Topic Review
Buddhism and Theosophy
Theosophical teachings have borrowed some concepts and terms from Buddhism. Some theosophists like Helena Blavatsky, Helena Roerich and Henry Steel Olcott also became Buddhists. Henry Steel Olcott helped shape the design of the Buddhist flag. Tibetan Buddhism was popularised in the West at first mainly by Theosophists including Evans-Wentz and Alexandra David-Neel. Blavatsky sometimes compared Theosophy to Mahayana Buddhism. In The Key to Theosophy she writes:
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  • 19 Oct 2022
Biography
Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange
Réginald Marie Garrigou-Lagrange OP (French: [gaʁigu lagʁɑ̃ʒ]; 21 February 1877 – 15 February 1964) was a French Catholic theologian and Dominican friar. He has been noted as a leading neo-Thomist of the 20th century, along with Jacobus Ramírez, Édouard Hugon, and Martin Grabmann.[1] He taught at the Dominican Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelicum, in Rome from 19
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  • 28 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Biblical Apocrypha
The biblical apocrypha (from the Greek ἀπόκρυφος, apókruphos, meaning "hidden") denotes the collection of apocryphal ancient books found in some editions of Christian Bibles in a separate section between the Old and New Testaments or as an appendix after the New Testament. Some Christian Churches include some or all of the same texts within the body of their version of the Old Testament. Although the term apocrypha had been in use since the 5th century, it was in Luther's Bible of 1534 that the Apocrypha was first published as a separate intertestamental section. To this date, the Apocrypha is "included in the lectionaries of Anglican and Lutheran Churches." Moreover, the Revised Common Lectionary, in use by most mainline Protestants including Methodists and Moravians, lists readings from the Apocrypha in the liturgical kalendar, although alternate Old Testament scripture lessons are provided. The preface to the Apocrypha in the Geneva Bible explained that while these books "were not received by a common consent to be read and expounded publicly in the Church," and did not serve "to prove any point of Christian religion save in so much as they had the consent of the other scriptures called canonical to confirm the same," nonetheless, "as books proceeding from godly men they were received to be read for the advancement and furtherance of the knowledge of history and for the instruction of godly manners." Later, during the English Civil War, the Westminster Confession of 1647 excluded the Apocrypha from the canon and made no recommendation of the Apocrypha above "other human writings", and this attitude towards the Apocrypha is represented by the decision of the British and Foreign Bible Society in the early 19th century not to print it (see below). Today, "English Bibles with the Apocrypha are becoming more popular again" and they are often printed as intertestamental books. Most of the books of the Protestant Apocrypha are called deuterocanonical by Catholics per the Council of Trent and all of them are called anagignoskomena by the Eastern Orthodox per the Synod of Jerusalem. The Anglican Communion accepts "the Apocrypha for instruction in life and manners, but not for the establishment of doctrine (Article VI in the Thirty-Nine Articles)", and many "lectionary readings in The Book of Common Prayer are taken from the Apocrypha", with these lessons being "read in the same ways as those from the Old Testament". The first Methodist liturgical book, The Sunday Service of the Methodists, employs verses from the Apocrypha, such as in the Eucharistic liturgy. The Protestant Apocrypha contains three books (3 Esdras, 4 Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh) that are accepted by many Eastern Orthodox Churches and Oriental Orthodox Churches as canonical, but are regarded as non-canonical by the Catholic Church and are therefore not included in modern Catholic Bibles.
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  • 21 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Prophet, Seer, and Revelator
Prophet, seer, and revelator is an ecclesiastical title used in the Latter Day Saint movement. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is the largest denomination of the movement, and it currently applies the terms to the members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In the past, it has also been applied to the Presiding Patriarch of the church and the Assistant President of the Church. Other sects and denominations of the movement also use these terms.
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  • 25 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Humani Generis
Humani generis is a papal encyclical that Pope Pius XII promulgated on 12 August 1950 "concerning some false opinions threatening to undermine the foundations of Catholic Doctrine". Theological opinions and doctrines known as Nouvelle Théologie or neo-modernism and their consequences on the Church were its primary subject. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange (1877–1964), professor of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas Angelicum, is said to have been a dominant influence on the content of the encyclical.
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  • 27 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Protonotary Apostolic
In the Roman Catholic Church, protonotary apostolic (PA, Latin protonotarius apostolicus) is the title for a member of the highest non-episcopal college of prelates in the Roman Curia or, outside Rome, an honorary prelate on whom the Pope has conferred this title and its special privileges. An example is Prince Georg of Bavaria (1880–1943) who became in 1926 Protonotary by papal decree.
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  • 19 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Kaharingan
Kaharingan is a folk religion professed by many Dayaks in Kalimantan, Indonesia; particularly Central Kalimantan, although many have converted to Christianity or Islam. The word means life, and this belief system includes a concept of a supreme deity—although this may be the result of the need to conform to the idea of "One Supreme God" (Ketuhanan yang Maha Esa), which is the first principle of the Indonesian state ideology Pancasila. Hindu-Javanese influence can be seen in this religion, and the Indonesian government views it as a form of Hinduism because the Indonesian government recognizes only six official religions, and Kaharingan is not one of them. The main festival of Kaharingan is the Tiwah festival, which lasts for thirty days, and involves the sacrifice of many animals like buffaloes, cows, pigs and chickens, as offerings to the Supreme God. The supreme God in Kaharingan is called Ranying. In addition, the religion has ritual offerings called Yadnya, places of worship called Balai Basarah or Balai Kaharingan and a holy book called Panaturan, Talatah Basarah (group of prayers) and Tawar (a guide to seek God's help by giving rice).
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  • 02 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Intercession of the Theotokos
The Intercession of the Theotokos, or the Protection of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, is a feast of the Mother of God celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches. The feast celebrates the protection afforded the faithful through the intercessions of the Theotokos (lit. Mother of God, the Eastern title of the Virgin Mary). In the Slavic Orthodox Churches it is celebrated as the most important solemnity besides the Twelve Great Feasts and Pascha. The feast is commemorated in Eastern Orthodoxy as a whole, but by no means as fervently as it is in Russia , Belarus and Ukraine . It is not a part of the ritual traditions of, and therefore is not celebrated by, the Oriental Orthodox Churches or some jurisdictions that allow Western Rite Orthodoxy. Yet the feast is perfectly consistent with the theology of these sister churches. It is celebrated on October 14 (OS October 1). The Western Rite Communities of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) do celebrate this feast on their calendar.
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  • 24 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Modesto Manifesto
The Modesto Manifesto, was a set of standards for religious leaders that became notable as the signature practice among men in which they avoid spending time alone with people of the opposite sex to whom they are not married. It has additionally taken a more modern meaning as a display of integrity, a means of avoiding sexual temptation, to avoid any appearance of doing something considered morally objectionable, and to avoid being accused of sexual harassment or assault. Created for male evangelical Protestant leaders by Billy Graham, it has been popularly known as the "Billy Graham rule." Its adoption by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has had it additionally nicknamed the "Mike Pence rule". The Modesto Manifesto has found a prominent foothold on Wall Street and more generally in American finance for its ability to limit the "risk" of perceived sexual impropriety.
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  • 14 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Dera
A dera is a type of socio-religious organization in northern India . Jacob Copeman defines the deras as "monasteries or the extended residential sites of religious leaders; frequently just glossed as sect". Several deras started out as non-orthodox Sikh sects, and many of them are now centres of distinct non-Sikh religious movements. Many Deras have attracted a large number of outcast Dalits, who earlier embraced Sikhism to escape the Hindu casteism, but felt socially excluded by the Jat Sikh-dominated clerical establishment.
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  • 31 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Gathas
The Gathas (/ˈɡɑːtəz, -tɑːz/) are 17 Avestan hymns believed to have been composed by Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) himself. They form the core of the Zoroastrian liturgy (the Yasna). They are arranged in five different modes or metres. The Avestan term gāθā (𐬔𐬁𐬚𐬁 "hymn", but also "mode, metre") is cognate with Sanskrit gāthā (गाथा), both from the Proto-Indo-Iranian word *gaHtʰáH, from the root *gaH- "to sing".
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  • 24 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Ontological Addiction
Ontological Addiction theory (OAT) presently construed as “the maladaptive condition whereby an individual is addicted to the belief that they inherently exist” risks being caught in a performative contradiction. This is related to an implicit transcendental reductionist assumption operative in its conception. Any assimulation and application of skillful means to mental health within a western context will also seek to integrate the insights of the Western Enlightenment and the value of the individual. Critically this entails a developmental appreciation of the problematic perception of egoic individualism as distinct from the conception of an individuating ‘whole person’, with ontological import. Thus OAT could positively be supplemented, reconstructed and reconceived as Ontological Affirmation Theory. 
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  • 26 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Buddhist Paths to Liberation
The Buddhist tradition gives a wide variety of descriptions of the Buddhist path (magga) to liberation. The classical description is the Noble Eightfold Path, described in the Sutta Pitaka. This description is preceded by even older descriptions in the Sutta Pitaka, and elaborated in the various Buddhist traditions. A number of other paths have been developed and described within the various traditions.
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  • 04 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Mount Tai
Mount Tai (Chinese: 泰山; pinyin: Tài Shān) is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Tai'an, it is the highest point in Shandong province, China. The tallest peak is the Jade Emperor Peak (simplified Chinese: 玉皇顶; traditional Chinese: 玉皇頂; pinyin: Yùhuáng Dǐng), which is commonly reported as being 1,545 meters (5,069 ft) tall, but is officially described by the PRC government as 1,532.7 meters (5,029 ft) tall. Mount Tai is known as the eastern mountain of the Sacred Mountains of China. It is associated with sunrise, birth, and renewal, and is often regarded the foremost of the five. Mount Tai has been a place of worship for at least 3,000 years and served as one of the most important ceremonial centers of China during large portions of this period. Because of its sacred importance and dramatic landscape, Promulgated by UNESCO as a Mixed Cultural and Natural Heritage in 1987. And it meets 7 of the 10 evaluation standards of World Heritage, and is listed as the World Heritage that meets the most standards along with the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area in Australia. An Earthquake or thunderstorm occurred in Mount Tai in 1831 BC or 1652 BC, also known as Mount Tai earthquake. First seen in "Bamboo Annals". At present, it is recognized by most scholars as the first recorded earthquake in Chinese history.
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  • 10 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Q'uq'umatz
Q'uq'umatz (Mayan: [qʔuː qʔuːˈmats]) (alternatively Qucumatz, Gukumatz, Gucumatz, Gugumatz, Kucumatz etc.) was a deity of the Postclassic K'iche' Maya. Q'uq'umatz was the Feathered Serpent divinity of the Popol Vuh who created humanity together with the god Tepeu. Q'uq'umatz is considered to be the rough equivalent of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, and also of Kukulkan of the Yucatec Maya tradition. It is likely that the feathered serpent deity was borrowed from one of these two peoples and blended with other deities to provide the god Q'uq'umatz that the K'iche' worshipped. Q'uq'umatz may have had his origin in the Valley of Mexico; some scholars have equated the deity with the Aztec deity Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl, who was also a creator god. Q'uq'umatz may originally have been the same god as Tohil, the K'iche' sun god who also had attributes of the feathered serpent, but they later diverged and each deity came to have a separate priesthood. Q'uq'umatz was one of the gods who created the world in the Popul Vuh, the K'iche' creation epic. Q'uq'umatz, god of wind and rain, was closely associated with Tepeu, god of lightning and fire. Both of these deities were considered to be the mythical ancestors of the K'iche' nobility by direct male line. Q'uq'umatz carried the sun across the sky and down into the underworld and acted as a mediator between the various powers in the Maya cosmos. The deity was particularly associated with water, clouds, the wind and the sky. Kotuja', the K'iche' king who founded the city of Q'umarkaj, bore the name of the deity as a title and was likely to have been a former priest of the god. The priests of Q'uq'umatz at Q'umarkaj, the K'iche' capital, were drawn from the dominant Kaweq dynasty and acted as stewards in the city.
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  • 21 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Hamzanama
The Hamzanama (Persian/Urdu: حمزه نامه Hamzenâme, Epic of Hamza) or Dastan-e-Amir Hamza (Persian/Urdu: داستان امیر حمزه Dâstâne Amir Hamze, "Adventures of Amir Hamza") narrates the legendary exploits of Amir Hamza, or Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib, an uncle of Muhammad. Most of the stories are extremely fanciful, "a continuous series of romantic interludes, threatening events, narrow escapes, and violent acts". The Hamzanama chronicles the fantastic adventures of Hamza as he and his band of heroes fight against the enemies of Islam. The stories, from a long-established oral tradition, were written down in Persian, the language of the courts of Persianate societies, in multiple volumes presumably in the era of Mahmud of Ghazni. In the West, the work is best known for the enormous illustrated manuscript commissioned by the Mughal emperor Akbar about 1562. The text augmented the story, as traditionally told in dastan performances. The dastan (storytelling tradition) about Amir Hamza persists far and wide up to Bengal and Arakan, as the Mughal Empire controlled those territories. The longest version of the Hamzanama exists in Urdu and contains 46 volumes in approximately over 45,000 pages.
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  • 24 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Dhyāna Sutras
The Dhyāna sutras (Chinese: 禪経) or "meditation summaries" (Chinese: 禪要) are a group of early Buddhist meditation texts which are mostly based on the Yogacara[note 1] meditation teachings of the Sarvāstivāda school of Kashmir circa 1st-4th centuries CE. Most of the texts only survive in Chinese and were key works in the development of the Buddhist meditation practices of Chinese Buddhism.
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  • 09 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Passover (Christian Holiday)
Some Christians observe a form of the Jewish holiday of Passover. The practice is found among Assemblies of Yahweh, Messianic Jews, and some congregations of the Church of God (Seventh Day). It is often linked to the Christian holiday and festival of Easter. Often, only an abbreviated seder is celebrated to explain the meaning in a time-limited ceremony. The redemption from the bondage of sin through the sacrifice of Christ is celebrated, a parallel of the Jewish Passover's celebration of redemption from bondage in the land of Egypt. Christian Passover ceremonies are held on the evening corresponding to 14 Nisan (e.g. April 5, 2012) or 15 Nisan, depending whether the particular church uses a quartodeciman or quintodeciman application. In other cases, the holiday is observed according to the Jewish calendar on 15 Nisan, which is also used by Samaritans.
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  • 16 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Apostles
In Christian theology and ecclesiology, apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. In addition to Christian theology, Islamic theology also acknowledges the apostles in the Quran. During the life and ministry of Jesus in the 1st century AD, the apostles were his closest followers and became the primary teachers of the gospel message of Jesus. While Christian tradition often refers to the apostles as being twelve in number, different gospel writers give different names for the same individual, and apostles mentioned in one gospel are not mentioned in others. There is also an Eastern Christian tradition derived from the Gospel of Luke of there having been as many as 70 apostles during the time of Jesus' ministry. Paul is often referred to as an apostle, because he was directly taught and commissioned by a vision of Christ (Acts 9:4–9) during his journey to Damascus. The commissioning of the Twelve Apostles during the ministry of Jesus is recorded in the Synoptic Gospels. After his resurrection, Jesus sent eleven of them (minus Judas Iscariot, who by then had died) by the Great Commission to spread his teachings to all nations. This event has been called the Dispersion of the Apostles. In modern usage, missionaries under Pentecostal movements often refer to themselves as apostles, a practice which stems from the Latin equivalent of apostle, i.e. missio, the source of the English word missionary. For example, Saint Patrick (AD 373–463) was the "Apostle of Ireland", Saint Boniface (680–755) was the "Apostle to the Germans", Saint José de Anchieta (1534–1597) was the "Apostle of Brazil" and Saint Peter of Betancur (1626–1667) was the "Apostle of Guatemala". The period of early Christianity during the lifetimes of the apostles is called the Apostolic Age. During the 1st century AD, the apostles established churches throughout the territories of the Roman Empire and, according to tradition, through the Middle East, Africa, and India . Of the tombs of the apostles, all but two are claimed by premises of the Catholic Church, half of them located in the Diocese of Rome.
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  • 20 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Creationist Cosmologies
Creationist cosmologies are explanations of the origins and form of the universe in terms of the Genesis creation narrative (Genesis 1), according to which God created the cosmos in eight creative acts over the Hexameron, six days of the "creation week": Young Earth creationists interpret the six days as six 24-hour periods; old Earth creationists allow for millions or even billions of years within the "creation week". Both regard the Genesis story as history, although some old earth creationists do not conflate the creation of the Earth and the universe, (i.e. they do not hold that the two are equally old and were created together). Creationist cosmologies differ significantly from scientific cosmology. According to scientific consensus, creationism lacks empirical support, cannot be meaningfully tested, and is not science.
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  • 17 Oct 2022
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