World Pantheist Movement

Scientific pantheism holds that the Universe itself — its overwhelming power, its inexhaustible diversity, its self-organizing complexity — is the only divinity worth the name. It is not a metaphor. The cosmos is sacred because it is real: matter and energy and life interwoven in a unity that includes and exceeds every creature within it. The World Pantheist Movement, founded by Paul Harrison in 1999, formalized this recognition in a nine-article creed. The creed was circulating on Usenet by 2004, posted to alt.religion.all-worlds as an answer to the question of whether non-theistic religion is possible. The answer it offers is: yes — here is one.

We revere and celebrate the Universe as the ever-changing totality of being, past, present and future. It is self-creating, self-organizing, and inexhaustibly diverse. Its overwhelming power and fundamental mystery establish it as the only real divinity.

All matter, energy, and life are an interconnected unity of which we are an inseparable part. We rejoice in our existence and seek to participate ever more deeply in this unity through knowledge, art, celebration, meditation, empathy, love and ethical action.

We are an inseparable part of Nature, which we should cherish, revere and preserve in all its magnificent beauty and diversity. We should strive to live in harmony with Nature locally and globally. We believe in treating all living creatures with compassion, empathy, and respect. We believe in the inherent value of all life, human and non-human.

We believe in freedom, democracy, justice, equity, and non-discrimination, and in a world community based on peace, an end to poverty, sustainable ways of life, and full respect for human rights.

We believe there is only one kind of substance, matter/energy, which is not base or inferior, but wonderfully vibrant and creative in all its forms. Body, mind, and spirit are not separate, but all inseparably united.

We respect reality and keep our minds open to the evidence of the senses and of evolving science. These are our best means of obtaining and refining our knowledge of the Universe, and on them we base our aesthetic and religious feelings about reality.

We see death as a return to nature of our elements. Our actions, our ideas and memories of us live on in the world, according to what we do in our lives.

We believe that every individual can have direct access through perception and emotion to ultimate reality, which is the Universe and Nature. There is no secret wisdom accessible only through gurus or revealed scriptures.

We respect the general freedom of religion, and the freedom of all pantheists to express and celebrate their beliefs, as individuals or in groups, in any non-harmful ritual or symbolic form that is meaningful to them.

Colophon

The Creed of Scientific Pantheism was composed by the World Pantheist Movement (worldpantheism.net), founded by Paul Harrison in 1999. The movement defines itself as a naturalistic religion that does not posit the supernatural — no personal god, no afterlife, no revealed scripture — but finds genuine reverence in the fact of the Universe's existence and the participation of conscious creatures within it. The creed has been freely published and distributed by the WPM since the organization's founding.

This text was circulated on the Usenet newsgroup alt.religion.all-worlds in September 2004, posted by a user known as "naked_ape" in response to a discussion of whether non-theistic religion was possible. Message-ID: <fal6d.10752$Ym1.7054@trnddc03>, posted 28 September 2004.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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