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...
Fasting In Jainism This article covers fasting in Jainism. Fasting is very common among Jains and as a part of Jain festivals. Most Jains fast at special times, during festivals, and on holy days. Paryushan is the most prominent festival, lasting eight days in Svetambara Jain tradition and ten days...
First Satanic Church The First Satanic Church is an organization founded by Karla LaVey on October 31, 1997 in San Francisco, California, that is dedicated to LaVeyan Satanism as codified by Anton LaVey in The Satanic Bible. The church’s stated mission is to carry on the legacy of Anton LaVey through “the study of Satanism and the...
Prosperity Theology Prosperity theology (sometimes referred to as the prosperity gospel, the health and wealth gospel, the gospel of success, or seed faith) is a religious belief among some Christians, who hold that financial blessing and physical well-being are always the will of God for them, and that faith, positive speech, and donations...
Muhammad In The Quran The Quran enumerates little about the early life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or other biographic details, but it talks about his prophetic mission, his moral excellence, and theological issues regarding him. According to the Quran, Muhammad is the last in a chain of prophets sent by Allah (33:40). The...
Religion In Pre-Islamic Arabia Religion in Pre-Islamic Arabia included polytheism, Christianity, Judaism, and Iranian religions. Arabian polytheism, the dominant form of religion in pre-Islamic Arabia, was based on the veneration of deities and spirits. Worship was directed to various gods and goddesses, including Hubal and the goddesses al-Lāt, Al-‘Uzzá, and Manāt,...
Islamic Ethics Islamic ethics (أخلاق إسلامية), defined as “good character,” historically took shape gradually from the 7th century and was finally established by the 11th century. It was eventually shaped as a successful amalgamation of the Qur’anic teachings, the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, the precedents of Islamic jurists, the pre-Islamic...
Prayer For The Dead There are many different prayer for the dead in different religions and traditions. Praying can bring relief and comfort at a very difficult time. Wherever there is a belief in the continued existence of human personality through and after death, religion naturally concerns itself with the...
Eschatology? Eschatology is a part of theology concerned with the final events of history or the ultimate destiny of humanity. This concept is commonly referred to as the “end of the world” or “end times“. The word arises from the Greek ἔσχατος eschatos meaning “last” and -logy meaning “the study of”, and first appeared in English around 1844. The Oxford...
The Reality Of The Daily Prescribed Prayers Is A Kind Of Ascension The reality of the daily prescribed prayers, which is, in fact, a kind of Ascension, is like the soldier in the previous comparison being admitted to the royal Presence as a pure favor. So, too, your being admitted...
Totem Pole Totem poles are monumental carvings, a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually made from large trees, mostly western red cedar, by First Nations and indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest coast including northern Northwest Coast Haida,...
Ceremonial Pole A ceremonial pole symbolizes a variety of concepts in several different cultures. For example, in the Miao culture in Yunnan China. In The Evolution of the Idea of God, Grant Allen notes that Samoyeds of Siberia, and Damara of South Africa plant stakes at the graves of ancestors. According...
Imperial Cult An imperial cult is a form of state religion in which an emperor or a dynasty of emperors (or rulers of another title) are worshipped as demigods or deities. “Cult” here is used to mean “worship“, not in the modern pejorative sense. The cult may be one of personality in...
Evolutionary Psychology Of Religion The evolutionary psychology of religion is the study of religious belief using evolutionary psychology principles. It is one approach to the psychology of religion. As with all other organs and organ functions, the brain’s functional structure is argued to have a genetic basis and is therefore subject...
Ahriman Angra Mainyu (Avestan: Aŋra Mainiiu) is the Avestan-language name of Zoroastrianism‘s hypostasis of the “destructive spirit”. The Middle Persian equivalent is Ahriman (Angra Mainyu is Ahura Mazda’s adversary. In the Avesta In Zoroaster’s revelation Avestan angra mainyu “seems to have been an original conception of Zoroaster’s.” In the Gathas, which are the oldest texts of Zoroastrianism and are attributed to the...
Pentagram A pentagram is the shape of a five-pointed star. Pentagrams were used symbolically in ancient Greece and Babylonia, and are used today as a symbol of faith by many Wiccans, akin to the use of the cross by Christians and the Star of David by the Jews. The pentagram...
Temple Of Set The Temple of Set is an occult initiatory order founded in 1975. A new religious movement and form of Western esotericism, the Temple espouses a religion known as Setianism, whose practitioners are called Setians. This is sometimes identified as a form of Satanism, although this term is not often embraced by Setians and is contested by some academics....
Order Of Nine Angles The Order of Nine Angles (ONA; O9A) is a Satanic and Left-Hand Path occult group based in the United Kingdom, but with affiliated groups in various other parts of the world. Claiming to have been established in the 1960s, it rose to public recognition in the early 1980s,...
Lucifer Lucifer (“light-bringer”) was a Latin name for the planet Venus as the morning star in the ancient Roman era, and is often used for mythological and religious figures associated with the planet. Due to the unique movements and discontinuous appearances of Venus in the sky, mythology surrounding these figures often involved a...