World Pantheist Movement

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The World Pantheist Movement (WPM) is an international organization which promotes naturalistic pantheism, [1] a philosophy which asserts that spirituality should be centered on nature. Paul Harrison is their founder and president. [2]

Contents

External appearance

Its symbol is the spiral as seen in the curves of the nautilus shell [3] which embodies the Fibonacci series and the golden ratio.

Beliefs and practice

The WPM uses the term “divine” rather than “god” and states that the universe as a whole is one with divinity. It has developed a pantheist credo as a guide (not indispensable set of rules for the members) and sees the universe as an everlasting, diverse and self-organized unit. All human beings are part of it and should therefore preserve the nature. The main focus is based on scientific pantheism [4] and a naturalistic approach with reverence to the physical universe, oriented towards environmentalism with respect for human and animal rights. [5]

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The belief that God became the Universe is a theological doctrine that has been developed several times historically, and holds that the creator of the universe actually became the universe. Historically, for versions of this theory where God has ceased to exist or to act as a separate and conscious entity, some have used the term pandeism, which combines aspects of pantheism and deism, to refer to such a theology. A similar concept is panentheism, which has the creator become the universe only in part, but remain in some other part transcendent to it, as well. Hindu texts like the Mandukya Upanishad speak of the undivided one which became the universe.

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References

  1. "World Pantheist Movement". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  2. Herrmann, Robert (2009). Expanding Humanitys Vision Of God. Templeton Press. p. 251. ISBN   978-1599470979 . Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  3. Duck, Michael John; Petry, Michael (2016). Goethe's "Exposure Of Newton's Theory": A Polemic On Newton's Theory Of Light And Colour. Templeton Press. p. xxxix. ISBN   978-1783268498 . Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  4. Stone, Jerome A. (2008). Religious Naturalism Today – The Rebirth of a Forgotten Alternative. State University of New York Press. pp. 10–11. ISBN   978-0791475379 . Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  5. Harrison, Paul (20 May 1999). "Theological Notes: A promising time for pantheism". The Independent. Retrieved 20 August 2021.