Human development through panentheism

As opposed to pantheism, which identifies the world with God, panentheism sees the creation as being within God, an interior modification and manifestation which exists only through God but into which God is not absorbed. In other words, all things are not the sum total of God; but God is in all things. This is a belief common to many religions, including Hinduism and (some interpretations of) Christianity. As St Thomas Aquinas put it, the Holy Trinity is in the whole creation, in every part of it.

Religions which see God as totally separate from his creation and ruling it from without are said to lead to a loss of sense of the sacred in all created things, and ultimately to the abuse of nature and the ecological problems which threaten to destroy the world. In this sense, the semitic religions emphasize the masculine aspects of God. Panentheism leads to a recognition of the feminine aspect, immanent in creation. A view of the earth as a living being, mothering and nourishing mankind, may lead to a greater respect for nature and the end to abuse of the environment. A return to panentheism may also lead to the recognition of God in each soul and of each soul in God rather than of the soul separated from God by sin so that there is a great gulf between God and humanity. This common experience of God in the depths of each individual being, beyond differences of body and soul, leads to a sense of common humanity, of community, so that individuals no longer see themselves as totally separate but as members one of another.