Program / Course 25: Theological Synthesis / Lesson 3.2
What you will learn
- State in plain terms what materialism, pantheism and dualism claim about reality.
- Explain how the Christian account differs from each.
- State the strongest argument each rival can offer against the Christian view.
- Identify what evidence or reasoning could support one account over another.
The big idea
Every worldview answers the question of what is ultimately real. Materialism says that only matter and physical forces exist. Pantheism says that everything is divine, or that the world is God. Dualism says that reality is made of two opposed principles, such as good spirit and evil matter. The Christian account holds that one God made all things, that the world is good but not divine, and that matter and spirit are both real. Comparing these accounts shows what each explains well and where each faces difficulty.
Key terms
- Materialism (or physicalism)
- The view that everything that exists is matter or depends on matter, so that there are no spirits, souls or God.
- Pantheism
- The view that God and the universe are identical, or that the universe is the whole of the divine.
- Panentheism
- The view that the world is in God, though God is more than the world. It differs from pantheism and from classical theism.
- Dualism
- A word with several uses. Here it means the view that reality has two ultimate and opposed principles, often spirit as good and matter as evil.
- Gnosticism
- A set of early movements teaching that the material world is a flawed creation, and that salvation is escape through secret knowledge.
- Naturalism
- The view that nature is all there is and that everything can be explained by natural causes.
- Theism
- Belief in a personal God who created and sustains the world and is distinct from it.
Background
People disagree about what is ultimately real, and the disagreements have deep roots. Greek philosophers debated whether the world is made of atoms, of a divine reason or of two kinds of reality. Hindu and Buddhist traditions explore views in which the individual and the world are in some way one. Modern science has encouraged many to regard nature as all that exists. Christians have lived among all of these and have had to say what they hold and why.
This lesson presents three rivals and the Christian reply. The aim is not to defeat them but to state each fairly. A student who cannot state the rival view in a way its holders would recognize has not yet understood the disagreement.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: Materialism
Materialists hold that matter and energy are all that exist, and that mind, morality and meaning arise from physical processes. Its strength is that it fits the success of the natural sciences and keeps explanations simple. Many materialists are thoughtful and humane people, and the view is common in universities.
Christians respond that materialism struggles to explain certain things: why there is a universe at all, why the laws of nature exist, how conscious experience arises from matter, and what grounds the claim that humans have value. Materialists reply that these are open scientific questions that need not point beyond nature, and some deny that the questions have answers.
Step 2: Pantheism
Pantheism holds that everything is divine, so that the universe is God, or that all things are aspects of one divine reality. Versions appear in Stoic philosophy, in Spinoza and in some strands of Hindu thought. Its appeal is a sense of unity and reverence for nature.
The Christian objection is that if everything is God, then evil is God too, and the distinction between creator and creature disappears, with it the possibility of a relationship between God and a person. Defenders of pantheism reply that its view of unity avoids the problems of a God who stands outside the world.
Step 3: Dualism
Dualism of the kind relevant here holds that reality contains two ultimate principles, such as a good realm of spirit and an evil realm of matter. In the early centuries, Gnostics and Manichaeans taught versions of this. They held that the physical world was created by a lesser or evil being, and that the soul should escape the body.
The church rejected this. It held that the one God made everything and that matter is good (Genesis 1:31), that the Word became flesh (John 1:14) and that the hope is the resurrection of the body. Notice that a different kind of dualism, which says that a human being has both a body and a soul, is held by many Christians and is a separate question, taken up in the lesson on the human person.
Step 4: The Christian account
The Christian account holds that one God, who is distinct from the world, freely created everything. The world is real and good. Spirit and matter are both created. God is personal, which means able to know and love, and not an impersonal force. Evil is not an equal opposing principle. In Augustine’s view, evil is a distortion of the good and not a thing in itself, though not all Christians describe evil this way.
The account also claims that God has entered the world in Christ. This claim goes beyond metaphysics, and it is the point at which historical evidence becomes decisive.
Step 5: Compare fairly
Ask of each view: What does it explain well? What does it leave unexplained? What does it say about human dignity, evil, hope and responsibility? What would count as evidence against it? No view answers every question, and a student should be wary of any account that claims to. The honest comparison gives each rival its strongest form, as in the questions below.
- What would a thoughtful materialist say is wrong with the Christian account?
- What attracts people to pantheism, and what does it ask them to give up?
- Why did the early church reject the view that matter is evil?
- Does the Christian view explain evil, or only describe it?
- What evidence would count against my own view of reality?
- Which rival view do I find most attractive, and why?
Examples
Consciousness
A materialist says consciousness is produced by the brain. A Christian philosopher asks how experience arises from matter at all. The question is called the hard problem of consciousness by some philosophers. Some materialists think science will answer it in time, and some Christians accept that consciousness depends closely on the brain.
Reverence for nature
A pantheist sees the forest as divine. A Christian sees it as a creature that declares God’s glory (Psalm 19:1) and calls for care, though not worship. Both respond to nature with awe but diverge on its status.
Gnostic spirituality
A modern person reading a Gnostic text finds the idea of a hidden spark within the self appealing. The early church worried that such teaching despised the body, denied that God made the world and undermined the claim of the resurrection.
Different perspectives
Catholic
Catholic philosophy, especially in the Thomist tradition, holds that being is analogical, so that God and creatures share a likeness without being identical, which is a way of avoiding both pantheism and a complete separation. The Church has condemned materialism and pantheism in various documents, and Vatican I rejected both explicitly.
Orthodox
Orthodox theology draws a firm line between the uncreated God and creation, yet teaches that creation is shot through with divine energies. Some Orthodox writers use the word panentheism for this, and others reject it as a Western term that confuses the matter. Orthodox writers also stress that matter is sanctified in the sacraments and icons.
Protestant
Protestants broadly hold the same doctrine of a creator distinct from creation. Some Protestant theologians, such as Paul Tillich, spoke of God as the ground of being in terms that critics read as close to pantheism, and others, such as process theologians, endorse panentheism. Most evangelical and Reformed writers defend classical theism.
Rival and secular views
Naturalists such as many contemporary scientists and philosophers hold that no evidence supports anything beyond nature. Hindu thinkers of the Advaita school hold that ultimate reality is one, and the world of many things is in some sense illusory. Each regards the Christian view as one among alternatives that needs argument.
Why it matters
No one can avoid the question of what is real. A student who has not stated the rivals fairly may reject the Christian view for the wrong reasons or accept it without understanding what it excludes. Comparing accounts also teaches the habit of asking what each can and cannot explain, which is needed for the synthesis at the end of the course.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: Christians reject science because they deny materialism.
Correction: Rejecting materialism, the claim that only matter exists, is different from rejecting science. Many scientists are Christians. The question is whether science alone answers every question.
Misunderstanding: Pantheism and Christianity differ only in words.
Correction: They differ at the core. Pantheism identifies God and the world, and the Christian view holds that God is distinct from the world and personal.
Misunderstanding: Because Christians believe in the soul, they are dualists in the Gnostic sense.
Correction: Christian belief in a body and soul is different from Gnostic dualism, which treats the body as evil. Christian teaching holds that the body is good and will be raised.
Misunderstanding: A worldview is proved when its rivals are refuted.
Correction: Refuting a rival does not by itself prove another view, since all of them may be mistaken or the question may be badly framed.
Knowledge check
State what materialism, pantheism and dualism each claim.
Materialism says that only matter and physical forces exist. Pantheism says that God and the universe are the same. The kind of dualism discussed here says that reality has two opposed ultimate principles, such as good spirit and evil matter. The Christian account differs from all three: one God made everything, and it is good but not divine.
Why did the early church reject Gnostic dualism?
Because it denied that the one God made the material world, treated the body as evil, and made salvation an escape from the body. The church replied that creation is good, that the Word became flesh and that the hope is the resurrection of the body, so the Gnostic position conflicted with those teachings.
What is one strong argument that a materialist can make against the Christian view?
That science explains more and more of nature without invoking God, so an extra entity is unnecessary, and that the Christian claim goes beyond the evidence. Christians reply that science describes how nature works but does not answer why there is a universe or law, though the force of this reply is itself debated.
How does the Christian view of God differ from pantheism?
Christians hold that God is distinct from the world and personal, and that the world depends on God without being identical to God. Pantheism identifies the two. The difference matters for worship, for the idea of a relationship with God, and for how evil is understood.
Think it through
- Which of the three rivals did you take most seriously before this lesson, and has that changed?
- What could a materialist and a Christian agree on, and where would they have to disagree?
- What do you think a fair statement of the Christian view should concede to its critics?
Independent assignment
A fair comparison
In your own notebook, write 500 to 700 words comparing the Christian account of reality with one rival (materialism, pantheism or dualism). First state the rival view as one of its holders would. Then state what it explains well, what the Christian view explains better or worse, and one objection each side would raise against the other. Conclude with what you hold and how firmly.
Further study
- Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies The classic early reply to Gnostic dualism.
- David Bentley Hart, The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss A defense of classical theism against rivals. Read critically.
- Huston Smith, The World’s Religions A neutral survey of other worldviews.
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Religion and Science On naturalism and theism.
- Sigmund Freud, The Future of an Illusion A secular critique of religion, to be read fairly.
- Genesis 1:31 God saw everything that he had made, and it was very good.
- John 1:14 The Word became flesh.
- Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God.