Panentheism (Religion)

by dhw, Saturday, April 28, 2012, 15:18 (4371 days ago) @ xeno6696

Dhw: David doesn't need to classify his beliefs.-MATT: Technically speaking... if he wants us to understand him better, I would at least hope he does.-David has frequently explained his concept of God to us, but classification leads to all sorts of misunderstandings, as illustrated by your next comment:
 
MATT: Vaishnavism (Hinduism) is pantheistic, and generally encompasses the views that David discusses. Their criticism of panentheism is essentially where I got my argument from. God is everything.-If it generally encompasses David's views, I wonder what aspects of his panentheism Vaishnava Hindus criticize. Most religions have features in common, but they tend to differ substantially in their details, and that also applies to branches of individual religions ... witness the eternal disagreements between Catholics and Protestants, Shias and Sunnis. In the Vaishnava form of Hinduism, according to one of my reference books: "care is taken to avoid a simplistic pantheism". Furthermore, "Several Vaishnava thinkers deny the possibility of liberation in this life (jovan-mukti) and most assert that God has a particular form (i.e that of Vishnu)." You initially informed David that he was a pantheist, and now are you telling him he believes in God in the form of Vishnu? Do you recognize yourself, David?-Of course we all indulge in this game of classification. I call myself an agnostic, and in the short history of this website have been told that I am a Creationist in disguise and an atheist in disguise. It's often a great way of irrationally dismissing powerful arguments: don't take any notice of Dawkins because he's an atheist, or don't take any notice of Behe because he's an ID-er. We shouldn't shoot the pigeon just because we don't like the pigeonhole. Nor, in my view, should we stop the pigeon from choosing his own hole!