how can i decide..?

[ssendur]

"Pantheism is distinguished from panentheism, which holds that God is in everything, but also transcends the Universe."
in the sentence above, i can not decide which part does "which" refer to,
does it refer to pantheism or panentheism,and naturally, i can not decide which one does the phrase " but also transcends the universe" refer to.
what is the generic rule for this kind of expressions.
thank you for your help

[Casiopea]

Try replacing the comma (,) with the phrase "is a word":

EX: . . . panentheism is a word which holds that God is in everything.

Note that,
Panentheism
pan (all), en (in) and Theos (God)
"God is in all/everything" (God made it all and so God is in every part of it all)

Pantheism
pan (all) and Theos (God)
"God is all/everything"

As for the comma before "but", there's this rule that says there should be a comma before conjunctions (e.g., "but" and "so") only if they are not directly tied to the sentence's main idea. In other words, the comma is optional, but necessary if the meaning the sentence expresses warrants one; i.e., a sharp transition: "[it] holds that God is in everything, but (it) also (holds that God) transcends the Universe."

[ssendur]

thank you for the information, but i am still not sure about "but" , in that sentence above does it refer to pantheism which is the main idea?
and if there were no commas before but , would that refer to panentheism?
thank you

[Casiopea]

The phrase "but . . . " is part of the phrase "God is in everything". They go together. They both describe "Panentheism".

How's this?

"Panentheism holds that (1) God is in everything and (2) that God also transcends the Universe."

[ssendur]

ok i figure it out now and i see that there is a very small nuance between using comma before but and not. comma emphasizes the unlikeness between that two consequtive sentences. am i right:(

[Casiopea]

That's right.

All the best,