One might say that one can be either a pantheist or a monotheist, but that one cannot be both. Yes, many who look at theology from the outside say that these are two distinct ideas about God, and they are willing to accept one of them but not both. In point of fact it is most necessary that these two opposing ideas should exist. When we look at the center of a line it is one; when we look at the ends there are two. Monotheism is as important as pantheism. No one can be a pantheist if he was not once a monotheist; and if one began by being a pantheist, one would never understand the conception of God. The monotheistic idea is necessary in order to realize fully the beauty of the pantheistic idea.