“Windows To Spirituality”
Religion
Religion is a set of common beliefs and practices pertaining to the supernatural (and its relationship to humanity and the cosmos), which are often codified into prayer, ritual, scriptures, and religious law. These beliefs and practices are typically defined in light of a shared canonical vocabulary of venerable traditions, writings, history, and mythology.
Religion is a cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, or spiritual elements. However, there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion.
As religious traditions are often deeply embedded into specific cultural contexts, these traditions often contain moral codes that outline the relationships that a believer is expected to cultivate with respect to themselves, other believers, outsiders, and the supernatural world. Finally, a common element of many religious traditions is the division of the world in two comprehensive domains, one sacred, the other profane. In this context, religious thought and practice are aimed at delineating and reifying these two disparate realms through personal effort and/or communal ritual.
Intelligent Design Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as “an evidence-based scientific theory about life’s origins”. Proponents claim that “certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural...
Comparative Religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions concerned with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices of the world’s religions. In general, the comparative study of religion yields a deeper understanding of the fundamental philosophical concerns of religion such as ethics, metaphysics, and the nature and...
Religion And Science By Bertrand Russell This article covers the full text of the book called: Religion And Science By Bertrand Russell. Chapter I: Grounds of Conflict Religion and Science are two aspects of social life, of which the former has been important as far back as we know anything...
Iconoclasm Iconoclasm (eikṓn, ‘figure, icon’ + kláō, ‘to break’) is the social belief in the importance of the destruction of icons and other images or monuments, most frequently for religious or political reasons. People who engage in or support iconoclasm are called iconoclasts, a term that has come to be figuratively applied to...
Covenant (religion) A covenant in its most general sense and historical sense is a solemn promise to engage in or refrain from a specified action. A covenant is a type of agreement analogous to a contractual condition. The covenantor makes a promise to a covenantee to do (affirmative covenant) or...
Religious Nationalism Religious nationalism is the relationship of nationalism to a particular religious belief, dogma, or affiliation. This relationship can be broken down into two aspects: the politicisation of religion and the influence of religion on politics. In the former aspect, a shared religion can be seen to contribute to a sense of national unity, a common bond among...
Melanesian Mythology Melanesian mythology refers to the folklore, myths, and religions of Melanesia, a region in Southwest Oceania that encompasses the archipelagos of New Guinea (including Indonesian New Guinea and Papua New Guinea), the Torres Strait Islands, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Fiji. The various mythologies consist primarily of the traditions of oral literature in the different populations of Melanesia. More recent aspects include the cargo cults born in the 20th century during the Pacific War. Mythological...
Turkic Mythology Turkic mythology contains myths and legends told by the Turkic people. It features Tengrist and Shamanist strata of belief along with many other social and cultural constructs related to the nomadic and warrior way of life of Turkic and Mongol peoples in ancient times. Turkic mythology shares numerous points in common with Mongol mythology. Turkic mythology has also been influenced...
Bantu Mythology Bantu mythology is the system of beliefs and legends of the Bantu people of Africa. Although Bantu peoples account for several hundred different ethnic groups, there is a high degree of homogeneity in Bantu cultures and customs, just as in Bantu languages. The phrase “Bantu mythology” usually refers to the common, recurring themes that...
Apologetics Apologetics (“speaking in defense”) is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and recommended their faith to outsiders were called Christian apologists. In 21st-century usage, apologetics is often identified with debates over religion and theology. Etymology The term apologetics derives from the Ancient Greek word apologia (ἀπολογία). In the Classical Greek...
Religious Discrimination Religious discrimination is treating a person or group differently because of the particular beliefs which they hold about a religion. This includes instances when adherents of different religions, denominations, or non-religions are treated unequally due to their particular beliefs, either by the law or in institutional settings, such as employment or housing. Religious discrimination is related...
Outline Of Theology The following outline of theology is provided as an overview and topical guide. Theology is the critical study of the nature of the divine. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities, seminaries, and schools of divinity. Theology Outline of theology History of theology The Theology...
The Horizon Of Science This article covers the relationship between science and religion, called the horizon of science. Atoms and molecules function at the foundation of the entire visible universe and its emerging characteristics. Our nutritional needs of sugar, fats and proteins are made up by atoms merging. For example, chlorophyll...
World Wide Corruption By Scientific Materialism Scientific materialism, though it does not theoretically deny the existence of truths outside the visible world, holds that anything immaterial cannot be known, not that it is not known to us. Materialism was born in the West in the middle of the 18th century....
Science And Faith Science and Faith: Is It Possible for a Scientist to Believe? An Overview of the Western Tradition. The relationship between science and religion can hardly be described as a good friendship. Indeed, as part of our modern inheritance, the unspoken notion that science and religion, like reason...
Science And Religion In A World Of Religious Pluralism This article covers Science and Religion in a World of Religious Pluralism. We live in a time of deep division: Will the coming years reveal an increasing number of partnerships between science and religion, or will we see a battle to...
Religion And Science As One In this article, The writer sees religion and science as one. “On some evenings we would attend faculty parties,” she said. “It was a heady atmosphere, as we spent time with the world’s intellectual elite. There were scientists of all stripes, mathematicians and physicists, some...
Religion And Science I The difficulty in approaching the question of the relation between Religion and Science is that its elucidation requires that we have in our minds some clear idea of what we mean by either of the terms, ‘religion‘ and ‘science.’ Also I wish to speak in the...
Einstein As A Believer This article covers Einstein as a believer. American Physical Society devoted the year 2005 to Albert Einstein in honor of his discovery of the relativity theory in 1905. Many activities and essays are being prepared to recognize his major contributions to science. One aspect of Einstein...
The Cosmos Perspectives From Science And Religion This interview was conducted by Mustafa Tabanli with Rev. Dr. Polkinghorne for Ebru TV for the Emmy Award winning television series Matter and Beyond. These are the complementary stories of the cosmos perspectives from science and religion. Where do we come from, why...
