“Windows To Spirituality”
Ontological Argument For The Existence of God An ontological argument is a philosophical argument for the existence of God that uses ontology. Many arguments fall under the category of the ontological, and they tend to involve arguments about the state of being or existing. More specifically, ontological arguments tend to start with a priori theory about...
Five Ways (Aquinas’ The Quinque Viae) The quinque viae (Latin “Five Ways“) (sometimes called “five proofs”) are five logical arguments regarding the existence of God summarized by the 13th-century Catholic philosopher and theologian St. Thomas Aquinas in his book Summa Theologica. They are: the argument from metaphysical motion; the argument from efficient causation; the argument from contingency; the argument from degrees of being; the argument from...
Existence Of God The existence of God is a subject of debate in the philosophy of religion and popular culture. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God can be categorized as metaphysical, logical, empirical, or subjective. In philosophical terms, the question of the existence of God...
Anthropomorphism Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to abstract concepts such as nations, emotions, and natural forces, such as seasons and weather....
Theism Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of the Supreme Being or deities. In common parlance, or when contrasted with deism, the term often describes the classical conception of God that is found in monotheism (also referred to as classical theism) – or gods found in polytheistic...
What Is Panentheism? Panentheism (meaning “all-in-God”) is the belief that the divine pervades and interpenetrates every part of the universe and also extends beyond space and time. The term was coined by the German philosopher Karl Krause in 1828 to distinguish the ideas of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) and...
What Is Pantheism? Pantheism is the belief that reality is identical with divinity, or that all-things compose an all-encompassing, immanent god. Pantheist belief does not recognize a distinct personal anthropomorphic god and instead characterizes a broad range of doctrines differing in forms of relationships between reality and divinity. Pantheistic concepts date back thousands of years, and pantheistic elements...
What is Henotheism? Henotheism (meaning ‘one god‘) is the worship of a single god while not denying the existence or possible existence of other deities. Friedrich Schelling (1775–1854) coined the word, and Friedrich Welcker (1784–1868) used it to depict primitive monotheism among ancient Greeks. Max Müller (1823–1900), a German philologist and orientalist, brought the term into wider usage in his...
Gitche Manitou Gitche Manitou (Gitchi Manitou, Kitchi Manitou, etc.) means “Great Spirit” in several Algonquian languages. Christian missionaries have translated God as Gitche Manitou in scriptures and prayers in the Algonquian languages. Manitou is a common Algonquian term for spirit, mystery, or deity. Native American Churches in Mexico, United States and Canada often use this...
Hellenistic Religion Hellenistic religion is the late form of Ancient Greek religion, covering any of the various systems of beliefs and practices of the people who lived under the influence of ancient Greek culture during the Hellenistic period and the Roman Empire (c. 300 BCE to 300 CE). There was much continuity in Hellenistic religion: the Greek gods continued to...
Abrahamic Religions The Abrahamic religions, also referred to collectively as Abrahamism, are a group of Semitic-originated religious communities of faith that claim descent from the Judaism of the ancient Israelites and the worship of the God of Abraham. The Abrahamic religions are monotheistic, with the term deriving from the patriarch Abraham...
Monotheism Monotheism is defined as the belief in the existence of only one god that created the world, is all-powerful and intervenes in the world. A broader definition of monotheism is the belief in one god. A distinction may be made between exclusive monotheism, and both inclusive monotheism and pluriform (panentheistic) monotheism which, while...
Conceptions Of God Conceptions of God in monotheist, pantheist, and panentheist religions – or of the supreme deity in henotheistic religions – can extend to various levels of abstraction: as a powerful, human-like, supernatural being, or as the deification of an esoteric, mystical or philosophical entity or category; as the “Ultimate“, the summum bonum, the...
What Are The Names of God? A number of traditions have lists of many names of God, many of which enumerate the various qualities of a Supreme Being. The English word “God” (and its equivalent in other languages) is used by multiple religions as a noun or name to refer to different deities, or...
God As A Word The English word god continues the Old English god (guþ, gudis in Gothic, guð in Old Norse, god in Frisian and Dutch, and Gott in modern German), which is derived from Proto-Germanic *ǥuđán. See also: Names of God Etymology The Proto-Germanic meaning of ǥuđán and its etymology is uncertain. It is generally agreed that it derives from a Proto-Indo-European neuter passive perfect participle ǵʰu-tó-m. This is similar to Persian word for God, Khudan. This...
Islamic Calendar The Islamic calendar, Muslim calendar, or Hijri calendar (التقويم الهجري at-taqwīm al-hijrī) is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to determine the proper days of Islamic holidays and rituals, such as the annual period of fasting and the proper...
Suhoor or Suhur Suhoor or Suhur (سحور, “of the dawn”, “pre-dawn meal”; is an Islamic term referring to the meal consumed early in the morning by Muslims before fasting, sawm, before dawn during or outside the Islamic month of Ramadan. It is usually done around 4:00 AM. The meal is eaten before fajr prayer. Also,...
Iftar Iftar (or Fatoor) (إفطار ʾifṭār ‘break fast’) is the evening meal with which Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset. Muslims break their fast at the time of the call to prayer for the evening prayer. This is their second meal of the day; the daily fast during Ramadan...
Tarawih Tarawih (تراويح) or taraweeh refers to extra prayers performed by Sunni Muslims at night in the Islamic Every Third Part Of Night during Ramadan. Name variations Acehnese: Seumayang Teurawèh Albanian: Namazi i teravive Arabic: صلاة التراويح, translit.Ṣalāt al-Tarāwīḥ Azerbaijani: Təravih namazı Bengali: তারাবীহ, translit.Tarabeeh(taraweeh) Indonesian, Malay, Javanese: Salat tarawih, Solat tarawih Kazakh: Тарауих намазы Persian, Dari: نماز تراويح Serbo-Croatian, Bosnian: Teravih-namaz; Teravija Somali: Salaada Taraawiixda...
Laylat al-Qadr Laylat al-Qadr (لیلة القدر) or Qadr Night, variously rendered in English as the Night of Decree, Night of Power, Night of Value, Night of Destiny, or Night of Measures, is an Islamic belief the night when the first verses of the Quran were revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
