“Windows To Spirituality”
Middle Eastern Religions
Middle Eastern religions originated in the Middle East; namely Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) and Iranic religions. Smaller minority religions, such as the Bahá’í Faith, Druze, Nusairism, Manichaeism, Sabianism, Bábism, Yazidism, Mandaeism, Gnosticism, Yarsanism, Samaritanism, Shabakism, Ishikism, Ali-Illahism, Alevism, Yazdânism and Zoroastrianism are also present in the Middle East.
The smaller, religiously unaffiliated population is forecast to grow 56%, from about 2 million to more than 3 million. Hindus, adherents of folk religions and Buddhists are expected to experience the greatest growth as a percentage of their modest 2010 counts, with each group more than doubling in size by 2050.
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The Blessed Trinity The gift of grace renders the Blessed Trinity present to the soul in a new manner: that is, as the object of direct, though inchoative, knowledge and as the object of experimental love. This article is divided as follows: Dogma of the Trinity Proof of the doctrine...
Pentecost The Christian holiday of Pentecost is celebrated on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) from Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:1–31). The holiday is also called “Whit Sunday”, “Whitsunday” or...
Disciple (Christianity) In Christianity, disciple primarily refers to a dedicated follower of Jesus. This term is found in the New Testament only in the Gospels and Acts. In the ancient world, a disciple is a follower or adherent of a teacher. Discipleship is not the same as being a student in the modern sense. A disciple in the ancient...
Liturgical Books Under this name we understand all the books, published by the authority of any church, that contain the text and directions for her official (liturgical) services. It is now the book that forms the standard by which one has to judge whether a certain service or prayer or ceremony is official and liturgical or...
Passover Prayers And Blessings We have collected some of the best Passover Prayers And Blessings for protection and support to use in our request to God. May these prayers for safety bring you comfort and peace of mind. May these prayers for strength encourage your spirit and strengthen your faith....
Easter Prayers We have collected some of the best Easter Prayers for protection and support to use in our request to God. May these prayers for safety bring you comfort and peace of mind. May these prayers for strength encourage your spirit and strengthen your faith. Easter, also called Pascha or...
Unfulfilled Christian Religious Predictions This article lists unfulfilled Christian religious predictions that failed to come about in the specified time frame, listed by religious groups. Adventism, Millerism Adventism has its roots in the teachings of Baptist preacher by the name of William Miller. He first predicted the Second Advent of Jesus...
Freedom Of Religion And Apostasy Freedom Of Religion And Apostasy: Addressing Tensions Between Ethical and Legal Perspectives in Islam. The way we understand the state, religion, individual, and how they are related to one another is much different now than how we conceptualized them in premodern times. Today, political alliances are...
Enjoining Good And Forbidding Wrong Enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong ( الأمر بالمَعْرُوف والنَهي عن المُنْكَر, al-amr bi-l-maʿrūf wa-n-nahy ʿani-l-munkar) are two important duties imposed by God in Islam, as revealed in the Quran and hadith. This expression is the base of the Islamic institution of hisbah (the individual or collective duty – depending...
Kafir Kafir (كافر kāfir; plural كَافِرُونَ kāfirūna, كفّار kuffār or كَفَرَة kafarah) is an Arabic term which, in the Islamic tradition, refers to a person who disbelieves in God as per Islam, or denies his authority, or rejects the tenets of Islam. The term is often translated as “infidel“, “pagan“, “rejector”,”denier”, “disbeliever”, “unbeliever”, “nonbeliever”. The term is used in different ways...
The Book Of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude dated by the text to the unspecified time of the Tower of Babel....
Catholic Epistles The catholic epistles (general epistles) are seven epistles of the New Testament. Listed in order of their appearance in the New Testament. Catholic Epistle, the name given to the Epistle of St. James, to that of St. Jude, to two Epistles of St. Peter and the first three of St. John,...
Luther Bible The Luther Bible (Lutherbibel) is a German language Bible translation from Hebrew and ancient Greek by Martin Luther. The New Testament was first published in September 1522 and the complete Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments with Apocrypha, in 1534. Luther continued to make improvements to the text until 1545. It was the first full translation of the Bible...
Moderation In Islam Moderation in Islam, or Moderate Islam, is one of the basic terms and deliberately used topics in Islam. In the sense of shariah, it is a central characteristic of Islamic creed and has been used from the very beginning of Islam. It refers to a justly balanced way of life,...
Ritual Washing In Judaism Ritual washing in Judaism (ablution in Judaism), takes two main forms. Tevilah (טְבִילָה) is a full body immersion in a mikveh, and netilat yadayim is the washing of the hands with a cup (see Handwashing in Judaism). References to ritual washing are found in the Hebrew Bible, and are elaborated in the Mishnah and Talmud. They...
Ablution In Christianity Ablution in Christianity is a prescribed washing of part or all of the body or possessions, such as clothing or ceremonial objects, with the intent of purification or dedication. In Christianity, both baptism and footwashing are forms of ablution. Prior to praying the canonical hours at seven fixed prayer times, Oriental Orthodox Christians wash their hands and...
Judaism And Sexuality This article covers Judaism And Sexuality. Jewish traditions across different eras and regions devote considerable attention to sexuality. Sexuality is the subject of many narratives and laws in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and rabbinic literature. In Judaism, sexuality is viewed as having both positive and negative potential, depending on the...
Nuns Origin and history The institution of nuns and sisters, who devote themselves in various religious orders to the practice of a life of perfection, dates from the first ages of the Church, and women may claim with a certain pride that they were the first to embrace the religious state for its own sake, without regard...
Spiritual Christianity Spiritual Christianity (духовное христианство) is the group of belief systems held by so-called folk Protestants (narodnye protestanty), including non-Eastern Orthodox indigenous faith tribes and new religious movements that emerged in the Russian Empire. Their origins are varied: some from Protestant movements imported from Europe to Russia by missionaries, travelers and workers; some due to disgust of...
Christmas Carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French origin. Christmas carols may be regarded as a subset of the broader category of Christmas music. History The first...
