Problem of Hell The "problem of Hell" is an ethical problem related to some religions in which portrayals of Hell as a place where immortal souls are conscious are ostensibly cruel, and are thus inconsistent with the concepts of a just, moral and omnibenevolent God.[1] The problem of Hell revolves around four key points: Hell exists in the first place, some people go there, there is no escape, and it is punishment for actions or inactions done on Earth.[2] The belief that non-believers of a particular religion, or "the wicked" among believers, face damnation or destruction is called special salvation. The belief that all are saved regardless of belief, or regardless of "goodness" or "wickedness", is referred to as universal reconciliation. Issues[edit] There are several major issues to the problem of Hell. The first is whether the existence of Hell is compatible with justice. Judaism[edit] Christianity[edit] I also maintain that those who are punished in Gehenna, are scourged by the scourge of love.
Sustainable living Lester R. Brown, a prominent environmentalist and founder of the Worldwatch Institute and Earth Policy Institute, describes sustainable living in the twenty-first century as "shifting to a renewable energy-based, reuse/recycle economy with a diversified transport system."[4] In addition to this philosophy, practical eco-village builders like Living Villages maintain that the shift to renewable technologies will only be successful if the resultant built environment is attractive to a local culture and can be maintained and adapted as necessary over the generations. Definition[edit] The three pillars of sustainability.[5] Circles of Sustainability image (assessment - Melbourne 2011) Sustainable living is fundamentally the application of sustainability to lifestyle choice and decisions. Sustainable design and sustainable development are critical factors to sustainable living. History[edit] Shelter[edit] An example of ecological housing some sustainable building materials[edit] Power[edit]
Metempsychosis Transmigration of the soul European antiquity[edit] It is unclear how the doctrine of metempsychosis arose in Greece. Orphism[edit] Pre-Socratic philosophy[edit] The earliest Greek thinker with whom metempsychosis is connected is Pherecydes of Syros,[8] but Pythagoras, who is said to have been his pupil, is its first famous philosophic exponent. Platonic philosophy[edit] In later Greek literature, the doctrine appears from time to time; it is mentioned in a fragment of Menander (the Inspired Woman) and satirized by Lucian (Gallus 18 seq.). Middle Ages[edit] Metempsychosis was a part of Catharism in Occitania in the 12th century.[12] Renaissance[edit] Created in the early 15th century, the Rosicrucianist movement also conveyed an occult doctrine of metempsychosis.[13] In literature after the classical era[edit] Metempsychosis is referred to prominently in the concluding paragraph of Chapter 98, "Stowing Down and Clearing Up", of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. See also[edit] References[edit]
The School of Night From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Supposed group of poets and scientists of Elizabethan England The School of Night is a modern name for a group of men centred on Sir Walter Raleigh that was once referred to in 1592 as the "School of Atheism". The group supposedly included poets and scientists Christopher Marlowe, George Chapman, Matthew Roydon and Thomas Harriot.[1] There is no firm evidence that all of these men were known to each other, but speculation about their connections features prominently in some writing about the Elizabethan era. Name[edit] In 1936 Frances Yates found an unpublished essay on scholarship by the Earl of Northumberland, an associate of Raleigh and supposed member of the movement, and interpreted the earl's mockery of the "precious affectations" found among scholars as inspiring the key celibacy theme of the play.[10] The supposition is discounted as fanciful by some, but nonetheless received acceptance by some prominent commentators of the time.[5][11][12]
Energy medicine Early reviews of the scientific literature on energy healing were equivocal and recommended further research,[9][10] but more recent reviews have concluded that there is no evidence supporting clinical efficacy.[11][12][13][14][15][16] The theoretical basis of healing has been criticised,[17][18][19][20] research and reviews supportive of energy medicine have been criticised for containing methodological flaws[21][22][23] and selection bias[21][22] and positive therapeutic results have been dismissed as the result of known psychological mechanisms.[21][22] Edzard Ernst, lately Professor of Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the University of Exeter, has warned that "healing continues to be promoted despite the absence of biological plausibility or convincing clinical evidence ... that these methods work therapeutically and plenty to demonstrate that they do not. History[edit] Classification[edit] Polarity therapy[edit] Beliefs[edit] There are various schools of energy healing.
Pythagoras | Philosimply | Philosophy Made Easy Pythagoras was an ancient Greek philosopher born in Samos (an island near Miletus, the famed “birthplace of Greek philosophy”) in 570 BC. He was famous throughout Greece as the leader of a religious community (the Pythagoreans), for his belief that the soul is immortal and in the possibility of reincarnation, as well as for maintaining that numbers are the fundamental principle of the world. He was a charismatic figure who combined mathematics, mysticism, science and religion together to create a way of life with a devoted following. Today, he is best known for his theory about the hypotenuse of a triangle ( a2 + b2 = c2), what is known as the Pythagorean theorem. In Samos, Pythagoras studied the astronomy of Anaximander as well as the geometry of Thales, until leaving at the age of 40 when the tyrant Polycrates came to power. Pythagoras’s belief in the immortality of the soul and the possibility of reincarnation was a huge break from tradition.
Understanding (and refuting) the arguments for God Michael Shermer has made a career of skepticism — he is the founder of Skeptic, for one — but in his 2000 book, How We Believe: The Search for God in an Age of Science, he does not come across as the hardcore atheist you might expect. (He prefers "nontheist.") One can appreciate his honesty and integrity. In a media that both champions and lambasts the so-called "New Atheist" movement, Shermer says one thing: Show me the evidence. Certain fundamentalists and atheists alike see the question of God as an either-or proposal, not content on the murky speculations presented by the other "side." 1. / 2. This argument results in an infinite regress. 3. Shermer borrows from Martin Gardner by stating that this is a "mysterian mystery" — the idea that nothing is unknowable is due to our minds being unable to process the thought of it. 4. As Shermer points out, if the first point were true, you would have to add the false, ignoble, and worst, all of which would also be God. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Age of Aquarius Overview[edit] The approximate 2,150 years for each age corresponds to the average time it takes for the vernal equinox to move from one constellation of the zodiac into the next. This can be computed by dividing the earth's 25,800 year gyroscopic precession period by twelve, the number of Zodiac constellations used by astrologers. According to different astrologers' calculations, approximated dates for entering the Age of Aquarius range from 1447 AD (Terry MacKinnell) to 3597 (John Addey).[2] Astrologers do not agree on when the Aquarian age will start or even if it has already started.[3] Nicholas Campion in The Book of World Horoscopes lists various references from mainly astrological sources for the start of the Age of Aquarius. Astrological ages exist as a result of precession of the equinoxes. Astrological meaning[edit] Astrologers believe that an astrological age affects mankind, possibly by influencing the rise and fall of civilisations or cultural tendencies. David Williams[edit]
Pythagoras 1. The Pythagorean Question What were the beliefs and practices of the historical Pythagoras? This apparently simple question has become the daunting Pythagorean question for several reasons. First, Pythagoras himself wrote nothing, so our knowledge of Pythagoras’ views is entirely derived from the reports of others. Second, there was no extensive or authoritative contemporary account of Pythagoras. 2. 2.1 Chronological Chart of Sources for Pythagoras 2.2 Post-Aristotelian Sources for Pythagoras The problems regarding the sources for the life and philosophy of Pythagoras are quite complicated, but it is impossible to understand the Pythagorean Question without an accurate appreciation of at least the general nature of these problems. If we step back for a minute and compare the sources for Pythagoras with those available for other early Greek philosophers, the extent of the difficulties inherent in the Pythagorean Question becomes clear. 2.3 Plato and Aristotle as Sources for Pythagoras
Transtheistic Transtheistic is a term coined by philosopher Paul Tillich or Indologist Heinrich Zimmer, referring to a system of thought or religious philosophy which is neither theistic, nor atheistic,[1] but is beyond them. The term has more recently also been applied to Buddhism,[2] Advaita Vedanta[3] and the Bhakti movement.[4] Paul Tillich uses transtheistic in The Courage to Be (1952), as an aspect of Stoicism. are the way in which some of the noblest figures in later antiquity and their followers in modern times have answered the problem of existence and conquered the anxieties of fate and death. Like Zimmer trying to express a religious notion that is neither theistic nor atheistic. The courage to take meaninglessness into itself presupposes a relation to the ground of being which we have called "absolute faith." Martin Buber criticized Tillich's "transtheistic position" as a reduction of God to the impersonal "necessary being" of Thomas Aquinas.[7] See also[edit] References[edit]
Reiki Traditions[edit] Today many branches of Reiki exist, though there exist two major traditions, respectively called Traditional Japanese Reiki and Western Reiki. Traditional Japanese Reiki[edit] The term Traditional Japanese Reiki is normally used to describe the specific system that formed from Usui's original teachings[41] and the teachings that did not leave Japan. During the 1990s, Western teachers travelled to Japan in order to find this particular tradition of Reiki, though found nothing. They therefore started to establish Reiki schools, and started to teach Reiki levels 1 and 2 to the Japanese. Usui Reiki Ryōhō Gakkai (臼井靈氣療法學會 in Traditional Chinese Characters, meaning "Usui Reiki Healing Method Learning Society")[43] is the name of the society of Reiki masters founded by Mikao Usui. Western Reiki[edit] After being trained by Hayashi, Takata went back to Hawaii, taking Reiki with her. Teachings[edit] Training[edit] First degree[edit] Second degree[edit] Third degree[edit] Practice[edit]
Pythagoras The Greek philosopher Pythagoras (approx. 570—495 BCE) was the founder of the metaphysical-religious movement of Pythagoreanism. Pythagoras is best known today for his work in mathematics, namely the Pythagorean theorem which still bears his name, but he is also said to be the first to call himself a philosopher. However, Pythagoras was also the founder of a religious movement, which included some irrational beliefs that cannot accurately be called philosophical in their formation or expression. His early group of followers resembles a cult more than a school. The Pythagorean Soul Among the religious beliefs that Pythagoras, and later Pythagoreans, promoted was the immortality of the soul, as well as transmigration of the soul between different animal species. Pythagoras’ belief about the immortality of the soul was an influence on Plato. Vegetarianism Those practicing the religious and philosophical beliefs of Pythagoras were vegetarians. Pythagorean theorem
Theism Gods in the Triumph of Civilization Theism, in the broadest sense, is the belief that at least one deity exists.[1] In a more specific sense, theism is commonly a monotheistic doctrine concerning the nature of a deity, and that deity's relationship to the universe.[2][3][4][5] Theism, in this specific sense, conceives of God as personal, present and active in the governance and organization of the world and the universe. As such theism describes the classical conception of God that is found in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism. The term theism derives from the Greek theos meaning "god". Atheism is rejection of theism in the broadest sense of theism; i.e. the rejection of belief that there is even one deity.[9] Rejection of the narrower sense of theism can take forms such as deism, pantheism, and polytheism. Types[edit] Monotheism[edit] Polytheism[edit] Within polytheism there are hard and soft varieties: Pantheism and panentheism[edit] Deism[edit] Autotheism[edit] Notes[edit]