“Windows To Spirituality”
The following subcategories are a part of faith & belief. Please click and have more information about faith in these subjects.
Angel Angels are generally supernatural being found in various religions and mythologies. In Abrahamic religions, angels are often depicted as benevolent celestial beings who act as intermediaries between God or Heaven and humanity. Other roles of angels include protecting and guiding human beings and carrying out God’s tasks. Within Abrahamic religions,...
Demonology Demonology is the study of demons or beliefs about demons, especially the methods used to summon and control them. The original sense of “demon“, from the time of Homer onward, was a benevolent being, but in English, the name now holds connotations of malevolence. (To keep the distinction, when referring to the word...
Exotheology The term “exotheology” was coined in the 1960s or early 1970s for the examination of theological issues as they pertain to extraterrestrial intelligence. It is primarily concerned with either conjecture about possible theological beliefs that extraterrestrials might have, or how our own theologies have been or will be influenced by evidence of and/or...
Extraterrestrial Intelligence Extraterrestrial intelligence (often abbreviated ETI) refers to hypothetical intelligent extraterrestrial life. The question of whether other inhabited worlds might exist has been debated since ancient times. The modern form of the concept emerged when the Copernican Revolution demonstrated that the Earth was a planet revolving around the Sun, and other...
Extraterrestrials In Fiction This article covers Extraterrestrials In Fiction. An extraterrestrial or alien is any extraterrestrial lifeform; a lifeform that did not originate on Earth. The word extraterrestrial means “outside Earth”. The first published use of extraterrestrial as a noun occurred in 1956, during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Extraterrestrials are a common...
Extraterrestrial Life Extraterrestrial life is the term used to define any form of life that may exist and originate outside the planet Earth, the only place in the universe known to support life. Its existence is currently hypothetical; there is no evidence of extraterrestrial life that has been widely accepted by the...
Jewish Principles Of Faith There is no established formulation of Jewish principles of faith that are recognized by all branches of Judaism. Central authority in Judaism is not vested in any one person or group – although the Sanhedrin, the supreme Jewish religious court, would fulfill this role when it...
What Is Faith? Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, one can define faith as confidence or trust in a particular system of religious belief. Religious people often think of faith as confidence based on a perceived degree of warrant, while others...
Magic (supernatural) Magic is a category in Western culture into which have been placed various beliefs and practices considered separate from both religion and science. Historically, the term often had pejorative connotations, with things labelled magical perceived as being primitive, foreign, and Other. The concept has been adopted by scholars in the study of religion and the social sciences, who have...
Argument From Free Will The argument from free will, also called the paradox of free will or theological fatalism, contends that omniscience and free will are incompatible and that any conception of God that incorporates both properties is therefore inherently contradictory. These arguments are deeply concerned with the implications of predestination. Omniscience and free will...
What Is Compatibilism? Compatibilism is the belief that free will and determinism are mutually compatible and that it is possible to believe in both without being logically inconsistent. Compatibilists believe freedom can be present or absent in situations for reasons that have nothing to do with metaphysics. They define free will as freedom to act according to...
What Is Destiny? Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate, is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often used interchangeably, the words “fate” and “destiny” have distinct connotations. Traditional usage defines fate as a power or agency that...
Agency In LDS Church Agency (free agency or moral agency), in LDS Church, is “the privilege of choice which was introduced by God the Eternal Father to all of his spirit children in the premortal state”. Mortal life is viewed as a test of faith, where our choices are central to the plan of...
Predestination In Calvinism Predestination is a doctrine in Calvinism dealing with the question of the control that God exercises over the world. In the words of the Westminster Confession of Faith, God “freely and unchangeably ordained whatsoever comes to pass.” The second use of the word “predestination” applies this to the salvation, and refers...
What Is Corporate Election? The idea of corporate election expresses a Christian soteriological view that understands Christian salvation as based on “God choosing in Christ a people whom he destines to be holy and blameless in his sight”. Put another way, “Election is the corporate choice of the church ‘in Christ.’” Paul Marston and Roger Forster state that...
How Should People Avoid Sins, Distractions, And Temptations? This article covers the answer to the question: “How Should People Avoid Sins, Distractions, and Temptations?“ The question refers to one of the greatest difficulties of modern life. Even the not-so-young, but of course especially the young live in a social environment...
What Is Sin? Sin is a term used to describe either an action that is prohibited in religious ethics or law, or a fallen state of being. The religious concept of sin is tied to a cluster of interrelated issues including atonement, theodicy, free will, ethics, guilt, and law. Although...
What Is Shirk? Literally, shirk means ascribing or the establishment of “partners” placed beside God. It is the vice that is opposed to the virtue of Tawhid (monotheism). Those who practice shirk are termed mushrikun. Mushrikun (pl. of mushrik) are those who practice shirk, which literally means “association” and refers to accepting other gods and divinities alongside the...
Fall Of Man The fall of man, the fall of Adam, or simply the Fall, is a term used in Christianity to describe the transition of the first man and woman from a state of innocent obedience to God to a state of guilty disobedience. The doctrine of the Fall comes from a biblical interpretation of Genesis, chapters 1-3. At first, Adam and...
Mortal Sin A mortal sin (Latin: peccatum mortale), in Catholic theology, is a gravely sinful act, which can lead to damnation if a person does not repent of the sin before death. A sin is considered to be “mortal” when its quality is such that it leads to a separation of that person...
