2016/04/05

Universalism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Universalism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Universalism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
See also: Universalism (disambiguation)
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Universalism
"Rosa Celeste: Dante and Beatrice gaze upon the highest Heaven" by Gustave Doré
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Universalism is a religious, theological, and philosophical concept with universal application or applicability. Universalist doctrines consider all people in their formation.
In terms of religion, in a broad sense, universalism claims that religion is a universal human quality. This can be contrasted with non-universalist religions. Religion in this context is defined as a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.[1]
In some sects of Christianity, universal reconciliation is the doctrine that all sinful and alienated human souls — because of divine love and mercy — will ultimately be reconciled to God.[2] Unitarian Universalism believes that religion is a universal human quality, emphasizing the universal principles of most religions and accepting other religions in an inclusive manner, believing in a universal reconciliation between humanity and the divine. Universalism has had a strong influence on modern Hinduism, in turn influencing western modern spirituality.[3]
A community that calls itself universalist may emphasize the universal principles of most religions and accept other religions in an inclusive manner, believing in a universal reconciliation between humanity and the divine. For example, some forms of Abrahamic religions happened to claim the universal value of their doctrine and moral principles, and feel inclusive.[4] A belief in one common truth is also another important tenet. The living truth is seen as more far-reaching than national, cultural, or religious boundaries.

Abrahamic faiths[edit]

Judaism[edit]

Main article: Jewish views of religious pluralism
See also: Noahidism
Judaism teaches that God chose the Jewish people to be in a unique covenant with God, and one of their beliefs is that Jewish people were charged by the Torah with a specific mission—to be a light unto the nations, and to exemplify the covenant with God as described in the Torah to other nations. Not explicitly a Universalist theology, this view, however, does not preclude a belief that God also has a relationship with other peoples—rather, Judaism holds that God had entered into a covenant with all humanity as Noachides, and that Jews and non-Jews alike have a relationship with God, as well as being universal in the sense that it is open to all mankind.[5]
An on-line organization, the Jewish Spiritual Leaders Institute founded and led by Steven Blane, who calls himself an "American Jewish Universalist Rabbi", believes in a more inclusive version of Jewish Universalism, stating that "God equally chose all nations to be lights unto the world, and we have much to learn and share with each other. We can only accomplish Tikkun Olam by our unconditional acceptance of each other's peaceful doctrines."[6]

Christianity[edit]

Christian Universalism[edit]

See also: Universal Reconciliation
In Christianity, Universalism can refer to the beliefs that all humans either may or will be saved through Jesus and eventually come to harmony in God's kingdom. This salvation is expressed as offered both to Jews and to Gentiles (Romans 1:16, Romans 9:24-25,Revelation 7:9). It is opposed to the doctrines of reprobation and double-predestination in Calvinism.[citation needed]
The Greek term apocatastasis came to be related by some to the beliefs of Christian Universalism, but in early Patristics, the usage is distinct. Additionally the term catholic is derived from the Greek wordkatholikos, which means universal. The Catholic Church is universal in the sense that it embraces individuals "from every race, nation, language, and people", but it does not teach universal salvation. In Christ, all may be saved, but in reality, due to a lack of cooperation with God's grace, i.e. obstinance in sin, not all will.
History[edit]
Universalist writers such as George T. Knight have claimed[vague] that Universalism was a widely held view among theologians in Early Christianity,[4] including important figures such as Origen and Clement of Alexandria.
The first undisputed documented appearance of Christian Universalist ideas was in 17th-century England and 18th-century Europe and colonial America. Gerrard Winstanley (England, 1648), Richard Coppin(England, 1652), Jane Leade (England, 1697), and George de Benneville (France and America, 18th century) taught that God would grant all human beings salvation. People teaching this doctrine in America became known as Universalist Church of America.[7]
Universalist theology[edit]
Some Bible verses commonly cited in Christian Universalist theology are:
  1. 1 Corinthians 15:22[8]
    • "For as in Adam ALL die, so in Christ ALL will be made alive." (NIV; emphasis added)
    • "For as in Adam ALL die, so also in Christ shall ALL be made alive." (ESV; emphasis added)
  2. Romans 5:18-19 (The "one trespass" and the "one man's disobedience" refer to Adam's sin, while the "act of righteousness" and the "one man's obedience" refer to Jesus' voluntary death on the cross).
    • "Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous." (NIV; emphasis added)
    • "Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the manywere made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous." (ESV; emphasis added)
  3. 2 Peter 3:9
    • "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (NIV; emphasis added)
    • "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." (ESV; emphasis added)
  4. 1 Timothy 2:3-6[8]
    • "This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom forALL men — the testimony given in its proper time." (NIV; emphasis added)
    • "This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for ALL, which is the testimony given at the proper time." (ESV; emphasis added)
  5. 1 John 2:2
    • "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (NIV)
    • "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." (ESV)
  6. 1 Timothy 4:10[8]
    • "(and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe." (NIV; emphasis added)
    • "For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe." (ESV; emphasis added)
  7. Romans 11:32[8]
    • "For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all." (NIV)
    • "For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all." (ESV)
  8. 1 John 4:14[8]
    • "And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world." (NIV)
    • "And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world." (ESV)
Mistranslations[edit]
Another key point within the Christian Universalist theology is the understanding that mistranslations exist in many modern English translations of the Bible. One of the most significant translation errors is that of the Greek word αιών (Lit. aion). This Greek word is the origin of the modern English word "eon". However, this word is often translated as "eternal", in the context of eternal punishment/torment or eternal life. In his tetralogy called Word Studies in the New Testament, the 19th century theologian Marvin Vincent wrote:
Aion, transliterated aeon, is a period of longer or shorter duration, having a beginning and an end, and complete in itself. Aristotle (peri ouranou, i. 9,15) says: "The period which includes the whole time of one's life is called the aeon of each one." Hence it often means the life of a man, as in Homer, where one's life (aion) is said to leave him or to consume away (Iliad v. 685; Odyssey v. 160). It is not, however, limited to human life; it signifies any period in the course of events, as the period or age before Christ; the period of the millennium; the mythological period before the beginnings of history....
The adjective aionios in like manner carries the idea of time. Neither the noun nor the adjective, in themselves, carry the sense of endless or everlasting. They may acquire that sense by their connotation, as, on the other hand, aidios, which means everlasting, has its meaning limited to a given point of time in Jude 6. Aionios means enduring through or pertaining to a period of time. Both the noun and the adjective are applied to limited periods....
Words which are habitually applied to things temporal or material cannot carry in themselves the sense of endlessness. Even when applied to God, we are not forced to render aionios everlasting. Of course the life of God is endless; but the question is whether, in describing God as aionios, it was intended to describe the duration of his being, or whether some different and larger idea was not contemplated.[9]

New Thought[edit]

Main article: New Thought

Unity Church, Religious Science, Divine Science are denominations within the New Thought movement. Each teaches that there is a common thread of truth at the heart of all religions. 
New Thought is an ever-evolving belief system which will incorporate Truth where ever it is found, hence the name New Thought. All is God, But God transcends all.

Unitarian Universalism[edit]

Main article: Unitarian Universalism
Unitarian Universalism (UU) is a theologically liberal religion characterized by a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning".[10] Unitarian Universalists do not share a creed; rather, they are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth and by the understanding that an individual's theology is a result of that search and not a result of obedience to an authoritarian requirement. Unitarian Universalists draw from all major world religions[11] and many different theological sources and have a wide range of beliefs and practices.
While having its origins in Christianity, UU is no longer a Christian church. As of 2006, fewer than about 20% of Unitarian Universalists identified themselves as Christian.[12] Contemporary Unitarian Universalism espouses a pluralist approach to religious belief, whereby members may describe themselves as humanist, agnostic, deist,atheist, pagan, Christian, monotheist, pantheist, polytheist, or assume no label at all.
The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) was formed in 1961, a consolidation of the American Unitarian Association, established in 1825, and the Universalist Church of America,[13] established in 1866. It is headquartered in Boston, and serves churches mostly in the United States. The Canadian Unitarian Council became an independent body in 2002.[14]

Islam[edit]

Further information: Ummah, Divisions of the world in Islam, People of the Book, Dhimmi and Dawah
Islam recognizes to a certain extent the validity of the Abrahamic religions, the Qur'an identifying Jews, Christians, and "Sabi'un" or "baptists" (usually taken as a reference to the Mandeans) as "people of the book" (ahl al-kitab). Later Islamic theologians expanded this definition to include Zoroastrians, and later even Hindus, as the early Islamic empire brought many people professing these religions under its dominion, but the Qur'an explicitly identifies only Jews, Christians, and Sabians as People of the Book.[15][need quotation to verify],[16][not in citation given], [17][not in citation given] The relation between Islam and universalism has assumed crucial importance in the context of so-called political Islam or Islamism, particularly in reference toSayyid Qutb, a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, and one of the key philosophers of Islam.[18]
There are several views within Islam with respect to Universalism. According to the most inclusive teachings, common among the liberal Muslim movements, all monotheistic religions or people of the book have a chance of salvation. For example, Surah 2:62,256 states that:[19]
Verily! Those who believe and those who are Jews and Christians, and Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and do righteous good deeds shall have their reward with their Lord, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve...let there be no compulsion in religion
However, the most exclusive teachings opinion differently. For example, the Salafi and the Wahhabi schools refer to Surah 9:5,29:[citation needed]
Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters [mushrikun] wherever ye find them, and take them, and besiege them, and lay in wait in every stratagem of war. But if they repent and establish worship and pay thejizya, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful [...] Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture [i.e. people of the book] as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbidden by His messenger, and follow not the Religion of Truth, until they pay the jizya readily, being brought low [in submission].
The interpretation of all of these passages are hotly contested amongst various schools of thought, traditionalist and reform-minded, and branches of Islam, from the reforming Quranism and Ahmadiyya to the ultra-traditionalist Salafi, as is the doctrine of abrogation (naskh) which is used to determine which verses take precedent, based on reconstructed chronology, with later verses superseding earlier ones. The traditional chronology places Surah 9 as the last or second-to-last surah revealed, thus, in traditional exegesis, it gains a large power of abrogation, and verses 9:5,29,73 are held to have abrogated 2:256[20] The ahadith also play a major role in this, and different schools of thought assign different weightings and rulings of authenticity to different hadith, with the four schools of Sunni thought accepting the Six Authentic Collections, generally along with theMuwatta Imam Malik. Depending on the level of acceptance of rejection of certain traditions, the interpretation of the Koran can be changed immensely, from the Qur'anists and Ahmadiyya who reject the ahadith, to the Salafi, or ahl al-hadith, who hold the entirety of the traditional collections in great reverence.
Traditional Islam[20][21] views the world as bipartite, consisting of the House of Islam, that is, where people live under the Islamic law;[21]and the House of War, that is, where the people do not live under Islamic law, which must be proselytized[21][22][23] using whatever resources available, including, in some traditionalist and conservative interpretations,[24] the use of violence, as holy struggle in the path of Allah,[17][24][25] to either convert its inhabitants to Islam, or to rule them under the Shariah (cf. dhimmi);[26][27] since the abolition of theCaliphate, there has been debate about the proper role of divisions of the world in Islam, and whether the traditional bipartite division is sufficient to meet the needs of the ummah (world community of Muslims) and world moving into the future.
The Ash'ari school of Sunni aqidah (theology) holds that those who had never heard of the message of Islam, by virtue of isolation, can still be saved by the grace of Allah, similar to Karl Rahner's concept of theAnonymous Christian. Sufis generally hold to a much more inclusivist and tolerant view of other faiths and religious systems than other Sunnis and Shi'a Islam.[citation needed]

Bahá'í Faith[edit]


Main articles: Bahá'í Faith and the unity of humanity and Bahá'í Faith and the unity of religion
In Bahá'í belief, a single God has sent all the historic founders of the world religions in a process of progressive revelation. As a result, the major world religions are seen as divine in origin and are continuous in their purpose. In this view, there is unity among the founders of world religions, but each revelation brings a more advanced set of teachings in human history and none are syncretic.[28] Within this universal view, the unity of humanity is one of the central teachings of the Bahá'í Faith.[29] The Bahá'í teachings state that since all humans have been created in the image of God, God does not make any distinction between people regardless of race, colour or religion.[30] Thus, because all humans have been created equal, they all require equal opportunities and treatment.[29] Thus the Bahá'í view promotes the unity of humanity, and that people's vision should be world-embracing and that people should love the whole world rather than just their nation.[30] The teaching, however, does not equal unity with uniformity, but instead the Bahá'í writings advocate for the principle of unity in diversity where the variety in the human race is valued.[31]Operating on a worldwide basis this cooperative view of the peoples and nations of the planet culminates in a vision of the practicality of, the progression in world affairs towards, and the inevitability of, world peace.[32]

Eastern religions[edit]

Zoroastrianism[edit]

Main article: Zoroastrianism
Some varieties of Zoroastrian (such as Zurvanism) are universalistic in application to all races, but not necessarily universalist in the sense of universal salvation.[33][not in citation given]

Manichaeism[edit]

Main article: Manichaeism
Manichaeism, like Christian Gnosticism and Zurvanism, was inherently universalist.[34][page needed]

Hinduism[edit]

Main articles: Neo-Vedanta and Hindu reform movements
Hindu Universalism, also called Neo-Vedanta[35] and neo-Hinduism,[36]is a modern interpretation of Hinduism which developed in response to western colonialism and orientalism. It denotes the ideology that all religions are true and therefore worthy of toleration and respect.[37]
It is a modern interpretation that aims to present Hinduism as a "homogenized ideal of Hinduism"[38] with Advaita Vedanta as its central doctrine.[39] For example, it presents that:
... an imagined "integral unity" that was probably little more than an "imagined" view of the religious life that pertained only to a cultural elite and that empirically speaking had very little reality "on the ground," as it were, throughout the centuries of cultural development in the South Asian region.[40]
Hinduism embraces universalism by conceiving the whole world as a single family that deifies the one truth, and therefore it accepts all forms of beliefs and dismisses labels of distinct religions which would imply a division of identity.[41][42][43]
This modernised re-interpretation has become a broad current in Indian culture,[39][44] extending far beyond the Dashanami Sampradaya, the Advaita Vedanta Sampradaya founded by Adi Shankara. An early exponent of Hindu Universalism was Ram Mohan Roy, who established the Brahmo Samaj.[45] Hindu Universalism was popularised in the 20th century in both India and the west byVivekananda[46][39] and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.[39] Veneration for all other religions was articulated by Gandhi:
After long study and experience, I have come to the conclusion that [1] all religions are true; [2] all religions have some error in them; [3] all religions are almost as dear to me as my own Hinduism, in as much as all human beings should be as dear to one as one's own close relatives. My own veneration for other faiths is the same as that for my own faith; therefore no thought of conversion is possible.[47]
Western orientalists played an important role in this popularisation, regarding Vedanta to be the "central theology of Hinduism".[39]Oriental scholarship portrayed Hinduism as a "single world religion",[39] and denigrated the heterogeneousity of Hindu beliefs and practices as 'distortions' of the basic teachings of Vedanta.[48]

Sikhism[edit]

In Sikhism, all the religions of the world are compared to rivers flowing into a single ocean. Although the Sikh gurus did not agree with the practices of fasting, idolatry and pilgrimage during their times, they stressed that all religions should be tolerated and considered on equal footing. The Sikh scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, contains the writings of not just the Sikh guru themselves, but the writings of several Hindu and Muslim saints, known as the Bhagats. Although Sikhism does not teach that men are created as an image of God, it states that the essence of the One is to be found throughout all of its creation.[citation needed] As was said by Yogi Bhajan, the man who is credited with having brought Sikhism to the West:

"If you can't see God in all, you can't see God at all". (Sri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan)[citation needed]
The First Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak said himself:
"There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim".[citation needed]
By this, Guru Nanak meant that there is no distinction between religion in God's eyes, whether polytheist, monotheist, pantheist, or even atheist, all that one needs to gain salvation is purity of heart, tolerance of all beings, compassion and kindness. Unlike many of the major world religions, Sikhism does not have missionaries, instead it believes men have the freedom to find their own path to salvation.

Yi Guan Dao[edit]

Yi Guan Dao (loosely translated as "Universal Taoism", "the pervasive truth", or "the consistent path") incorporates elements from Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese Buddhism, and recognizes the validity of non-Chinese religious traditions such as Christianity and Islam as well. For this reason it is often classified as a syncretistic sect, along with other similar religions in the Way of Former Heaven (Xian Tian Dao) family.

Non-religious Universalism[edit]

Universalism is not only a set of values, but a worldview to which any can subscribe if they observe and believe in the universality of the human experience — and that of all sentient life — and work to uphold the principles, ethics, and actions that safeguard these fundamental things.[49]
Indeed, many Universalists may be attracted to the logic of universally applicable principles, rather than any belief or dogma. Human unity, solidarity, and the perceived need for a sustainable and socially conscious global order are among the tendencies of non-religious Universalist thought.[50]

See also[edit]



References[edit]

  1. Jump up^ Staff (2012). "religion". Dictionary.com, LLC. Dictionary.com, LLC. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  2. Jump up^ Otis Ainsworth Skinner (1807-1861), A Series of Sermons in Defence of the Doctrine of Universal Salvation, Page 209, It is not part of mainline Christian doctrine either Catholic or Protestant. "Repentance is a means by which all men are brought into the enjoyment of religion, and we do not expect any man will be saved while he continues in sin. However, Unitarian Universalism holds a universal salvation, because is, "we expect all men will repent."
  3. Jump up^ King 2002.
  4. ^ Jump up to:a b George T. Knight The Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1953, vol. 12, p. 96; retrieved 30/04/09
  5. Jump up^ Covenant-Jewish Universalism and Particularism By: David Polish Format: Article Year: 1985 Published in: Judaism Summer85, Vol. 34 Issue 3, p284 17p 00225762 Database: Academic Search Premier
  6. Jump up^ Staff. "Jewish Universalism". Jewish Spiritual Leaders Institute. Google Inc. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  7. Jump up^ Unitarian Universalism: A Research Guide By: Neal Wyatt ; Tierney V Dwyer ; Tierney V Dwyer Format: Article Year: 2008 Published in: Reference & User Services Quarterly SpringDF2008, Vol. 47 Issue 3, p210-214 5p 10949054 ][F;[]G=PY[GPGOPFG[A][]P[H[FDC Database: Academic Search Premier
  8. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e Tentmaker. "The Fate of the Wicked". tentmaker.org. Tentmaker. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  9. Jump up^ Vincent, Marvin. "Note on Olethron Aionion (eternal destruction)".Word Studies in the New Testament. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  10. Jump up^ (The 4th principle of Unitarian Universalism)UUA.org Seven principles
  11. Jump up^ "Major Religions Ranked by Size". Adherents.com. RetrievedApril 19, 2013.
  12. Jump up^ Ford, James Ishmael (2006). Zen Master Who?. Wisdom Publications. p. 187. ISBN 0-86171-509-8.
  13. Jump up^ Harvard Divinity School: Timeline of Significant Events in the Merger of the Unitarian and Universalist Churches During the 1900s
  14. Jump up^ CUC-UUA Tradition. Canadian Unitarian Council Growing Vital Religious Communities In Canada
  15. Jump up^ Crone, Patricia (2005). God's Rule: Government and Islam: Six Centuries of Medieval Islamic Political Thought. Columbia University Press. p. 472. ISBN 978-0-231-13291-6.
  16. Jump up^ Lapidus, Ira M. (2014). Ira M. Lapidus. Cambridge University Press. p. 1000. ISBN 9780521514309.
  17. ^ Jump up to:a b Karsh, Efraim (2007). Islamic Imperialism: A History (PDF). Yale University Press. p. 304. ISBN 9780300122633.
  18. Jump up^ Mura, Andrea (2014). "The Inclusive Dynamics of Islamic Universalism: From the Vantage Point of Sayyid Qutb's Critical Philosophy". Comparative Philosophy. Retrieved 2015-05-12.
  19. Jump up^ 1. S. A. Rahman, Punishment of Apostasy in Islam, Institute of Islamic Culture, Lahore, 1972
  20. ^ Jump up to:a b Ibn Kathir, Ismail (1301-1373) (2000). Sheikh Safiur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri, ed. Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Aziz (Tafsir Ibn Kathir) (in English and Arabic) (English Abridged ed.). Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Maktaba Darussalam. p. 6608. ISBN 978-1-59144-020-8.
  21. ^ Jump up to:a b c Khalil, Ahmed (2002-05-27). "Dar Al-Islam And Dar Al-Harb: Its Definition and Significance". IslamWay (English). Retrieved2015-05-12.
  22. Jump up^ Ye'or, Bat (1985). The Dhimmi: Jews and Christians Under Islam. Farleign Dickinson University Press. p. 444. ISBN 978-0838632628.
  23. Jump up^ Ye'or, Bat. The Decline of Eastern Christianity Under Islam: From Jihad to Dhimmitude: 7th-20th Centuries. Farleigh Dickinson University Press. p. 522. ISBN 978-0-8386-3688-6.
  24. ^ Jump up to:a b Ibn Kathir's Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Aziz
  25. Jump up^ Sayyid Qutb Milestones
  26. Jump up^ Durie, Mark (2010). The Third Choice: Islam, Dhimmitude and Freedom. Deror Books. p. 288. ISBN 978-0-9807223-1-4.
  27. Jump up^ Ye'or, Bat (2001). Islam and Dhimmitude: Where Civilizations Collide. Farleigh Dickinson University Press. p. 528. ISBN 978-0-8386-3942-9.
  28. Jump up^ Buck, Christopher (1999). Paradise and Paradigm: Key Symbols in Persian Christianity and the Bahá'í Faith. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 292.
  29. ^ Jump up to:a b Stockman, Robert (2000). "The Baha'i Faith". In Beversluis, Joel.Sourcebook of the World's Religions. New World Library. p. 7. ISBN 1-57731-121-3.
  30. ^ Jump up to:a b Smith, Peter (2008). An Introduction to the Baha'i Faith. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 138. ISBN 0-521-86251-5.
  31. Jump up^ Smith, Peter (2008). An Introduction to the Baha'i Faith. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 139. ISBN 0-521-86251-5.
  32. Jump up^ Smith, Peter (2000). "peace". A concise encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. pp. 266–267. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
  33. Jump up^ Jonathan Porter Berkey The formation of Islam: religion and society in the Near East 2003 p28 "This is not to say that there was no universalist dimension to Zoroastrian religious life; but what universalism there was derived directly, and to a greater degree than in the case of Rome and Christianity, from the explicit connection between religion and the state."
  34. Jump up^ Manfred Hutter (January 1993). "Manichaeism in the Early Sasanian Empire" 40. BRILL. JSTOR 3270395.
  35. Jump up^ Frank Morales, Neo-Vedanta: The problem with Hindu Universalism
  36. Jump up^ King 2002, p. 93.
  37. Jump up^ Editors of Hinduism Today (2007). What Is Hinduism?: Modern Adventures Into a Profound Global Faith. Himalayan Academy Publications. p. 416. ISBN 1934145009.
  38. Jump up^ Yelle 2012, p. 338.
  39. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f King 2002, p. 135.
  40. Jump up^ Lrson 2012, p. 313.
  41. Jump up^ (Rigveda 1:164:46) "Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti" - Truth is one; sages call it many names
  42. Jump up^ (Maha Upanishad: Chapter 6, Verse 72) "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" - The entire world is a one big family
  43. Jump up^ Badlani, Hiro (2008). Hinduism: Path of the Ancient Wisdom.iUniverse. p. 303. ISBN 978-0-595-70183-4
  44. Jump up^ Sinari 2000.
  45. Jump up^ Ghazi 2010.
  46. Jump up^ Michaelson 2009, p. 79-81.
  47. Jump up^ M. K. Gandhi, All Men Are Brothers: Life and Thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi as told in his own words, Paris, UNESCO 1958, p 60.
  48. Jump up^ King 1999, p. 135.
  49. Jump up^ "Unitarian Universalism". BBC. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  50. Jump up^ "Unitarian Universalism". Retrieved 4 May 2012.

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]

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Further reading[edit]

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  • Ankerl, Guy (2000). Global communication without universal civilization. Vol. 1: Coexisting contemporary civilizations: Arabo-Muslim, Bharati, Chinese, and Western. Geneva, Switzerland: INU Press. ISBN 9782881550041.
  • Palmquist, Stephen (2000), "Chapter eight: Christianity as the Universal religion", in Palmquist, Stephen, Kant's critical religion, Aldershot, Hants, England Burlington, Vermont: Ashgate,ISBN 9780754613336. Online.
  • Scott, Joan W. (2005), "French Universalism in the nineties", inFriedman, Marilyn, Women and citizenship, Studies in Feminist Philosophy, Oxford New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 35–51,ISBN 9780195175356.
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Nontheism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nontheism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nontheism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with atheism.
Part of a series on
Irreligion
"αθεοι" (atheoi), Greek for "those without god", as it appears in the Epistle to the Ephesians on the third-century papyrus known as "Papyrus 46"
Nontheism covers a range of both religious[1] and nonreligious[2] attitudes characterized by the absence of espoused belief in a personal god or gods. The term nontheism is generally used to describe apathy or a noncomment toward the subject of God and differentiates from an antithetical, explicit, atheism. Nontheism does not necessarily describe atheism or disbelief in God. It has been used as an umbrella term for summarizing various distinct and even mutually exclusive positions, such asagnosticism, ignosticism,ietsism, skepticism,pantheism and atheism. It is in use in the fields of Christian apologetics and general liberal theology.
Nontheism can be expressed in a variety of ways. Strong or positive atheism is the positive belief that a god does not exist. Someone who does not think about the existence of a deity may be termed a weak or negative atheist, or more specifically implicitly atheist. Other, more qualified subtypes of nontheism are often known as agnosticism:strong or positive agnosticism is the belief that it is impossible for humans to know whether or not any deities exist.

It is a more precise opinion than weak or negative agnosticism, which is the belief that the existence or nonexistence of any deities is unknown but not necessarily unknowable. Philosopher Anthony Kenny distinguishes between agnostics, who find the claim "God exists" uncertain, and theological noncognitivists, who consider all discussion of God to be meaningless.[3] Some agnostics, however, are not nontheists but rather agnostic theists.[4]
Other related philosophical opinions about the existence of deities are ignosticism and skepticism. Because of the various definitions of the term God, a person could be an atheist in terms of certain conceptions of gods, while remaining agnostic in terms of others.

Origin and definition[edit]

The Oxford English Dictionary (2007) does not have an entry fornontheism or non-theism, but it does have an entry for non-theist, defined as "A person who is not a theist", and an entry for the adjectival non-theistic.[citation needed]
An early usage of the hyphenated non-theism is by George Holyoake in 1852,[5] who introduces it because:
Mr. [Charles] Southwell has taken an objection to the term Atheism. We are glad he has. We have disused it a long time [...]. We disuse it, because Atheist is a worn-out word. Both the ancients and the moderns have understood by itone without God, and also without morality. Thus the term connotes more than any well-informed and earnest person accepting it ever included in it; that is, the word carries with it associations of immorality, which have been repudiated by the Atheist as seriously as by the Christian. Non-theism is a term less open to the same misunderstanding, as it implies the simple non-acceptance of the Theist's explanation of the origin and government of the world.
This passage is cited by James Buchanan in his 1857 Modern Atheism under its forms of Pantheism, Materialism, Secularism, Development, and Natural Laws, who however goes on to state:
"Non-theism" was afterwards exchanged [by Holyoake] for "Secularism", as a term less liable to misconstruction, and more correctly descriptive of the real import of the theory.[6]
Spelling without hyphen sees scattered use in the later 20th century, following Harvey Cox's 1966 Secular City: "Thus the hidden God ordeus absconditus of biblical theology may be mistaken for the no-god-at-all of nontheism."[7] Usage increased in the 1990s in contexts where association with the terms atheism or antitheism was unwanted. The 1998 Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics states, "In the strict sense, all forms of nontheisms are naturalistic, including atheism,pantheism, deism, and agnosticism."[8]
Pema Chödrön uses the term in the context of Buddhism:
The difference between theism and nontheism is not whether one does or does not believe in God.[...] Theism is a deep-seated conviction that there's some hand to hold [...] Non-theism is relaxing with the ambiguity and uncertainty of the present moment without reaching for anything to protect ourselves [...] Nontheism is finally realizing there is no babysitter you can count on.[9]

Nontheistic religions[edit]

Main article: Nontheistic religions

See also




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