Panentheism is the theological position that God is immanent within the universe but also transcends it...?

Question

...it is the doctrine of the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches with reservations. Does this theological position acknowledge that the quantum mechanical phenomenum of entanglement and non-locality seem to point to consciousness as a property of the material universe?

A couple of references about this phenomenum are:

Amir D. Aczel;"Entanglement; the greatest mystery in physics"; Four Walls Eight Windows, N.Y. NY,2001

Robert Nadeau and Menas Kafato:"The Non-local Universe; the new physics and matters of mind.";Oxford Univ. Press, N.Y. NY, 1999,pp 197-198

Answer 1

That makes absolutely no sense.

Answer 2

Panentheism is also the accepted "doctrine" of Pagan religions. (I hesitate to use the word "doctrine" because it's really not official; it's simply something we have arrived at as an understanding)

It is a matter of debate in some Pagan circles whether Gaia consciousness is developing through the efforts of humans, specifically through the technology of computer communications and AI. Some would say that Gaia is "growing" a nervous system through these developments...that we humans (as an active part of the non-local consciousness) are serving as the assemblers of the building blocks of the central nervous system of that non-local consciousness (Gaia).

But back to "entanglement"; as far as many Pagans are concerned, this is simply verification of what we've known for a long time - that magic works. As an example, let's look at:

The Law of Association

Essence: if any two or more patterns have elements in common, the patterns interact “through” those common elements, and control of one pattern facilitates control over the other(s), depending (among other factors) upon the number, type and duration of common elements involved.
Keywords: “Commonality controls.”

AND, The Law of Contagion

Essence: Objects or beings in physical or psychic contact with each other continue to interact after separation.
Keywords: “Magic is contagious.”

AND, The Law of Synchronicity

Essence: Two or more events happening at the same time are likely to have more associations in common than the merely temporal; very few events ever really happen in isolation from nearby events.

Keywords: “Coincidence is seldom mere.”

I could go on, but it's far too esoteric for most folks here - if you'd like to, feel free to email me off list!

Answer 3

Not necessarily. Obviously the science you're referring to might be consistent with the notion of divine immanence, but the doctrine of divine immanence doesn't have to say anything at all about the science.

It sounds like an interesting idea, though -- consciousness as a property of the material (meaning measurable?) universe. I wish I knew more about it.

And by the way, divine immanence is an element in all traditional forms of Christian theism. Without it we'd just have plain deism -- but Christians have always affirmed God's active presence in creation. (There's a fellow named Matthew Fox who's recently popularized the term 'panentheism' and distorted it in the process. Avoid his works.)

Answer 4

From what I understand, which is just a small amount about pantheism, is that God is in everything, and everything is God, to some degree. Hope this simple answer helps someone.

Answer 5

yes and it is........ eventually this will mean that God is part of us and we are part of him, the only part not being of him is the selfish aspects of the person...........
selfishness is the cause of all evil.......
get it?.........