A Short Creedo...for now

Yesterday I had lunch with a friend from seminary and our conversation made realize both how long it has been since I had an blog entry of any sort and that also it would be a good time to try and get down some positive thoughts about my own beliefs. So, here's a short credo statement.

I believe that there is no God, if by that term one means an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent being that is both transcendent of and immanent to the world (whether solely through the person of Jesus of Nazareth, or via the panentheism of Process Theology, or both).

I believe there is a creative force at work within the universe which is mysterious but also knowable. I believe this creativity is at work within creation precisely because creativity is an inherent capability and quality of existence. To be is to be creative - to impulsively engage in complexification, to have properties emerge that, once achieved, cannot be reduced to their origin.

I believe that we and the universe we inhabit are as we should be. We are neither an accident nor the result of a plan from before time. We are, to paraphrase Stuart Kauffman, expected. It is this expectancy that points us toward the creativity inherent in us and the world.

Is this pantheism? I admit that at first glance it does appear to be the case, however I would argue that the term pantheism does not adequately describe what I am proposing. It would be far too easy to pigeon-hole it as pantheism and move on. I do not believe either myself or my personal theology to be pantheistic in that there is no theism from which to make reference. Pantheism (just like the terms monotheism, polytheism, panentheism, etc.) is defined by its relation to the root term theism. I do not believe that the theistic attributes can be distributed to all of creation rather than be bundled up into one or multiple creators. I cannot direct toward animals, plants, or other persons, prayers of intervention or supplication as they have nothing to offer to me other than what they are. There are no magical or supernatural powers or realm to be tapped within the things of the universe.

As I do not subscribe to theism then, it is hard for me to say I am a pantheist. There remains though creativity, which is the power and property of all the universe. There remains awe, reverence and humility before the universe, before that which has come to pass and that which has brought me here to this very moment.