A Bit of Panentheism in the Emerging Church

According to Tony Jones, “panentheism . . . is evident in the practices of the emerging church movement” (The Church is Flat, 165). He further states that these practices serve to eliminate the divide between the sacred and the secular (Ibid., 166).

Donald Miller offers one example: “I once listened to an Indian on television say that God was in the wind and the water, and I wondered at how beautiful that was because it meant you could swim in Him or have Him brush your face in a breeze” (Blue Like Jazz, 1). This is a classic example of panentheism, the idea that God is contained in nature. While God is transcendent and omnipresent, we must not confuse Him or confine Him within His handiwork. Creator must be distinguished from creation. For example, if a person builds something, that something does not contain him or her. 

Doug Pagitt submits a second example: “The assumption is that God is present in all things, that we can find truth and nobility and righteousness and purity and loveliness in all things” (A Christianity Worth Believing, 91). Pagitt teaches that our relationship remains intact with God (page 90). This leads him to see goodness and even God in all things and all people. Using Rom 8:28, Pagitt proclaims that God’s goodness invades all things. This teaching, however, fails to deal with the alienation from God experienced by humanity since the fall of Adam and Eve. We sense this alienation when we suffer guilt, shame, and fear. Christ, if we receive Him through repentance and faith, restores the goodness of God’s presence through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Finally, Chris Seay adds another example to the growing pile: “In some beautiful, mysterious way, Jesus is present for us in the simple elements of bread and wine. Touch Him; taste His richness; remember His most glorious hour on the cross” (Chris Seay, The Gospel of John, 30). Seay seems to be advocating something akin to the Catholic teaching known as transubstantiation. At any rate, equating the Divine with a piece of bread and a portion of wine qualifies as panentheism.