Energy of God

[passingpilgrim]

I recently heard a professor speak on the energy of God. Basically, the argument went something like this:

1. Everything is created out of atoms.
2. Atoms are God's building blocks, so to speak.
3. Atoms are energy.
4. All energy comes from God
5. Therefore everything is made up of God's energy

Scriptural support is Acts 17:27; John 1:3-4,10

This sounds slightly like Taoism to me, but I could be wrong. What do you think?

 

[Poimen]

The second cannot be proven and is merely a statement of opinion. Furthermore, atoms are physical entities whereas scripture says that God is Spirit (John 4:24).

Furthermore, even if God was 'pure energy' all energy does not come directly from God, that is part and parcel of His being. Energy comes from secondary, physical sources that God has ordained to strengthen us (such as food, the sun etc.) because we are physical beings.

The scriptural support is weak if not worthless. Acts 17:27 merely indicates that man ought to seek out God, and has nothing to say about us being made up of God. Even the following verse only indicates that we were created by Him i.e. made in His image. John 1 tells us that the Word made all things but it does not teach at all that we are made up of God in the sense of consisting of His essence.

Conclusion? Hogwash. And yes, it sounds like eastern mysticism.

 

[Contra_Mundum]

Note that not one of the premises are a Scriptural proposition, not so much as a Scriptural inference.

There's no "revelation" starting point--in fact, there's not even a revelatory step in the whole series.

If anything, I wouldn't say the thoughts as so much eastern-mysticism, as very ancient Greek, Democritus (470-380 BC) who's "atomic" theory, much developed, still lends original support to philosophical materialism/naturalism. That is to say, that though Democritus was basically an atheistic materialist, pantheism is not so far removed from materialism, since the two positions are basically offering alternate (contrary) immanentistic rationales (theistic/atheistic) for metaphysics.
Pantheism is monistic whereas Materialism seemingly reduces everything to many discrete points; however such "atoms" share certain qualia that make them similar if not equal. In either case, the universe ends up full of stuff that is remarkably homogeneous. In Materialism, accidental collocations of the atoms accounts for the variety of experience, that is experience is transient (if real). In Pantheism, variety is essentially illusory.

For the errors of the above, I am more than willing to be corrected by our resident philosophers...

 

[Peairtach]

Every physical particle is sustained by God through His Word and by His Spirit.

The laws of physics are useful human approximations of the way this is done.

We must not confuse God Himself with matter and energy, although He is involved in sustaining it at every point.