[quote=“Tony, post:15, topic:376”]
*> When humans imagine something, or, when they dream—are they separate from their imaginings, or from their dreams? The imaginings or dreams are a different aspect of their makeup, however, one cannot exist without the other. In this same way, God cannot exist without the physical universe, and the physical universe cannot exist without God.
[/quote]*
Tony,
You begin a thought with something reasonable, but finish it with something clearly unsubstantiated and wrong. Yes, it is true that dreams and imagining are a part of ourselves, but you said that God “imagined” the universe into existence. If something is given existence, then it is no longer private or personal. It has an existence separate from its creator
When one writes something, it has no real existence until it is published on the internet, as a paper, or otherwise. There is no question that God gave the universe its existence, which means now it exists apart from God. There is no question that God could destroy the universe if God so desired, as God almost did in the story of Noah, although I do not think that this story is
“objectively” true.
While my book, while this writing is dependent on my thoughts, my existence is not dependent on the existence of my book or this writing. There is NO evidence that God’s existence is dependent on the universe, while of course the existence of the universe is dependent upon God. Thus your conclusion in the paragraph quoted is false.
The major difference between us is the you say that the universe is a part of God although God is also beyond the universe, while I say that God and the universe are separate entities. God knows, governs, and empowers the universe, but it is not a part of God.
If the universe were a part of God, I would be a part of God, because I am a part of the universe. I am not a part of God because God cannot die and I will die. God does not sin and I am a sinner, saved by grace. God does not make mistakes, and I make plenty of mistakes.
Therefore the universe and I are not a part of God. We are separate from God and imperfect, physical beings dependent on God, and God is not dependent on us. Case closed. Panentheism not true.