“Windows To Spirituality”
Saint Michael In The Catholic Church This article covers the importance of Saint Michael in The Catholic Church. Saint Michael the Archangel is referenced in the Old Testament and has been part of Christian teachings since the earliest times. In Catholic writings and traditions, he acts as the defender of the Church...
Archangel Michael Saint Michael the Archangel (Mîkhā’ēl, ‘Who is like God?’; Mikhaḗl; Latin: Michahel; Mīkhā’īl) is an archangel in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran traditions, he is called “Saint Michael the Archangel” and “Saint Michael”. In the Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox religions, he is called “Saint...
Guardian Angel A guardian angel is an angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group, kingdom, or country. Belief in guardian angels can be traced throughout all antiquity. The concept of angels that guard over particular people and nationalities played a common role in Ancient Judaism, while a theory of tutelary angels and their...
Archangel An archangel is an angel of high rank. The word “archangel” itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of religious traditions. The English word archangel is derived from the Greek ἀρχάγγελος (arch- + angel, literally “chief angel” or “angel of origin”). It appears only twice...
Angel Of God Angel of God is a Roman Catholic traditional prayer for the intercession of the guardian angel, often taught to young children as the first prayer learned. It serves as a reminder of God’s love, and by enjoining the guardian angel to support the child in a loving way, the prayer echoes God’s abiding...
Angels In Judaism In Judaism, angels (מַלְאָךְ mal’akh, plural: מלאכים mal’akhim) are supernatural beings that appear throughout the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), rabbinic literature, apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, and traditional Jewish liturgy. They are categorized in different hierarchies and act as messengers of God, angelic envoys, or general agents of God. Etymology Hebrew mal’akh (מַלְאָךְ) is the...
Angels In Islam In Islam, angels (malāk; plural: mala’ikah) are celestial beings, created from a luminious origin by God to perform certain tasks he has given them. The angels from the angelic realm are subordinates in a hierarchy headed by one of the archangels in the highest heavens. Belief in angels is one of the...
Angel Angels are generally supernatural being found in various religions and mythologies. In Abrahamic religions, angels are often depicted as benevolent celestial beings who act as intermediaries between God or Heaven and humanity. Other roles of angels include protecting and guiding human beings and carrying out God’s tasks. Within Abrahamic religions,...
Demonology Demonology is the study of demons or beliefs about demons, especially the methods used to summon and control them. The original sense of “demon“, from the time of Homer onward, was a benevolent being, but in English, the name now holds connotations of malevolence. (To keep the distinction, when referring to the word...
Exotheology The term “exotheology” was coined in the 1960s or early 1970s for the examination of theological issues as they pertain to extraterrestrial intelligence. It is primarily concerned with either conjecture about possible theological beliefs that extraterrestrials might have, or how our own theologies have been or will be influenced by evidence of and/or...
What is Incantation? An incantation is a magical formula intended to trigger a magical effect on a person or objects. The formula can be spoken, sung or chanted. An incantation can also be performed during ceremonial rituals or prayers. Other words synonymous with incantation is spells, charms or to bewitch. In the world of magic,...
Extraterrestrial Intelligence Extraterrestrial intelligence (often abbreviated ETI) refers to hypothetical intelligent extraterrestrial life. The question of whether other inhabited worlds might exist has been debated since ancient times. The modern form of the concept emerged when the Copernican Revolution demonstrated that the Earth was a planet revolving around the Sun, and other...
Extraterrestrials In Fiction This article covers Extraterrestrials In Fiction. An extraterrestrial or alien is any extraterrestrial lifeform; a lifeform that did not originate on Earth. The word extraterrestrial means “outside Earth”. The first published use of extraterrestrial as a noun occurred in 1956, during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Extraterrestrials are a common...
Extraterrestrial Life Extraterrestrial life is the term used to define any form of life that may exist and originate outside the planet Earth, the only place in the universe known to support life. Its existence is currently hypothetical; there is no evidence of extraterrestrial life that has been widely accepted by the...
Jewish Principles Of Faith There is no established formulation of Jewish principles of faith that are recognized by all branches of Judaism. Central authority in Judaism is not vested in any one person or group – although the Sanhedrin, the supreme Jewish religious court, would fulfill this role when it...
What Is Faith? Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, one can define faith as confidence or trust in a particular system of religious belief. Religious people often think of faith as confidence based on a perceived degree of warrant, while others...
Magic And Religion Magical thinking in various forms is a cultural universal and an important aspect of religion. Magic is prevalent in all societies, regardless of whether they have organized religion or more general systems of animism or shamanism. Religion and magic became conceptually separated with the development of western monotheism, where the distinction arose between supernatural events...
Witchcraft Witchcraft or witchery broadly means the practice of and belief in magical skills and abilities exercised by solitary practitioners and groups. Witchcraft is a broad term that varies culturally and societally, and thus can be difficult to define with precision, and cross-cultural assumptions about the meaning or significance of the term should...
Magic (supernatural) Magic is a category in Western culture into which have been placed various beliefs and practices considered separate from both religion and science. Historically, the term often had pejorative connotations, with things labelled magical perceived as being primitive, foreign, and Other. The concept has been adopted by scholars in the study of religion and the social sciences, who have...
Argument From Free Will The argument from free will, also called the paradox of free will or theological fatalism, contends that omniscience and free will are incompatible and that any conception of God that incorporates both properties is therefore inherently contradictory. These arguments are deeply concerned with the implications of predestination. Omniscience and free will...
