Be careful … this is a slippery slope to Pantheism .
I agree, that all forms of pantheism are false. However, because we exist through the esse of God (
given that it is impossible for anything contingent to have its own
intrinsic “existence”), a correct view of the world would
appear to be
Pantheistic or
Panentheistic. This is only to say that the** illusion** of pantheism plagues the appearance of creation.That’s why people easily make the mistake of falling down that path because it really does look like pantheism. However, the opposite is proven once we observe that while we participate in the esse of God, we do no have the
essence of God and neither is Gods “esse” intrinsic to our natures. We are
finite, we have
dimensions, we have
accidents and
potentialities. None of these things can be logically attributed to Gods intrinsic nature, and thus, in so far as our essences our concerned, we are not identical to God, and thus we are not God. In so far as we participate in Gods esse, perhaps we could say that we are Gods by participation, but this would also be wrong, because we are not intrinsically “esse” either. We are nothing with out God, but at the same time we are distinct from God in our potential essence.
I admit, that for those first coming to the subject, it can be very difficult to see the difference between pantheism/panentheism and theism. The difference between God and creation can be very subtle (
and thus missed in our analysis), or even absent if we do not think clearly enough with the proper concepts.
But how does God create a contingent being?
These are speculative waters which can easily turn in to nonsense. Perhaps the best thing to do is to say “
I don’t know”. But in so far as understanding how God creates, my understanding so far reveals to me that the principle of “
abstraction” and “
ideas”, is the key to how God creates. I do not know exactly how God does it, but I know what it essentially involves.
God has creative ideas which God manifests through a perfect knowledge of Gods being (
There is no other inspiration other than Gods being and nature at this point). God shares, through Gods eternal expression of love, his “esse” with his creative ideas. This in turn gives actuality to those creative ideas, which become actual essences; a combination of
Esse and
Essence. A more detailed demonstration of this will be in my book. This is basically how God timelessly created the universe. I am not sure if this is exactly correct, but logically speaking, creation involves something along those lines.
I know that John Damien is going to disagree with the esse/essense distinction. So before you do, i just want to say that i know your position on the matter. However thanks for your support so far. It has been helpful.
God bless.
