Philosophy
Two currents of modern thought merge to form modern Pantheism: the theological
arguments denying personality to Deity, and the stream of modern environmental philosophy.
Accepting the Universe by John Burroughs, Houghton Mifflin, 1920.
An excellent discussion by one of America's foremost naturalists of the reality of Nature
and man's place in it; Burroughs forthrightly identifies Pantheism as the best solution to
the problem of having a religion based on truth not superstition.
The Riddle of the Universe by Ernst Haeckel, (translated from the German by
Joseph McCabe) Harper & Brothers, New York, 1900.
A superb analysis by the scientist who coined the term "ecology", who advocated
modern Pantheism as a religious form consistent with science but rejecting the dualistic
world-view which separates Deity from Nature.
"The Universe and Me" by D.H. Lawrence in Phoenix: The Posthumous
Papers of D.H. Lawrence , Viking Press, 1964.
This is only a lengthy paragraph, but succinctly encompasses the meaning of modern
Pantheism in poetic prose.
"The Death of Pan," by D.H. Lawrence, Ibid.
This essay describes the religious problem of modern America and Europe as being the
feeling that Pan is dead; Lawrence advocates a return to Pantheism.
"If You Don't Mind My Saying So..." by Joseph Wood Krutch, in American
Scholar Spring, 1970.
A well-known essayist and naturalist writes on "Trust in Wildness" as the faith
needed in the twentieth century, and expressly recognizes this as a form of Pantheism; but
carefully distinguishes it from the Romantic fallacies of the 18th and 19th centuries.
God & Belief: The Pantheist Alternative by Irv Thomas, Universal Pantheist
Society, 1986.
This booklet describes the often-neglected pantheist alternative to both atheism and
theism, with special attention to the problems of both the nihilism of atheism and the
fallacy of an anthropomorphic masculine deity.
Available from our Publications List
An Ecological and Evolutionary Ethic by Daniel G. Kozlovsky, Prentice Hall,
1974.
Provocative application of ecological science and philosophy to the problems of ethics and
spirituality in a series of brief, one-or two page capsule essays.
Deep Ecology: Living as If Nature Mattered by Bill Devall and George Sessions,
Peregrine Smith, 1985.
An exhaustive description of the various ideas and people who best posit the idea that
more than mere environmentalism, what humankind needs is a radical re-thinking of Man -
Nature relationships.
The Universe is a Green Dragon by Briane Swimme, Bear & Co., Santa Fe, 1985.
A parable explaining the 'New cosmic creation story' - a poetic celebration of basic
scientific and spiritual principles. Useful for introducing non-Pantheists to a new world
view compatible with that of modern Pantheism.
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
A parable wherein a captive lowland gorilla explains the lie that has held people of our
culture captive. The lie is what Pantheists know as anthropocentrism. The solution begins
with understanding why our culture has fallen into that lie.
