Is the Universe Divine?

One way in which pantheism has been improperly characterized is by claiming that it is the idea that “reality is is identical with divinity”. This is from the current Wikipedia entry on pantheism. Now on the one hand, this seems fine since one definition of divine simply refers to being a deity. The God of classical pantheism definitely is a deity. The other definition though refers to being supremely good. Here is the problem. By associating pantheism with divinity, we are associating with the irrational idea that God is only good.

Clearly though, God is not only good. God’s existence involves horrific things like disaster, wars and plagues. A good God would not partake in evil things like this. You might say “well God is just deterministic”. Even if God were largely or even completely deterministic, God is still doing bad things and so clearly is not divine.

We are not wholly good or bad. The most stable people are in a balance of good and bad. Rationally then, we should allow God the same interpretation. God is not good or bad but a balance of the two. God is not divine. God is simply the Universe, good and bad, yin and yang.

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