The Philosophy of Panentheism: A Historical Survey

Panentheism, derived from the Greek roots pan ("all"), en ("in"), and theos ("God"), can be understood as the belief or philosophical framework that the divine encompasses and permeates all of existence, while simultaneously transcending it. This concept offers a nuanced alternative to both classical theism, which posits a wholly transcendent God, and pantheism, which equates God entirely with the universe. Panentheism holds that while the world is in God, God is more than the world—a synthesis that affirms both divine immanence and transcendence. The term "panentheism" was first coined in the early 19th century by the German philosopher Karl Christian Friedrich Krause (1781–1832). Krause sought to reconcile the growing tension between the mechanistic worldview emerging from Enlightenment science and the spiritual dimensions of existence upheld by religious traditions. His work, particularly in Vorlesungen über das System der Philosophie (Lectures on the System of Philosophy, 1828), introduced the idea that God is the animating essence of the universe, but not reducible to it. Krause's vision was deeply influenced by German Idealism, particularly the works of Immanuel Kant and Friedrich Schelling, who had wrestled with questions of the divine's relationship to the finite world.