Classical Pantheism, as defined by Charles Hartshorne in 1953, is the theological deterministic philosophies of pantheists such as Baruch Spinoza and the Stoics. Hartshorne sought to distinguish panentheism, which rejects determinism, from deterministic pantheism.
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The term has also been used to mean Pantheism in the classical Greek and Roman era, or archetypal pantheism as variously defined by different authors.
Hartshorne's Classical Pantheism
This usage of the term Classical Pantheism was first presented by Charles Hartshorne in 1953, and by others discussing his presentation. In making his case for panentheism, Hartshorne sought to distinguish panentheism, which rejects determinism, from deterministic pantheism.
The term "pantheism" is derived from Greek words pan (πᾶν, "all") and theos (θεός, "God"), together meaning "All-God" or "All is God." It is often associated with monism, the view that reality is a single thing.
The Encyclopedia of Religion refers to this form of Pantheism as an "extreme monism," stating that in Classical Pantheism, "God decides or determines everything, including our supposed decisions." Other examples of deterministic-inclined pantheisms include the views of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ernst Haeckel, and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.
Quotations
The following quotations illustrate Hartshorne's concept of Classical Pantheism: