I’ve been exploring Panentheism (not to be confused with *Pantheism*) and certain elements speak to my own experience of God. I also understand that this theology is embraced by some contemporary Christian thinkers. I just wondered if this was considered a heresy by the established church (Anglican or Roman Catholic)? Panentheism, in simple terms and as far as I understand it , is the idea that God is within and interpenetrates the whole of creation, but is at the same time above and beyond it in space and time. In other words, God is both immanent and transcendent. Pantheism, in contrast, is the idea that the universe IS God, and that God is the universe. There is no other than the created order. Contemporary Christian panentheists include - Richard Rohr - Ilia Delio - John Polkinghorne - Cynthia Bourgeault - Jurgen Moltmann - Phillip Clayton

I'm confused about what panentheism is. The Wikipedia article and the few mentions of it here on Stack Exchange both indicate that some Christians identify as panentheists and some don't. I'm guessing it largely comes down to how you define it, but the Oxford English Dictionary has only one definition and I have a hard time seeing what separates it from an orthodox understanding of omnipresence: > **panentheism** , *n*. > > The theory or belief that God encompasses and interpenetrates the universe but at the same time is greater than and independent of it. Freq. contrasted with *pantheism*. Wikipedia mentions that panentheism influences process theology, open theism, universalism, and other doctrines generally regarded as unorthodox, as well as Hinduism, but it doesn't state that such beliefs are a necessary consequence of adhering to panentheism. My questions, then, are: 1. What does panentheism imply that a classical Christian formulation of omnipresence does not? 2. How widespread is panentheism within Protestantism? 3. What problems do Protestants who reject basic panentheism have with it? By basic panentheism, I mean a panentheism that isn't attached to open theism and the other problematic doctrines mentioned above.

Some Christians hold that the universe or creation are part of God (panentheism). More often than not, God is said to be both immanent and transcendental in relation to the universe. How can those be accepted if Satan is to be treated as a real entity? While immanence may allow you to say that God pervades being but is external to it, panentheism allows no such move. It would imply there is no "other" in relation to God, only but God and parts of God. And as soon as you introduce parts, you immediately wreck the supposed simplicity of God. I find the idea of Christian panentheism problematic because I can't see how Satan, a part of creation, can exist if he is encompassed by God, implying that God is privated in some way. --- Please be careful not to confuse PANtheism with PANENtheism. Both are very different. Pantheism identifies the universe with God (like Spinoza) while panentheism situates the universe within God, as it were (a bit like immanence, but without being fully distinct). That the universe is created does not contradict panentheism necessarily. The reason I bring this up is because a number of theologians such as Peacocke and Zycinski (the last of which is an archbishop of the RCC) do propose a panentheistic understanding of God because they reject not revelation but neo-scholasticism. They also wish to account for God's immanence in the world given the current science. I'm not sure I agree with them (I can imagine other ways God could be immanent), but this is what's been put on the table. Here's a link to more information .