God as the universe or totality (summary)

Many see God as the creator of the universe and the entity that maintains and runs the universe.
Some see the universe as being a thought in God’s mind while others see God as being entirely separate from the universe.
Some see God as the soul of the universe and the universe as the body of God or the house of God.
Some see God as actually being none other than the universe including the laws of the universe, the space that pervades and contains the universe, the creative, evolutionary impulse of the universe as it unfolds and nature itself.
God, in this view, is the very substance of the universe and the totality

The belief that God is the universe, and nothing else, is called pantheism, a belief in the sacredness of matter rather than spirit which some argue is not far from atheism.
Atheists go a step further and argue that if God is none other than the universe, why call it God?
Others assert that pantheism is not atheism, and in some ways, the very opposite of it.
Pantheism provides a way to fuse religion and science.
Hindu and Taoist philosophies are pantheistic in some ways.
The belief that God is present in the universe but also beyond it is called Panentheism; a belief in a God that includes all but also transcends all.

God as the universe, some would argue, points to a God that is not personal. However, others disagree.
Some argue God as the universe points to a God that is indifferent rather than hostile or benevolent. Others disagree, pointing to an inherent benevolence underlying the universe.
Some argue God as the universe points to a God beyond ethics while others point out that a reverence for the universe (and the life it contains) is the very essence of ethics.
If God is the universe, there is no super-cause independent of ordinary causes and effects.

If God is the universe, then God manifests as all things and we are surrounded by a fertile mystery. God has become the world. The universe is full of God.
God is not out of the universe any more than the universe is out of God. God is everywhere. God is fertility, creativity and multiplicity.
If God is the universe, then we are divine with a sacred mission to fulfil. Each of is the universe (God) experiencing itself, the universe (God) becoming conscious of itself, the universe coming to know itself through us.

The oneness of the universe reflects the oneness that is God for the universe as God is an infinite and perfectly interconnected whole.
God as the universe is the one being the many and each of the many then returning to oneness, thus creating a profound harmony between unity and multiplicity.
We are not separate from the universe, and therefore not separate from God. Each of us are cells making up the universe that is God. Each of us is a part of God’s body.

The universe is sacred, something many have lost sight of. The universe is the art of God. Let the magnificence of the universe be your religion. Appreciate the divine beauty of the universe. Feel the divine wonder that is the universe. Treat the world with the reverence and respect you would show God. Love the earth and care for it.