pantheism

[pan-thee-iz-uhm]

noun

1. the doctrine that God is the transcendent reality of which the material universe and human beings are only manifestations: it involves a denial of God's personality and expresses a tendency to identify God and nature.

2. any religious belief or philosophical doctrine that identifies God with the universe.

pantheism

/ ˈpænθɪˌɪzəm /

noun

1. the doctrine that God is the transcendent reality of which man, nature, and the material universe are manifestations

2. any doctrine that regards God as identical with the material universe or the forces of nature

3. readiness to worship all or a large number of gods

pantheism

1. The belief that God, or a group of gods, is identical with the whole natural world; pantheism comes from Greek roots meaning “belief that everything is a god.”

Other Word Forms

• pantheist noun
• pantheistic adjective
• pantheistical adjective
• pantheistically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of pantheism¹

First recorded in 1700–10; from French panthéisme, equivalent to pan- ( def. ) + theism ( def. )

Example Sentences

Does their religious zeal for the disproven pantheism of former Vice President Al Gore enhance our national security or hurt it?

From Washington Times

Why not deism instead of theism, or pantheism instead of either?

From New York Times

He rejected a personal deity, but saw a kind of pantheism—roughly, the identification of God with nature—as plausible.

From Scientific American

The whole work is steeped in a kind of everyperson pantheism, with elements of Judeo-Christian and Eastern religions.

From New York Times

It’s also similar to Spinoza’s pantheism, his proposition that the universe as a whole is God.

From Scientific American