>From: george murphy <gmurphy@raex.com>
> The basic problem here is not the eternity of the world but the statement
> that God-and-World is the "Ultimate" reality. I think, e.g., of Tillich's
> statements that God "is the name for that which concerns man ultimately" and
> "[W]hatever concerns a man ultimately becomes god for him, and
>conversely ...a
> man can be concerned ultimately only about that which is god for him."
(Systematic
> Theology I, 211.) If the world posseses ultimacy in something like this
> sense along
> with God then I think there is indeed a First Commandment problem. But
> perhaps you meant something less strong than "Ultimate" here.
Yes, I have no objection to using some other word to avoid violating the
first commandment. However, in panentheism the problem goes away since the
World is within God, and always has been. To distinguish between God (which
includes the world) and God-and-a-World then looks like a distinction
without a difference. In any case, the World cannot be ultimate apart from
God.
Howard Van Till
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