It's widely agreed that Alvin Plantinga solved the logical problem of evil, although I would argue that the problem does not arise for panentheism in the first place since it doesn't view God as some personal agent who is capable of intervening in the world to eliminate evil. This form of panentheism helps in overcoming the problem of evil and in proposing that God's love for the world is essential to who God is. But fundamentally, evil exists only in the human spirit. Conjoined panentheism and the problem of evil. Thus, conjoined panentheism also has in common with ‘weak’ forms of panentheism an emphasis on God’s presence and God’s action in both God the World and God the Good. This is not to be confused with panENtheism, which maintains the identity and significance of the non-divine in … As we saw above, if everything is ‘in’ God, this means that every existing evil is ‘in’ God. Just because pantheism effectively equates the divine with the sum total of reality doesn't mean that everything is "good", it just is. If the universe is a part of God, but God still transcends it and is senteient, why would he allow evil to exist, since evil could be seen as being caused by God or imply a fallible or imperfect God. But if not the name, the ideas themselves are very ancient, and any survey of the history of philosophy will uncover numerous … How do panentheistic religions explain the existence of evil and it’s origin? One of the premises in J. L. Mackie's formulation of the logical problem of evil … Read reviews from world’s largest community for readers. God is not merely creator of the universe; His active Presence is necessary in some way for every bit of creation, from smallest to greatest, to … Panentheism was a major force in the Unitarian church for a long time, based on Ralph Waldo Emerson's concept of the Oversoul. Panentheism and Scientific Naturalism book. Panentheism and the Problem of Evil. RE: Good, Evil and Panentheism March 31, 2012 at 2:34 pm "Thus evil is not a universal state that we can ascribe to the All, but rather we find evils within local conditions. This means that from the perspective of Swedenborg's theology, the problem of evil, or Satan, in relation to God's immanence is a problem of how God can be present in evil people, maintaining their existence from within, even while there is no evil in God's own nature. This survives today as the panentheistic religion, Oversoul. Pantheism is the belief that reality is identical with divinity, or that all-things compose an all-encompassing, immanent god. . Panentheism seems to wrap all differences, even the difference between good and evil, into one giant synthesis so that good and evil work naturally together (perhaps with God’s or Christ’s assistance) to contribute to some greater end. Rethinking Evil, Morality, Religious Experience, Religious Pluralism, and the Academic Study of Religion “Brilliant Essays on the God-World Relation: For several decades David Ray Griffin, the leading process philosopher of religion of his generation, has made panentheism one of the three central pillars of his work. . Evil, then, is less than evil because it contributes to a greater … . This form of panentheism helps in overcoming the problem of evil and in proposing that God's love for the world is essential to who God is. Evil itself has no future. Evil happens because an actor decides to do something you consider evil. Panentheism was a major force in the Unitarian church for a long time, based on Ralph Waldo Emerson's concept of the Oversoul. Pantheist belief does not recognize a distinct personal god, anthropomorphic or otherwise, but instead characterizes a broad range of doctrines differing in forms of relationships between reality and … This survives today as the panentheistic religion, Oversoul. The use of panentheism as part of Orthodox theology and doctrine is “problematic” to those who would insist that panentheism requires creation to be “part of” God. The term ‘pantheism’ is a modern one, possibly first appearing in the writing of the Irish freethinker John Toland (1705) and constructed from the Greek roots pan (all) and theos (God).