“Windows To Spirituality”
Ancestral Sin Ancestral sin, generational sin, or ancestral fault, is the doctrine that individuals inherit the judgement for the sin of their ancestors. It exists primarily as a concept in Mediterranean religions (e.g. in Christian hamartiology); generational sin is referenced in the Bible in Exodus 20:5. The classical scholar Martin West draws a distinction between an ancestral curse and inherited...
Theology Of Martin Luther The theology of Martin Luther was instrumental in influencing the Protestant Reformation, specifically topics dealing with justification by faith, the relationship between the Law and Gospel (also an instrumental component of Reformed theology), and various other theological ideas. Although Luther never wrote a systematic theology or a “summa” in the style of St. Thomas...
Human Fall Human Fall or The Fall of Man, also called simply The Fall, is a theological doctrine describing the change of humankind’s state from sinlessness to depravity. In Christian tradition, the Fall took place when Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit and were expelled from the Garden of Eden, as recorded...
Justification In Christian Theology Justification in Christian theology is God’s righteous act of removing the condemnation, guilt, and penalty of sin, by grace, while, at the same time, declaring the unrighteous to be righteous, through faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice. The means of justification is an area of significant difference amongst the diverse theories of atonement defended within...
Justification Justification (Latin justificatio; Greek dikaiosis) is a biblio-ecclesiastical term; which denotes the transforming of the sinner from the state of unrighteousness to the state of holiness and sonship of God. Considered as an act (actus justificationis), justification is the work of God alone, presupposing, however, on the part of the adult the process of justification...
The Incarnation The Incarnation is the mystery and the dogma of the Word made Flesh. ln this technical sense the word incarnation was adopted, during the twelfth century, from the Norman-French, which in turn had taken the word over from the Latin incarnatio. The Latin Fathers, from the fourth century, make common use of the word; so Saints Jerome,...
Occasions Of Sin Occasions of sin are external circumstances–whether of things or persons–which either because of their special nature or because of the frailty common to humanity or peculiar to some individual, incite or entice one to sin. It is important to remember that there is a wide difference between the cause and...
What Is Contrition? This article covers the meaning of contrition (Latin contritio–a breaking of something hardened). In Holy Writ nothing is more common than exhortations to repentance: “I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Ezekiel 33:11); “Except you do penance you shall...
Intention Intentions are mental states in which the agent commits themselves to a course of action. Having the plan to visit the zoo tomorrow is an example of an intention. The action plan is the content of the intention while the commitment is the attitude towards this content. Other mental states can have action plans as their...
Pre-existence Pre-existence, preexistence, beforelife, or premortal existence, is the belief that each individual human soul existed before mortal conception, and at some point before birth enters or is placed into the body. can encompass either the belief that the soul came into existence at some time prior to conception or the belief that the soul...
Fatalism Fatalism is a family of related philosophical doctrines that stress the subjugation of all events or actions to fate or destiny, and is commonly associated with the consequent attitude of resignation in the face of future events which are thought to be inevitable. Definition The term “fatalism” can refer to any of the...
Fate Fate (Latin fatum, from fari, to tell or predict) is almost redundant in the vocabulary of a Catholic as such, for its meaning as the prime cause of events is better expressed by the term Divine Providence, while, as a constant force at work in the physical universe, it is nothing more nor less than natural law. Hence St. Augustine says (City...
What Is Fate? Fate or Destiny refers to a predetermined course of events, which may be conceived as affecting the world in general or a specific individual. It is a concept based on the belief that there is a fixed order to the universe. That order can be seen as the product of...
Free Will Explained The question of free will, moral liberty, or the liberum arbitrium of the Schoolmen, ranks amongst the three or four most important philosophical problems of all time. It ramifies into ethics, theology, metaphysics, and psychology. The view adopted in response to it will determine a man’s position in regard to the most momentous issues that...
Telepathy Telepathy (feeling, perception, passion, affliction, experience) is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person’s mind to another’s without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society...
Doomsday Cult A doomsday cult is a cult that believes in apocalypticism and millenarianism, including both those that predict disaster and those that attempt to destroy the entire universe. Sociologist John Lofland coined the term doomsday cult in his 1966 study of a group of members of the Unification Church of the United States: Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of...
Are We Alone? Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life This article is an extensive review of Paul Davies’ book called “Are We Alone? Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life“. It is a critical analysis of the material that describes, summarizes, and critiques the ideas presented Project Phoenix, launched...
Archangel Uriel Archangel Uriel or Auriel (אוּרִיאֵל ʾŪrīʾēl, “Flame of God” or “El/God is my flame”; Greek: Οὐριήλ Ouriìl; Coptic: Ouriyl; Italian: Uriele; Geʽez and Amharic: ዑራኤል ʿUraʾēl or ዑርኤል ʿUriʾēl) is the name of one of the archangels who is mentioned in the post-exilic rabbinic tradition and in certain Christian traditions. He is well known in the Russian Orthodox tradition (which considers him to be...
Angels are … The word angel arrives from Latin angelus; Greek aggelos; the Hebrew mal’āk̠ ‘ĕlōhîm (“one going” or “one sent”; messenger). Angels are generally supernatural being found in various religions and mythologies. It is used in Hebrew to denote indifferently either a divine or human messenger. The Septuagint renders it by aggelos which also has both...
Who Is An Angel? An angel (Greek: ἄγγελος, ángelos, meaning “messenger”) is a supernatural and ethereal being found in many religions, whose duty is to serve and assist God. Angels typically act as messengers but can perform other tasks such as keeping records of humans’ actions, acting as guardians, announcing God’s decrees,...
