Honeycombed With Pantheistic Teachings

But some of us were appalled to find, on examination of these proofs, that the author had strongly set forth this “new philosophy” regarding the actual presence of God in all His works. There were such expressions as the following:AGP 333.3

“God is the explanation of nature,—not a God outside of nature, but in nature, manifesting Himself through and in all the objects, movements, and varied phenomena of the universe.” “The Living Temple,” p. 28.

Such teaching would make God personally responsible for all the temptations and unholy desires that move within the sinner, leading to the grossest sin.AGP 333.4

Again, certain phenomena were spoken of as—AGP 333.5

“a physiological proof of the existence within the body of some power superior to the material composition or substance of the body, which exercises a constant supervision and control whereby individual identity is maintained. This can be nothing less than the Power which builds, which creates,—it is God Himself, the divine Presence in the temple [Italics mine].” Id., p. 52.AGP 333.6

In support of this conclusion, the author quotes a scriptural expression:AGP 334.1

“The apostle Paul in his declaration, ‘Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost,’ simply gave expression to a fact which the most profound scientific researches in the fullest degree corroborate.” Id., Preface.

But it should be noted that Paul was addressing a company of believers in Christ, whose hearts were opened to the presence of the Holy Spirit. In the eighth chapter of Romans, the same writer draws a marked contrast between the natural man who walks after the flesh and the regenerate Christian who walks after the Spirit. That there is a distinction between those whose bodies are surrendered as temples of the Holy Spirit and those who are devoid of that Spirit as a controlling power is made very clear in the following verse:AGP 334.2

“Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” Romans 8:9.