If “I am who am” means God is Existence itself, how is that different from Pantheism?
Posted Dec 22, 2022, 2:58 AM UTC
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“I Am Who Am” means that God simply is, without his existence being caused by anything else, or his essence being defined in relation to anything else. The Divine name both affirms that all our being comes from God, while at the same time also affirming that everything we have is utterly unable to be related to God’s Being.
This is because the God possesses all the perfection of lower beings, but also possesses them as a single, unified way. For example, for us justice and mercy are often contrary to each other, but in God they are both the same one perfection.
Does that make sense?
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God exists beyond our Universe, or for better saying independently from it. Pantheism limits God to the Universe.
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Pan-entheism is probably closer to what you are talking about. Pan-entheism means that God is within but distinct from God's creation. It's an acceptable perspective of Christian tradition, unlike pantheism, which doesn't distinguish God from creation and thereby limits God to existing within creation or by the rules of creation.
God is distinct from God's creation.
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You may find this Catholic Answers article on Divine Simplicity illuminating.
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Pantheism says what exists - the universe, and everything/everyone in it - is God. God being existence means that He isn’t created - he simply Exists, and the universe was created by Him. The universe is not God in our monotheism.
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The universe exists because God exists. That doesn't make the universe God. Just something inside His laws. Pantheism is wrong because it limits God to our universe. God is greater than even that.
Would it be wrong to say that everything else exists inside God?
Depends on what you mean by that. If you mean God is divided into parts by existing in things (God cannot be divided) or if it leads to any conclusion that God is material or any conclusion that God depends on things, then it would be incorrect. But if we say God gives everything its being, all creation participates in God’s perfections, and God holds all together in existence, then that’s fine and true.
Yes, but God is material. In Christ Jesus, of course. He doesn't depend on that. It's a bodily limitation He willing keeps for us.
Yes. The Son assumed a material body with His human nature. Under no conclusion can we assume God is material though or now material, because the God cannot be material. But we can say the Son assumed a human nature and a human body so His Person possesses a materiality. Basically we can say Christ as Man has a body, but we cannot say the Son is a body or is materiality. The Son does not become material - he assumes it while keeping himself as the Son unchanged. If we say God is material, we then suggest many theological errors. God cannot change and God cannot be material.
I suppose this depends on the definition of universe. If one defines the universe as simply everything that has ever existed or will exist (Carl Sagan defined the cosmos as such), then it would be difficult to make sense of anything "outside everything that exists".