“Windows To Spirituality”
Principle Of Sufficient Reason The principle of sufficient reason states that everything must have a reason or a cause. The modern formulation of the principle is usually attributed to Gottfried Leibniz, although the idea was conceived of and utilized by various philosophers who preceded him, including Anaximander, Parmenides, Archimedes, Plato and Aristotle, Cicero, Avicenna, Thomas Aquinas, and Spinoza. Some philosophers have associated the...
What Is Compatibilism? Compatibilism is the belief that free will and determinism are mutually compatible and that it is possible to believe in both without being logically inconsistent. Compatibilists believe freedom can be present or absent in situations for reasons that have nothing to do with metaphysics. They define free will as freedom to act according to...
What Is Destiny? Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate, is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often used interchangeably, the words “fate” and “destiny” have distinct connotations. Traditional usage defines fate as a power or agency that...
Agency In LDS Church Agency (free agency or moral agency), in LDS Church, is “the privilege of choice which was introduced by God the Eternal Father to all of his spirit children in the premortal state”. Mortal life is viewed as a test of faith, where our choices are central to the plan of...
Predestination In Calvinism Predestination is a doctrine in Calvinism dealing with the question of the control that God exercises over the world. In the words of the Westminster Confession of Faith, God “freely and unchangeably ordained whatsoever comes to pass.” The second use of the word “predestination” applies this to the salvation, and refers...
What Is Corporate Election? The idea of corporate election expresses a Christian soteriological view that understands Christian salvation as based on “God choosing in Christ a people whom he destines to be holy and blameless in his sight”. Put another way, “Election is the corporate choice of the church ‘in Christ.’” Paul Marston and Roger Forster state that...
What Is Voluntarism In Philosophy? Voluntarism is “any metaphysical or psychological system that assigns to the will (voluntas) a more predominant role than that attributed to the intellect”, or, equivalently, “the doctrine that will is the basic factor, both in the universe and in human conduct”. This description has been applied to various...
The Book Of Life In Christianity and Judaism, the Book of Life (Sefer HaChaim; Biblíon tēs Zōēs) is the book in which God records the names of every person who is destined for Heaven or the World to Come. According to the Talmud it is open on Rosh Hashanah, as is...
How Should People Avoid Sins, Distractions, And Temptations? This article covers the answer to the question: “How Should People Avoid Sins, Distractions, and Temptations?“ The question refers to one of the greatest difficulties of modern life. Even the not-so-young, but of course especially the young live in a social environment...
What Is Sin? Sin is a term used to describe either an action that is prohibited in religious ethics or law, or a fallen state of being. The religious concept of sin is tied to a cluster of interrelated issues including atonement, theodicy, free will, ethics, guilt, and law. Although...
What Is Shirk? Literally, shirk means ascribing or the establishment of “partners” placed beside God. It is the vice that is opposed to the virtue of Tawhid (monotheism). Those who practice shirk are termed mushrikun. Mushrikun (pl. of mushrik) are those who practice shirk, which literally means “association” and refers to accepting other gods and divinities alongside the...
Fall Of Man The fall of man, the fall of Adam, or simply the Fall, is a term used in Christianity to describe the transition of the first man and woman from a state of innocent obedience to God to a state of guilty disobedience. The doctrine of the Fall comes from a biblical interpretation of Genesis, chapters 1-3. At first, Adam and...
Mortal Sin A mortal sin (Latin: peccatum mortale), in Catholic theology, is a gravely sinful act, which can lead to damnation if a person does not repent of the sin before death. A sin is considered to be “mortal” when its quality is such that it leads to a separation of that person...
Anantarika-karma Ānantarika-karma or ānantarika-kamma is a heinous crime that through karmic process brings immediate disaster. They are called ‘anantarika’ because they are ‘an’ (without) ‘antara’ (interval), in other words the results immediately come to fruition in the next life, i.e. the participant goes straight to hell. These are considered so heinous that Buddhists and...
Free Will In Theology Free will in theology is an important part of the debate on free will in general. Religions vary greatly in their response to the standard argument against free will and thus might appeal to any number of responses to the paradox of free will, the claim that omniscience and free will are...
Predestination In Islam This article covers the meaning of predestination in Islam. Qadar (قدر, qadar, meaning “power”), but translated variously as: “fate“, “divine fore-ordainment“, “predestination”, “Divine Decree“, “Preordainment”, is the concept of divine destiny in Islam. As God is all-knowing and all-powerful, everything that has happened and will happen in the universe—including sinful human behavior—is commanded...
What Is Theological Determinism? Theological determinism is a form of predeterminism which states that all events that happen are pre-ordained, or/and predestined to happen, by a God/gods, or that they are destined to occur given its omniscience. Theological determinism exists in a number of religions, including Jainism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It is also supported by proponents of Classical pantheism such as the Stoics and Baruch Spinoza....
What Is Predeterminism? Predeterminism is the idea that all events are determined in advance. Predeterminism is the philosophy that all events of history, past, present, and future, have been already decided or are already known (by God, fate, or some other force), including human actions. Predeterminism is closely related to determinism. The concept of...
What Is Predestination? Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the “paradox of free will“, whereby God‘s omniscience seems incompatible with human free will. In this usage, predestination can be...
What Is Determinism? Determinism is the philosophical view that all events are determined completely by previously existing causes. Deterministic theories throughout the history of philosophy have sprung from diverse and sometimes overlapping motives and considerations. The opposite of determinism is some kind of indeterminism (otherwise called nondeterminism) or randomness. Determinism is often contrasted with free will, although...
