Editors Arthur Peacocke (1924-2006) and Philip Clayton have 8 pp of Summaries of the Contributions and 7 pp on the Contributors. This book grew out of a symposium sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation. (For their books I've read, click on either name.)

This symposium was run under the aegis of the Humble Approach Initiative on Dec 6-8, 2001. Arthur Peacocke’s excellent Introduction is followed by Naming a Quiet Revolution: the Panentheistic Turn in Modern Theology, which foreshadows the difficulty of defining panentheism in an adequate way for all contributors. There are three main parts to the book: Panentheistic Interpretations of the God-World Relationship (5 papers), Scientific Perspectives on the God-World Relation (5 papers); Theological Perspectives on the God-World Relation (3 papers Eastern Orthodox & 4 papers Western Christian). Philip Clayton’s Afterword: Panentheism Today: A Constructive Systematic Evaluation is a superb summary of the symposium. The Introduction, the Afterword, and the Summaries of the Contributions together are a good place to begin with the ”big picture” of where much of today’s theological focus has come, not to rest, but to further explore and discuss the excellent framework panentheism offers.

So, what is Panenthenism? The Oxford dictionary of the Christian Church says it is “The belief that the Being of God includes and penetrates the whole universe, so that every part of it exists in Him, but (as against Pantheism) that his Being is more than, and is not exhausted by, the universe.” This implies many things that are discussed (but not always agreed upon fully) by the contributors. Many of the ideas and beliefs about God that helped spur today’s focus on Panentheism were “reawakened” by Whitehead’s process theology and the subsequent developments from it - that the transcendent nature of God includes self-emptying, self-limiting, passiveness (responsive/compassionate), to name a few. God is viewed as a creator who continues to create and respond to the emergent evolution of the universe and its creatures. What is excluded is the “traditional” view of God as an impassive, supernatural/interventionist being who at will breaks his own created order/laws of nature. But just how God interacts with and through sentient beings (without intervening) is one of the topics under intense study by today’s theologians. Many come close to Whitehead’s belief that the will or “aim” of God is an input to all events. Panentheism fits quite well with today’s scientific perspectives of a holistic (no mind/brain or mind/body dualisms), “dynamic picture of a world of entities, structures, and processes involved in continuous and incessant change and in process without ceasing” [Peacocke].

All of the preceding involves ideas I was to some extent already familiar with, particularly regarding science and religion. Thus I found little new in Part II (but I nevertheless greatly enjoyed Paul Davies’ and Peacocke’ papers). I also benefited by comparing the 5 different “takes” on Panentheism in Part I. But it was Part III that presented new material to me – in particular the 3 papers on Eastern Orthodox theology – they all explained how much of today’s Panentheism can be found in some of the founding fathers of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The 4 papers on Western Christianity in Part III seemed to me to focus more on single aspects and/or terminology rather than on ideas of more general concern to a theology of Panentheism. I enjoyed this book for the broadness of its coverage of Panentheism and its introduction to me of some new authors on the subject. But this book is not an easy read – it is technical in a philosophical sense. To enjoy it to the fullest, one has to have a taste for studying the systematic aspects of theology/philosophy or science/philosophy or science/religion. I do, so I did.