“Windows To Spirituality”
Process Theology Process theology is a type of theology developed from Alfred North Whitehead‘s (1861–1947) process philosophy, most notably by Charles Hartshorne (1897–2000) and John B. Cobb (b. 1925). Process theology and process philosophy are collectively referred to as “process thought”. For both Whitehead and Hartshorne, it is an essential attribute of God to affect and be...
Missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to promote their faith or perform ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development. The word “mission” originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin missionem (nom. missio), meaning “act of sending” or mittere, meaning “to send”. The word was used...
Axial Age Axial Age (also Axis Age) is a term coined by German philosopher Karl Jaspers in the sense of a “pivotal age”, characterizing the period of ancient history from about the 8th to the 3rd century BCE. Karl Jaspers (1883 – 1969) pioneered the idea of the Axial Age. According to Jaspers, the period between 800 to 200 B.C.E....
Origin Of life The origin of life, in the physical, chemical, and biological sciences, is the process by which life originated on Earth from non-living matter. It addresses questions of how, when, and what, and includes a variety of hypotheses regarding this development. Abiogenesis (Greek a-bio-genesis, “non biological origins”) is, in its...
The Necessity Of Interfaith Dialogue This article covers the importance and necessity of interfaith dialogue. People are talking about peace, contentment, ecology, justice, tolerance, and dialogue. Unfortunately, the prevailing materialist worldview disturbs the balance between humanity and nature and within individuals. This harmony and peace only occurs when the material...
Myth Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives or stories that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. The main characters in myths are usually gods, demigods or supernatural humans. Stories of everyday human beings, although often of leaders of some type,...
Cataphatic Theology Cataphatic theology or kataphatic theology is a theology that uses “positive” terminology to describe or refer to the divine – specifically, God – i.e. terminology that describes or refers to what the divine is believed to be, in contrast to the “negative” terminology used in apophatic theology to indicate what it is believed the divine is not....
Anthropology Of Religion Anthropology of religion is the study of religion in relation to other social institutions, and the comparison of religious beliefs and practices across cultures. History In the early 12th century Abū Rayhān Bīrūnī (973–1048), wrote detailed comparative studies on the anthropology of religions and cultures across the...
Ragnarök In Norse mythology, Ragnarök is a series of events, including a great battle, foretold to lead to the death of a number of great figures (including the gods Odin, Thor, Týr, Freyr, Heimdallr, and Loki), natural disasters and the submersion of the world in water. After these events, the world...
Religion And Capital Punishment Many of the major world religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism, have taken varied positions on the morality of capital punishment and as such, they have historically impacted the way in which governments handle such punishment practices. Although the viewpoints of some religions have...
Kingship And Kingdom Of God The concept of the kingship of God appears in all Abrahamic religions, where in some cases the terms Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven are also used. The notion of God’s kingship goes back to the Hebrew Bible, which refers to “his kingdom” but does not include the term “Kingdom of...
Saint A saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness or likeness or closeness to God. However, the use of the term “saint” depends on the context and denomination. In Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Oriental Orthodox, and Lutheran doctrine, all of their faithful...
Dominion Theology Dominion theology (also known as dominionism) is a group of Christian political ideologies that seek to institute a nation governed by Christians based on their understandings of biblical law. Extents of rule and ways of achieving governing authority are varied. For example, dominion theology can include theonomy, but does not...
Pastoral Care Pastoral care is a postmodern term for an ancient model of emotional, social and spiritual support that can be found in all cultures and traditions. The term is considered inclusive of distinctly non-religious forms of support, as well as support for people from religious communities. Definition Modern context...
Comparative Mythology Comparative mythology is the comparison of myths from different cultures in an attempt to identify shared themes and characteristics. Comparative mythology has served a variety of academic purposes. For example, scholars have used the relationships between different myths to trace the development of religions and cultures, to propose common origins for myths from different...
Homosexuality And Religion The relationship between religion and homosexuality has varied greatly across time and place, within and between different religions and denominations, with regard to different forms of homosexuality and bisexuality. Generally speaking as well as by denomination, the present-day doctrines of the world’s major religions vary vastly in...
Gender And Religion This article covers the relationship between gender and religion. Sex differences in religion can be classified as either “internal” or “external”. Internal religious issues are studied from the perspective of a given religion and might include religious beliefs and practices about the roles and rights of men and...
European Wars Of Religion The European wars of religion were a series of Christian religious wars waged in Europe in the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries. Fought after the Protestant Reformation began in 1517, the wars disrupted the religious and political order in the Catholic countries of Europe. However, religion was only one of the causes, which also included revolts, territorial...
Indoctrination Indoctrination is the process of inculcating a person with ideas, attitudes, cognitive strategies or professional methodologies. Humans are a social animal inescapably shaped by cultural context, and thus some degree of indoctrination is implicit in the parent–child relationship, and has an essential function in forming stable communities of shared...
Religion And Children This article covers the relationship between religion and children. Children often acquire the religious views of their parents, although they may also be influenced by others they communicate with such as peers and teachers. Aspects of this subject include rites of passage, education and child psychology, as well as a discussion of the moral...
