Thou Art God

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Thou Art God is a statement of divine immanence that is popular within Neopaganism and other religions. The statement is sometimes taken from Robert A. Heinlein’s science fiction novel, Stranger in a Strange Land.

The statement thou art God is also found in the Bible at 1 Kings 18:36, 1 Chronicles 17:26, Psalm 86:10, Psalm 90:2 and Acts 4:24 (KJV). In Biblical usage it is always addressed solely to the God of Israel, and asserts that He is the universal transcendent Creator and only true God. It is an implicit assertion of monotheism. Its context, in the passage from 1 Kings 18, is of the prophet Elijah's denial at Carmel that the pagan god Baal has any reality, divinity belonging to Yahweh alone.

The statement may also refer to the religious philosophy that all beings contain within themselves some essence of the Godhead. An example of this is the Hindu saying: Tat Tvam Asi, "Thou Art That." In this context, it stresses the divine nature of the human soul and spirit, and emphasises the creative and spiritual power within each individual.

Within the context of the book Stranger in a Strange Land, the statement "thou art God" stems from the novel's premise that beings can grok, or become integrated with each other on a fundamental level that includes shared knowledge, senses, neural processing and capabilities. In order to know and appreciate something fully, the characters of the book became part of that thing. In grokking God, therefore, the characters of the book necessarily became God.