“Windows To Spirituality”
![Seven Virtues by Francesco Pesellino and workshop, c. 1450 [Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama]](https://slife.org/wp-content/uploads/SAN_VOL2BMA_Repositorydb_photod5759u105575901961.102_01_t03_o2-520x147.jpg)
The Seven Catholic Virtues The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines virtue as “a habitual and firm disposition to do the good.” Traditionally, the seven Christian virtues, heavenly virtues (or The Seven Catholic Virtues) combine the four classical cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, and courage (or fortitude) with the three theological...
Development Of The Hebrew Bible Canon This article covers the Development Of The Hebrew Bible Canon. Rabbinic Judaism recognizes the 24 books of the Masoretic Text, commonly called the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible, as authoritative. Modern scholarship suggests that the most recently written are the books of Jonah, Lamentations, and Daniel,...
Luther’s Canon Luther’s canon is the biblical canon attributed to Martin Luther, which has influenced Protestants since the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. While the Lutheran Confessions specifically did not define a canon, it is widely regarded as the canon of the Lutheran Church. It differs from the 1546 Roman Catholic canon of the Council...
Mosaic Authorship Mosaic authorship is the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim tradition that Moses was the author of the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. The books do not name any author, as authorship was not considered important by the society that produced them, and it was only after Jews...
Biblical Manuscript A biblical manuscript is any handwritten copy of a portion of the text of the Bible. Biblical manuscripts vary in size from tiny scrolls containing individual verses of the Jewish scriptures (see Tefillin) to huge polyglot codices (multi-lingual books) containing both the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and the New Testament, as well as extracanonical works. The study of biblical manuscripts is important...
Biblical Archaeology Biblical archaeology involves the recovery and scientific investigation of the material remains of past cultures that can illuminate the periods and descriptions in the Bible, be they from the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) or from the New Testament, as well as the history and cosmogony of Judaism and...
Biblical Inerrancy Biblical inerrancy is the belief that the Bible “is without error or fault in all its teaching”; or, at least, that “Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact”. Some equate inerrancy with biblical infallibility; others do not. The belief is of particular significance within parts of evangelicalism,...
Development Of The New Testament Canon This article covers the Development of the New Testament canon. The canon of the New Testament is the set of books Christians regard as divinely inspired and constituting the New Testament of the Christian Bible. For most, it is an agreed-upon list of twenty-seven...
New Commandment The New Commandment is a term used in Christianity to describe Jesus’s commandment to “love one another” which, according to the Bible, was given as part of the final instructions to his disciples after the Last Supper had ended, and after Judas Iscariot had departed in John 13:30. Little children, yet a little while I am with...
The Bible And Violence This article covers The Bible And Violence. The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament contain narratives, poetry, and instruction describing, recording, encouraging, commanding, condemning, rewarding, punishing and regulating violent actions by God, individuals, groups, governments, and nation-states. Among the violent acts included are war, human sacrifice,...
Problem Of Hell The problem of Hell is an ethical problem in religion in which the existence of Hell for the punishment of souls is regarded as inconsistent with the notion of a just, moral, and omnibenevolent God. It derives from four key propositions: that Hell exists; that it is...
Apocalypticism Apocalypticism is the religious belief that there will be an apocalypse, a term which originally referred to a revelation, but now usually refers to the belief that the end of the world is imminent, even within one’s own lifetime. This belief is usually accompanied by the idea that civilization...
Primary Texts Of Kabbalah The primary texts of Kabbalah were allegedly once part of an ongoing oral tradition. The written texts are obscure and difficult for readers who are unfamiliar with Jewish spirituality which assumes extensive knowledge of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), Midrash (Jewish hermeneutic tradition) and Halakha (practical Jewish law). The Torah For kabbalists, ten utterances in Genesis with which...
Criticism Of The Bible Criticism of the Bible is an interdisciplinary field of study concerning the factual accuracy of the claims and the moral tenability of the commandments made in the Bible, the holy book of Christianity. Long considered to be the perfect word of God by devout Christians (and...
Asceticism In Judaism This article covers asceticism in Judaism. Asceticism is a term derived from the Greek verb ἀσκέω, meaning “to practise strenuously,” “to exercise.” Athletes were therefore said to go through ascetic training, and to be ascetics. Rigorous abstention from any form of self-indulgence which is based on the belief that renunciation of the...
Tzniut, Modesty in Judaism Tzniut describes both the character trait of modesty and discretion, as well as a group of Jewish laws pertaining to conduct. In modern times, the term has become more frequently used with regard to the rules of dress for women within Judaism. The concept is most important within Orthodox...
The Virtue of Meekness The Virtue of Meekness is more synonymous with empowerment than it is with weakness because, as St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, meekness makes a man self-possessed. My electric typewriter has a built-in dictionary of 60,000 words. Whenever my typing of any of these words is incorrect, an...
Meekness Meekness is an attribute of human nature and behavior. It has been defined several ways: righteous, humble, teachable, and patient under suffering, long suffering willing to follow gospel teachings; an attribute of a true disciple. Meekness has been contrasted with humility as referring to behavior towards others, whereas humility refers...
What Is Shyness? Shyness (also called diffidence) is the feeling of apprehension, lack of comfort, or awkwardness especially when a person is around other people. This commonly occurs in new situations or with unfamiliar people. Shyness can be a characteristic of people who have low self-esteem. Stronger forms of shyness are usually...
What Is Secular Morality? Secular morality is the aspect of philosophy that deals with morality outside of religious traditions. Modern examples include humanism, freethinking, and most versions of consequentialism. Additional philosophies with ancient roots include those such as skepticism and virtue ethics. Greg M. Epstein also states that, “much of...
