Pantheism

Pantheism can refer to a number of philosophical and religious beliefs, such as the belief that the universe is God,^[1] or panentheism, the belief in a non-corporeal divine intelligence or God out of which the universe arises^[2][3][4] as opposed to the corporeal gods of religion such as Yahweh. The former idea came from Church theologians who, in attacking the latter form of pantheism, described pantheism as the belief that God is the material universe itself.^[5][6] Under some conceptions of pantheism, the universe is thought to be an immanent deity, still expanding and creating, which has existed since the beginning of time.^[7] Pantheism can include the belief that everything constitutes a unity and that this unity is divine, consisting of an all-encompassing, manifested god or goddess.^[8][9] All objects are thence viewed as parts of a sole deity.^{[citation needed]}

Due to the new definition of pantheism used by anti-pantheists, the term panentheism began to be used to refer to pantheism as originally conceived.

Another definition of pantheism is the worship of all gods of every religion, but this is more precisely termed omnism.^[10] Pantheist belief does not recognize a distinct personal god,^[11] anthropomorphic or otherwise, but instead characterizes a broad range of doctrines differing in forms of relationships between reality and divinity.^[12] Pantheistic concepts date back thousands of years, and pantheistic elements have been identified in various religious traditions. The term pantheism was coined by mathematician Joseph Raphson in 1697^[13][2] and since then, it has been used to describe the beliefs of a variety of people and organizations.

Pantheism was popularized in Western culture as a theology and philosophy based on the work of the 17th-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza, in particular, his book Ethics.^[14] A pantheistic stance was also taken in the 16th century by philosopher and cosmologist Giordano Bruno.^[15]

In the East, Advaita Vedanta, a school of Hindu philosophy is thought to be similar to pantheism in Western philosophy. The early Taoism of Laozi and Zhuangzi is also sometimes considered pantheistic, although it could be more similar to panentheism. Cheondoism, which arose in the Joseon Dynasty of Korea, and Won Buddhism are also considered pantheistic.