What is pandeism?

Answer  
  

Pandeism is a sort of hybrid of [pantheism](pantheism.html) and [deism](deism.html).  
  

Pantheism rejects the idea of a personal God and believes instead that everything is divine—every rock, plant, animal, etc., is made of “God.” In other words, the universe itself is God (albeit an impersonal God), and, thus, all nature is sacred. According to pantheism, there is no real difference between “good” and “evil,” because all is “god” in the end. In the pantheistic view, humans are “God” as well, because they are part of the universe.  
  

Deism is the belief that a personal God created the universe but then walked away. In other words, there is a Creator, but He is not active in the universe. He has taken a “hands\-off” approach to the operation of the universe. Deistic belief pictures God as a celestial clockmaker who assembled His clock, wound it up, and is now letting it run down. The “God” of deism does not intervene in the affairs of this world; He doesn’t answer prayers, perform miracles, etc.  
  

Pandeism combines these two concepts. According to pandeism, the Creator created the universe by *becoming* the universe. The Creator/Universe no longer exists as an individual, personal being independent of the cosmos. Rather, he/it *is* the cosmos and has “lost consciousness,” as it were; therefore, the god of pandeism is not involved in the operation of the universe, and neither can he/it at all discern human experience. “God” is as near to you as the chair you’re sitting on, and he/it is just as inert. The pandeistic god has no more concern for you than the chair has.  
  

The Bible presents a very different view of God. God is, and has always been, a personal Being (Isaiah 42:8\). God is [omnipresent](God-omnipresent.html)—He is everywhere (Acts 17:28\)—but, at the same time, He is separate from and [transcends](God-transcendent.html) His creation (Isaiah 63:15\). God has never lost consciousness, and His control of the cosmos is absolute (Job 38:22–30\). God’s care for and involvement in His creation is most evident in the ministry of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who “became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14\).  
  

