Spirituality
Get flash to fully experience Pearltrees
Life Quality Project
The term spirituality lacks a definitive definition, although social scientists have defined spirituality as the search for "the sacred ," where "the sacred" is broadly defined as that which is set apart from the ordinary and worthy of veneration. The use of the term "spirituality" has changed throughout the ages. In modern times spirituality is often separated from religion, and connotes a blend of humanistic psychology with mystical and esoteric traditions and eastern religions aimed at personal well-being and personal development. The notion of "spiritual experience" plays an important role in modern spirituality, but has a relatively recent origin.
Spirituality
Religious activities around the world Religion is an organized collection of belief systems , cultural systems , and world views that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values . [ note 1 ] Many religions have narratives , symbols , traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to explain the origin of life or the Universe . From their ideas about the cosmos and human nature , they tend to derive morality , ethics , religious laws or a preferred lifestyle . According to some estimates, there are roughly 4,200 religions in the world. [ 1 ] Many religions may have organized behaviors , clergy , a definition of what constitutes adherence or membership, holy places , and scriptures .
Religion
Islam ( English pron.: / ˈ ɪ s l ɑː m / ; [ note 1 ] Arabic : الإسلام al-ʾislām IPA: [ælʔɪsˈlæːm] ( listen ) [ note 2 ] ) is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion articulated by the Qur'an , a book considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of God ( Arabic : الله Allāh ) and by the teachings and normative example (called the Sunnah and composed of Hadith ) of Muhammad , considered by them to be the last prophet of God . An adherent of Islam is called a Muslim .
Islam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_Israel
Map showing an interpretation of the borders of the Land of Israel, based on scriptural verses found in Numbers 34 and Ezekiel 47. The Land of Israel ( Hebrew : אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל ʼÉreṣ Yiśrāʼēl , Eretz Yisrael ) is a name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant (also known in English as Land of Canaan , Palestine , the Promised Land , or simply the Holy Land ). The definition of the limits of this territory varies between biblical passages, specifically Genesis 15, Exodus 23, Numbers 34 and Ezekiel 47.
History of Zionism
Zionism as an organized movement is generally considered to have been fathered by Theodor Herzl in 1897; however the history of Zionism began earlier and related to Judaism and Jewish history . The Hovevei Zion , or the Lovers of Zion , were responsible for the creation of 20 new Jewish settlements in Palestine between 1870 and 1897. [ 1 ] Before the Holocaust the movement's central aims were the creation of a Jewish National Home and cultural centre in Palestine by facilitating Jewish migration . After the Holocaust, the movement focussed on creation of a " Jewish state " (usually defined as a secular state with a Jewish majority), attaining its goal in 1948 with the creation of Israel .Zionism
Flag of Israel, the flag was adopted as the symbol of the Zionist Movement in the 1890s. Zionism ( Hebrew : ציונות , Tsiyonut ) is a form of nationalism of Jews and Jewish culture that supports a Jewish nation state in the territory defined as the Land of Israel . Zionism supports Jews upholding their Jewish identity, opposes the assimilation of Jews into other societies and has advocated the return of Jews to Israel as a means for Jews to be a majority in their own nation, and to be liberated from antisemitic discrimination, exclusion, and persecution that had historically occurred in the diaspora .
The Return to Zion ( Hebrew : שיבת ציון , Shivat Tzion , or שבי ציון , Shavei Tzion , lit. Zion Returnees ) is a term that refers to the event written in the biblical books of Ezra-Nehemiah in which the Jews returned to the Land of Israel from the Babylonian exile following the decree by the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great , the conqueror of the Babylonian empire in 538 BC, also known as Cyrus's Declaration . Although the term was first coined after the destruction of the Second Temple (mentioned in the Song of Degrees [ 1 ] ), it was attributed to the event of the return of the Jews from the Babylonian exile to the Land of Israel after the destruction of the First Temple , following the decree of Cyrus the Great. The biblical meaning of "The Return to Zion", Aliyah , was later on borrowed from the ancient event and was adopted as the definition of all the immigrations of Jews to the Land of Israel and the State of Israel in modern times.
The Return to Zion
Christianity
Christianity (from the Ancient Greek : Χριστιανός Christianos [ 1 ] and the Latin suffix -itas ) is a monotheistic [ 2 ] and Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings. Most adherents of the Christian faith, known as Christians , believe that Jesus is the Son of God , fully divine and fully human and the savior of humanity prophesied in the Old Testament . Consequentially, Christians commonly refer to Jesus as Christ or Messiah .
Prehistoric religion is a general term for the religious beliefs and practices of prehistoric peoples. More specifically it encompasses Paleolithic religion , Mesolithic religion, Neolithic religion and Bronze Age religion . [ edit ] Paleolithic Intentional burial , particularly with grave goods may be one of the earliest detectable forms of religious practice (the onset of burial itself being a canonical indicator of behavioral modernity ) since, as Philip Lieberman suggests, it may signify a "concern for the dead that transcends daily life." [ 1 ] Picture of a half animal half human being in a Paleolithic cave painting in Dordogne , France which archeologists believe may be evidence for early shamanic practices.
Prehistoric religion
Statue of Hathor – Luxor Museum The winged sun was an ancient (3rd millennium BC) symbol of Horus , later identified with Ra A solar deity (also sun god/dess ) is a sky deity who represents the Sun , or an aspect of it, usually by its perceived power and strength. Solar deities and sun worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms. Hence, many beliefs have formed around this worship, such as the " missing sun " found in many cultures. [ edit ] Overview
Solar deity
Religions of the Ancient Near East
The religions of the ancient Near East were mostly polytheistic , with some early examples of primitive monolatry ( Mardukites ), Ashurism and Monism ( Atenism ). Some scholars believe that the similarities between these religions indicate that the religions are related, a belief known as patternism . [ 1 ] Especially the Luwian pantheon exerted a strong influence on the ancient Greek religion , while Assyro-Babylonian religion influenced Achaemenid -era Zoroastrianism and Judaism .Mesopotamian religion refers to the religious beliefs and practices followed by the Sumerian and Akkadian ( Assyrian / Babylonian ) peoples living in Mesopotamia (around the area of modern Iraq ) that dominated the region for a period of 4200 years from the fourth millennium BC to proximately the 3rd century AD. [ 1 ] Polytheism was the only religion in ancient mesopotamia for thousands of years before entering a period of gradual decline; which continued for approximately three centuries, until much of the original religious traditions of the area died out.