Helmut, Jon, List,
While recent reflection is bringing about changes in my religious views, I thought that at this point in the discussion that it might be helpful to outline how I've understood Cosmic Christian theology. It is certainly not classic theology, and was not Peirce's explicit view as Jon has shown. Yet I would maintain that there is enough in his metaphysical, cosmological, semeiotic, and trichotomic work to support it, or something like it.
In my understanding, and as I have employed this theology in the past, the Cosmic Christ refers to the universal, pre-existent Christ who permeates all of creation and unites the cosmos to God within the Trinity which represents the relational, threefold nature of God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Cosmic Christ concept means to expand the understanding of the Son (the second Person of the Trinity) to relate His divine work to all of creation and the cosmos itself.
Cosmic Christic theology emphasizes the pre-existent Christ, the eternal Word (Logos), who was with God from the beginning, as described in the Gospel of John (John 1:1-3) and Colossians 1:15-17. In Trinitarian terms, the Son is eternally begotten of the Father and is before creation. The Cosmic Christ is therefore identified with this Logos and involved in the creation and sustaining of the universe. This establishes the Son’s role not only in salvation but also in the very structure of the cosmos itself. There is New Testament support for this: "Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." John 1:3, and, "For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth [. . .]. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Colossians 1:16-17
So, in a word, the Son as the Logos is the divine principle through which God the Father creates and sustains the universe, reflecting the central role of the Logos in the cosmic working of the Trinity.
Thus, in Cosmic Christic theology Christ’s work of redemption is not limited to humanity alone but extends to the entire cosmos. This cosmic redemption is rooted in the so-called economy of salvation where the Father sends the Son to reconcile creation to Himself. In Trinitarian theology, the Incarnation is not only about human salvation, but also concerns the restoration of the whole created order. Again, there is Biblical support for this:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Helmut, List:Theism (classical or otherwise) and panentheism are two different and mutually exclusive philosophical/metaphysical conceptions of God. Christianity is a religion that traditionally affirms classical theism--as do other religions, including Judaism and Islam--but some (including Gary R.) suggest that it is also compatible with panentheism. Nevertheless, Peirce explicitly and repeatedly affirmed theism (which Gary R. acknowledges), including the classical definition of God as Ens necessarium; and as I have explained before ...
- Peirce prepared the entry for "immanent" in The Century Dictionary, which includes the statement, "The doctrine of an immanent deity does not necessarily imply that the world, or the soul of the world, is God, but only that it either is or is in God."
- Pantheism is the doctrine that the world or its soul is God, while panentheism is the doctrine that the world or its soul is in God.
- Peirce referred to "One Incomprehensible but Personal God, not immanent in but creating the universe" (CP 5.496, EP 2:421, 1907), and likewise emphatically denied that God is "immanent in Nature" or "immanent in the Universes" in four different manuscript drafts for "A Neglected Argument" (R 843, 1908).
- Therefore, Peirce plainly rejected both pantheism and panentheism.
Regards,Jon Alan Schmidt - Olathe, Kansas, USAStructural Engineer, Synechist Philosopher, Lutheran ChristianOn Sun, Sep 15, 2024 at 10:43 AM Helmut Raulien <[email protected]> wrote:suppsupppsupplement: This classificational thing is becoming complicated, but before I lose mental control, I am, with my last residue of overlook, able to utter a last conclusion: With this whole figure, to say, that Peirce was a theist, and not a panentheist, only works if:-- Panentheism is a kind of theism,-- The term "Panentheism", or the concept, existed at Peirce´s time,-- Peirce was aware of this term or concept, and did not approve of it.Supp-supplement: Ok, classical theism, claiming, that God is unchanging and unaffected, is not something, christianity can be subsumed under, but merely has an influence on christianity and other religions. So, Jon, you are right, of course. Sorry!Supplement: I have googled, and found, that christianity is a kind of theism. Ok, the other way, my post could have been wrong, is, that I was thinking, that panentheism would not be a kind of theism, but maybe it is. This way, panentheism may be compatible with christianity, but not with some other kinds of theism, like, as you wrote, "classical theism", of which I don´t know, what that is.Jon, List,well, I had thought, that christianity is a kind of theism. So it is not, so I am sorry for my post.Best regards, Helmut
ARISBE: THE PEIRCE GATEWAY is now at
https://cspeirce.com and, just as well, at
https://www.cspeirce.com . It'll take a while to repair / update all the links!
► PEIRCE-L subscribers: Click on "Reply List" or "Reply All" to REPLY ON PEIRCE-L to this message. PEIRCE-L posts should go to [email protected] .
► To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a message NOT to PEIRCE-L but to [email protected] with UNSUBSCRIBE PEIRCE-L in the SUBJECT LINE of the message and nothing in the body. More at https://list.iupui.edu/sympa/help/user-signoff.html .
► PEIRCE-L is owned by THE PEIRCE GROUP; moderated by Gary Richmond; and co-managed by him and Ben Udell.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ARISBE: THE PEIRCE GATEWAY is now at https://cspeirce.com and, just as well, at https://www.cspeirce.com . It'll take a while to repair / update all the links! ► PEIRCE-L subscribers: Click on "Reply List" or "Reply All" to REPLY ON PEIRCE-L to this message. PEIRCE-L posts should go to [email protected] . ► To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a message NOT to PEIRCE-L but to [email protected] with UNSUBSCRIBE PEIRCE-L in the SUBJECT LINE of the message and nothing in the body. More at https://list.iupui.edu/sympa/help/user-signoff.html . ► PEIRCE-L is owned by THE PEIRCE GROUP; moderated by Gary Richmond; and co-managed by him and Ben Udell.
