Thou Art God

Thou Art God is a statement of divine immanence that is popular within Neopaganism and other religions. The phrase is also stated numerous times in the pages of Robert A. Heinlein’s science fiction novel, "Stranger in a Strange Land" and in the Yello song "Domingo."

When addressed to human beings in a polytheistic or secular context, the statement references a philosophy that we are each Gods of our own reality possessing the divine ability to combine universes with other Gods on a consensual basis.

When addressed to human beings in a monotheistic, pantheistic, or pandeistic context, the statement references a religious philosophy that all things are part of a singular God presiding over a singular reality. One example is the Hindu saying: Tat Tvam Asi, "That Art Thou." In some cultures, the statement is limited to living beings.

The statement thou art God is found in the Bible at 1 Kings 18:36, 1 Chronicles 17:26, Psalm 86:10, Psalm 90:2 and Acts 4:24 (KJV). When addressed to the God of Israel, the statement asserts that He is the universal transcendent Creator and only true God. In these sources 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.

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 key passages of the book, the protagonist of the story, Valentine Michael Smith, explains how, "Thou art God, and I am God and all that groks is God," God being that which is in all things (even the "happy blades of grass") and having "no choice" but to experience all things.

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. Throughout the book, Smith and his followers say "Thou Art God" as a greeting, in recognition of this.

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*Tat Tvam Asi, the equivalent statement in Vedanta Hinduism