“Windows To Spirituality”
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Spiritual Death In Christianity Spiritual death in Christianity is separation from God caused by sin. Protestantism The phrase spiritual death is not found in Protestant scriptures, and definitions of the concept thus vary among Protestant Christians. Spiritual death is distinct from physical death and the second death. According to the doctrine...
What Is Munkar And Nakir? Munkar and Nakir (منكر ونكير) (English translation: “The Denied and The Denier”) in Islamic eschatology, are angels who test the faith of the dead in their graves. Description These angels are described as having solid black eyes, having a shoulder span measured in miles, and...
Druze The Druze (درزي, darzī, durzī, דְּרוּזִי, drūzī, druzim) are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethno-religious group originating in Western Asia who self-identify as Al-Muwaḥḥidūn (lit., “The People of Monotheism”). Jethro of Midian is considered an ancestor of all people from the Mountain of Druze region, who revere him as their spiritual founder and chief prophet. It is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion based on the teachings of Hamza ibn-‘Ali ibn-Ahmad and the...
A’raf (Araf) A’raf (الأعراف) is the Muslim separator realm or borderland between heaven and hell, inhabited by the people who are evenly balanced in their sins and virtues. This place may be described as a kind of beneficent purgatory with privation but without suffering. The word is literally translated as...
Afterlife In Christianity This article covers Afterlife in Christianity. Mainstream Christianity professes belief in the Nicene Creed, and English versions of the Nicene Creed in current use include the phrase: “We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come”. Christian eschatology is concerned...
What Is Gehenna? Gehenna is a small valley in Jerusalem. In the Hebrew Bible, Gehenna was initially where some of the kings of Judah sacrificed their children by fire. Thereafter, it was deemed to be cursed (Jer. 7:31, 19:2–6). In rabbinic literature Gehenna is a destination of the wicked. This is...
Jannah or Paradise In Islam, Jannah (جنّة Jannah; plural: Jannat), lit. “garden”, is the final abode of the righteous and the Islamic believers, but also the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Hawwa dwelt. Firdaws (فردوس) is the literal term meaning paradise, but the Quran generally uses the term Jannah symbolically referring to paradise. However “Firdaus”...
Christian Conditionalism Christian Conditionalism (conditionalism or conditional immortality) in Christian theology, is a concept in which the gift of immortality is attached to (conditional upon) belief in Jesus Christ. This doctrine is based in part upon another theological argument, that the human soul is naturally mortal, immortality (“eternal life“) is therefore granted by God as...
Eternal Life In Christianity This article covers Eternal Life in Christianity. Eternal life traditionally refers to continued life after death, as outlined in Christian eschatology. The Apostles’ Creed testifies: “I believe… the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.” In this view, eternal life commences after the second coming of Jesus and the resurrection of the dead, although...
Purgatory: Rabbinic Views This article covers Rabbinic Views of Purgatory. An intermediate state through which souls are to pass in order to be purified from sin before they are admitted into the heavenly paradise. The belief in purgatory, fundamental with the Roman Catholic Church, is based by the Church authorities...
What Is Frashokereti? Frashokereti is the Avestan-language term for the Zoroastrian doctrine of a final renovation of the universe, when evil will be destroyed, and everything else will be then in perfect unity with God (Ahura Mazda). The doctrinal premises are (1) good will eventually prevail over evil; (2) creation was initially perfectly...
What Is Gilgul? In Kabbalistic esoteric mysticism, Gilgul/Gilgul neshamot/Gilgulei Ha Neshamot (גלגול הנשמות, גלגולים Gilgulim) is a concept of reincarnation. In Hebrew, the word gilgulmeans “cycle” or “wheel” and neshamot is the plural for “souls.” Souls are seen to “cycle” through “lives” or “incarnations”, being attached to different human bodies over time. Which...
What Is Akhirah? Akhirah (الآخرة) is an Islamic term referring to the afterlife. It is repeatedly referenced in chapters of the Quran concerning the Last Judgment, an important part of Islamic eschatology. Traditionally, it is considered to be one of the six main beliefs of Muslims, the others including: Tawhid (unitarianism), belief...
World To Come The world to come, age to come, and heaven on Earth are eschatological phrases reflecting the belief that the current world or current age is flawed or cursed and will be replaced in the future by a better world, age, or paradise. The concept is related to but...
Degrees Of Glory In Latter-day Saint theology and cosmology, there are three degrees of glory (alternatively, kingdoms of glory) which are the ultimate, eternal dwelling place for nearly all who lived on earth after they are resurrected from the spirit world. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that...
History Of The Latter Day Saint Movement The Latter Day Saint movement is a religious movement within Christianity that arose during the Second Great Awakening in the early 19th century and that led to the set of doctrines, practices, and cultures called Mormonism, and to the existence of numerous Latter Day Saint churches....
Sidrat al-Muntaha The Sidrat al-Muntaha (Sidraṫ al-Munṫahā,سِـدْرَة الْـمُـنْـتَـهَى; lit. “Lote-Tree of the Utmost Farthest Boundary”) is a large enigmatic lote tree or Sidr tree that marks the end of the seventh heaven, the boundary which no creation can pass, according to Islamic beliefs. During the Isra and Mi’raj, Muhammad, being...
Plan Of Salvation In Latter Day Saints The plan of salvation in Latter Day Saints (also known as the plan of happiness) is a plan that God created to save, redeem, and exalt humankind, through the atonement of Jesus Christ. The elements of this plan are drawn from various sources, including the...
Heaven In Judaism This article covers Heaven in Judaism. Shamayim (שָׁמַיִם), the Hebrew word for “heaven” (literally heavens, plural), denotes one component of the three-part biblical cosmology, the other elements being erets (the earth) and sheol (the underworld). Shamayim is the dwelling place of God and other heavenly beings, erets is the home of the living, and sheol is the realm of the dead, including, in post-Hebrew Bible literature...
Baptism For The Dead Baptism for the dead, vicarious baptism, or proxy baptism today commonly refers to the religious practice of baptizing a person on behalf of one who is dead—a living person receiving the rite on behalf of a deceased person. Baptism for the dead is best known as a doctrine of...
