The Many Faces, and Causes, of Unbelief - Apologetics Press

[t]here is activity but no Actor, movement but no
Mover, creation but no Creator. Beginning with an
anthropomorphic bipolar model of God, it is no wonder
that the god of panentheism emerges finite, limited
in knowledge, goodness, and power, and in possession
of a physical body like the rest of us. Whatever
else may be said of this whittling of God down to
man’s level and form, it is surely not the God presented
in the Bible (1976, p. 210).
The God of panentheism most certainly is not the God of
the Bible. Do the Scriptures speak of God engaging in temporal,
changing actions on occasion? Certainly. In fact, the Bible
uses a number of different metaphors drawn from specific
human analogies. For example, God is said to “repent”
( Jonah 3:10), to have “arms” (Psalm 136:12), to see with “eyes”
(Hebrews 4:13), and to hear with His “ear” (Isaiah 59:1-2).
Yet the Bible also speaks of God as a “rock” (Psalm 18:2), a
“tower” (Proverbs 18:10), and as having “wings” (Psalm 91:
4). If one wishes to use these metaphors to frame a personal
concept of God (as panentheists attempt to do), two things
first must be acknowledged. (1) The Bible uses metaphorical/anthropomorphic
terminology that is intended to assist
humans (who are finite) as they grapple with the spiritual nature
of God (Who is infinite). (2) At times, the images that are
used are mutually conflicting (some speak of minerals [a rock],
some speak of animal characteristics [wings], and some speak
of human traits [arms, ears, eyes, etc.]. It is not a proper use of
Scripture to take these images and apply them in a literal fashion
to make the Universe God’s body. Furthermore, such an
attempt ignores additional passages of Scripture which teach
that God, as a Spirit ( John 4:24), is both infinite (Psalm 147:5)
and unchanging (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 6:18; James 1:17).
Panentheism has little to recommend it, and much to dissuade
us from accepting it. The “god” of panentheism can
“coax” us, but not command us. He can fight evil, but never
triumph over it. He allegedly intends to achieve a better world
with human cooperation, yet most of the world is happily
oblivious to His existence. He is supposed to be able to achieve
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