about it beforehand - other authors summarizing Spinoza, basically. It's well-written I guess, but it didn't win me over completely. The idea they put forward about being "beyond atheism vs. theism" seemed a little silly - when the question is either A or not A, the answer kind of has to be one or the other. I thought that was just a really basic rule of logic.

[Jesse . H. Azzopardi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative

I thought for years that there had to be something that described my outlook on life. After reading this book I discovered that Pantheism is exactly what I believe. This book is GREAT at breaking it down.

[Patricia Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brief yet informative

This short book gave me many of the answers I've been looking for in a clear brief and concise manner. I recommend this to anyone who is appreciative of their health and the health of our planet and more.

[Chandler Klebs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very short and clear.

I just read this book for the second time. I think pantheism is compatible with my views on veganism and the eternal universe. This book was nice because it was short enough to read in less than an hour.

[Sarah Rockwell-Kinney Walton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very good, and brief overview of pantheism.

I really enjoyed this book, especially for its clarification on what pantheism is and is not. In would recommended this to anyone looking for a short intro to the overarching themes to pantheism.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good scratch-the-surface intro.

Clears up some confusion regarding this topic, and either whet's the appetite for more, or confirms your search is elsewhere. Very nice 'pamphlet', and a sign for me to keep exploring this topic.

[Jennifer Oliveira · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very brief but I really liked it, I think it points out what's important. I've identified with pantheism for far too long without reading much about it so I wanted to start somewhere. (and well this one was free)