Pantheism Research Paper

Many people have, and will continue to question, and struggle with the existence of God. For centuries people have searched for evidence, and came up with theories to prove they were right. Most of these took place in the subjects of cosmology, physics, biology, and philosophy.

Before the 1900’s, humanity’s view and interpretation of life was very different. Many people believed in a personal, physical, God, who not only they followed in religion, but also in the scientific field. Some of these people included the founders of modern science in the 16th and 17th centuries, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, and Boyle. Newton once said, “…this is the most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the council and dominion

Dostoyevsky once said, “If God is dead, then all things are permissible. People do not act as though they believe that all things are permissible. Therefore, people are living as though God is not dead.” Pantheism implies that the difference between you and me is an illusion, so there isn’t any difference between right and wrong, meaning there is no basis for a moral standard because the pantheistic god is an impersonal force. Materialism states that ethics are merely personal preferences, and nothing more, since there isn’t a Supreme Being beyond the universe to provide that statement. It also says that we are determined by our genes, and there isn’t a qualitative difference between humans and animals, or any form of life. Every moral standard implies there is some objective standard of morality, which only theism can it, and where it comes from. One counter argument to theism is moral relativism. This states that ethics are relative to persons or groups and merely express personal preferences, and there isn’t an objective standard above us to which we can appeal. The only problem is that it implies there are only differences in taste, there aren’t any ethical errors, and progress in ethics is impossible. Another argument is Evolutionary Ethics. It says that moral rules are developed from “moral sentiments” or “moral emotions”, including sympathy, love, guilt, and shame, and moral sentiments are an expression of instincts that have evolved to promote human survival. This destroys any reason to obey moral norms when one’s own interest contradicts that of the group or society. The existence of God is the only clear explanation for the conditions of an objective and meaningful system of