Classical TheismAnswered

Is Catholicism pantheist, holding that God includes and interpenetrates the universe?

TL;DR

Robert Sungenis answers that God is greater than the universe He created, and includes it in His thought and in His personal dealings with man. He holds that what sets Christianity apart from pantheism and panentheism is the interpersonal relationship between Creator and creature, grounded in man being made in God's image to respond with love.

A viewer asks whether Catholicism is pantheist, describing the idea that God is greater than the universe and includes and interpenetrates it.

Answer

You mean panentheist, not pantheist. Of course God is greater than the universe, because the universe did not create God; God created the universe, so He must be greater. As for God including and interpenetrating it, He includes it in His thought and in His interpersonal dealings with man, and that is the key. Pantheism and its kind are impersonal, one object bumping into another, like tea leaves interpenetrating water with no relationship between them. The difference between Christianity and every other religion is the interpersonal relationship between the creature and the Creator, which begins with our being made in the image of God so that we can respond to Him with love, compassion, kindness, and the like. Unless you get down to that interpersonal level, words like includes and interpenetrates are inert and mean nothing.

Answered by Dr. Robert Sungenis

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