The meaning of spirituality has developed and expanded over time,and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally,spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape of man",oriented at "the image of God" as exemplified by the founders and sacred texts of the religions of the world. The term was used within early Christianity to refer to a life oriented toward the Holy Spirit and broadened during the Late Middle Ages to include mental aspects of life.
The relationship between religion and science involves discussions that interconnect the study of the natural world,history,philosophy,and theology.
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and,more broadly,of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline,typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the supernatural,but also deals with religious epistemology,asks and seeks to answer the question of revelation. Revelation pertains to the acceptance of God,gods,or deities,as not only transcendent or above the natural world,but also willing and able to interact with the natural world and,in particular,to reveal themselves to humankind. While theology has turned into a secular field,religious adherents still consider theology to be a discipline that helps them live and understand concepts such as life and love and that helps them lead lives of obedience to the deities they follow or worship.
The perennial philosophy,also referred to as perennialism and perennial wisdom,is a perspective in philosophy and spirituality that views all of the world's religious traditions as sharing a single,metaphysical truth or origin from which all esoteric and exoteric knowledge and doctrine has grown.
Religious studies,also known as the study of religion,is an academic field devoted to research into religious beliefs,behaviors,and institutions. It describes,compares,interprets,and explains religion,emphasizing systematic,historically based,and cross-cultural perspectives.
"God of the gaps" is a theological perspective in which gaps in scientific knowledge are taken to be evidence or proof of God's existence.
Masao Abe was a Japanese Buddhist philosopher and religious studies scholar who was emeritus professor at Nara University. He is best known for his work in comparative religion,developing a Buddhist-Christian interfaith dialogue which later also included Judaism. His mature views were developed within the Kyoto School of philosophy. According to Christopher Ives:"Since the death of D. T. Suzuki in 1966,Masao Abe has served as the main representative of Zen Buddhism in Europe and North America."
John Boswell Cobb,Jr. is an American theologian,philosopher,and environmentalist. Cobb is often regarded as the preeminent scholar in the field of process philosophy and process theology,the school of thought associated with the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. Cobb is the author of more than fifty books. In 2014,Cobb was elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Religious naturalism combines a naturalist worldview with ideals,perceptions,traditions,and values that have been traditionally associated with many religions or religious institutions. "Religious naturalism is a perspective that finds religious meaning in the natural world and rejects the notion of a supernatural realm." The term religious in this context is construed in general terms,separate from the traditions,customs,or beliefs of any one of the established religions.
Daniel A. Helminiak is a Catholic priest,theologian and author in the United States. He is most widely known for his international best-seller What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality.
Bernard L. Ramm was a Baptist theologian and apologist within the broad evangelical tradition. He wrote prolifically on topics concerned with biblical hermeneutics,religion and science,Christology,and apologetics. The hermeneutical principles presented in his 1956 book Protestant Biblical Interpretation influenced a wide spectrum of Baptist theologians. During the 1970s he was widely regarded as a leading evangelical theologian as well known as Carl F.H. Henry. His equally celebrated and criticized 1954 book The Christian View of Science and Scripture was the theme of a 1979 issue of the Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation,while a 1990 issue of Baylor University's Perspectives in Religious Studies was devoted to Ramm's views on theology.
Keith Ward is an English Anglican priest,philosopher,and theologian. He is a fellow of the British Academy and a priest of the Church of England. He was a canon of Christ Church,Oxford,until 2003. Comparative theology and the relationship between science and religion are two of his main topics of interest. He was Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford from 1991 to 2004.
Nancey Murphy is an American philosopher and theologian who is Professor of Christian Philosophy at Fuller Theological Seminary,Pasadena,CA. She received the B.A. from Creighton University in 1973,the Ph.D. from University of California,Berkeley in 1980,and the Th.D. from the Graduate Theological Union (theology) in 1987.
Christian Stephen Smith is an American sociologist,currently the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame. Smith's research focuses primarily on religion in modernity,adolescents and emerging adults,sociological theory,philosophy of science,the science of generosity,American evangelicalism,and culture. Smith is well known for his contributions to the sociology of religion,particularly his research into adolescent spirituality,as well as for his contributions to sociological theory and his advocacy of critical realism.
Robert Cummings Neville is an American systematic philosopher and theologian,author of numerous books and papers,and ex-Dean of the Boston University School of Theology. J. Harley Chapman and Nancy Frankenberry,editors of a festchrift—a collection of critical essays written in Neville's honor—entitled Interpreting Neville,consider him to be "one of the most significant philosophers and theologians of our time". Neville was Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts at the State University of New York at Stony Brook,and has taught at Yale,Fordham,and the State University of New York Purchase. He is now a professor at Boston University He was granted a Doctorate honoris causa by the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Far Eastern Studies in 1996.
James Sherman Cutsinger was an author,editor,and professor of religious studies (emeritus) at the University of South Carolina,whose works focused primarily on comparative religion,the modern Traditionalist School of perennial philosophy,Eastern Christian spirituality,and the mystical tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Divine Action and Modern Science (2002) is a book written by Nicholas Saunders. It looks at Near Eastern biblical and modern theological approaches to the idea of divine action,covering such questions as how divine action occurs,what its effects are,the relationship between divine and finite causation and complementarity versus mutual exclusivity. Saunders concludes that God is active in the physical world,but not as described by traditional accounts.
Donald Allen Crosby is an American theologian who is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Colorado State University,since January 2000. Crosby's interests focus on metaphysics,American pragmatism,philosophy of nature,existentialism,and philosophy of religion. He is a member of the Highlands Institute of American Religious and Philosophical Thought (HAIRPT) and has been a leader in the discussions on Religious Naturalism.
Patrick McNamara an American neuroscientist,is Associate Professor of Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine. and Director of its Evolutionary Neurobehavior Laboratory. His work has centered on three major topics:sleep and dreams,religion,and mind/brain.
Criticism of pandeism has been carried out in various ways by proponents of other theological models,particularly of atheism and theism. Proponents of Pandeism have themselves published collections containing criticism from various viewpoints,including those written from Christian,Jewish,Islamic,New Thought,and Atheist perspectives,as part of efforts to increase awareness and debate regarding Pandeism. At times,ideological foes have accused political and religious figures of secretly being Pandeists,as a means of casting aspersions on those accused.
