Isms And Ologies Flashcards
Atheism
Atheism:
disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods.
(“There is no god.”)
Agnosticism
Agnosticism:
belief that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; an agnostic claims neither faith nor disbelief in God, but says that we cannot possibly know.
Gnostics: seek spiritual knowledge, through experience, ritual, and guidance from “Messengers of Light,” and listening to their inner divine spark.
Gnosticism
Gnosticism:
a prominent heretical movement of the 2nd-century Christian Church, partly of pre-Christian origin. Some key components of the Gnostic worldview are:
- Earthly life is filled with suffering. Humans are aware of this, and they recognize that they are strangers living in a world that is flawed and absurd.
- There is a true, ultimate and transcendent God, who is beyond all created universes. He himself never “created” anything, per se. But he emanated from within Himself the substance of all there is in all the worlds, visible and invisible. In a sense, then, all is God, for everything consists of the substance of God. But many portions of the original divine essence have been projected so far from their source that they underwent unwholesome changes in the process.
- There are Aeons, intermediate deific beings who exist between the ultimate, True God and mankind. They, together with the True God, comprise the realm of Fullness (Pleroma) wherein the potency of divinity operates fully.
- One of those Aeons, Sophia (“Wisdom”), in the course of her journeyings, came to emanate from her own being a flawed consciousness, a being who became the creator of the material and psychic cosmos, all of which he created in the image of his own flaw.
- The world, then, is corrupt. To worship the cosmos, or nature, or embodied creatures is to worship alienated and corrupt portions of the emanated divine essence, and the Gnostics would refute such practices.
- The creator being, unaware of his origins, imagined himself to be the ultimate and absolute God. Since he took the already existing divine essence and fashioned it into various forms, he is called the Demiurgos (“half-maker”), or Demiurge. There is an authentic half, a true deific component within creation, but it is not recognized by the half-maker and by his cosmic minions, the Archons or “rulers”.
- Humans have a perishable physical and psychic component, as well as a spiritual component which is a fragment of the divine essence. This is often called the “divine spark”.
- Humans are generally ignorant of the divine spark within them. This ignorance is fostered in human nature by the influence of the false creator and his Archons, who are intent upon keeping humans ignorant of their true nature and destiny. Anything that causes us to remain attached to earthly things serves to keep us in enslavement to these lower cosmic rulers.
- Death releases the divine spark, but if there has not been a substantial work of Gnosis undertaken by the person prior to death, the divine spark will likely be hurled back into, and then re-embodied within, the pangs and slavery of the physical world.
- Humans are caught in a predicament consisting of physical existence combined with spiritual ignorance; they are unaware of their true origins, their essential nature and their ultimate destiny. To be liberated from this predicament, human beings require help, although they must also contribute their own efforts.
- Gnostics do not look to salvation from sin, but rather from their spiritual ignorance. “Sin” is merely a consequence of man’s spiritual ignorance. That ignorance is dispelled only by Gnosis.
- Gnosis is the knowledge of transcendence, arrived at by way of interior, intuitive means. In part it rests on personal religious experience, but it also must be stimulated and facilitated. The divine spark must be awakened from its earthly slumber by the saving knowledge that comes “from without”. Help is supplied by Messengers of Light who, in addition to their teachings, establish salvific mysteries (sacraments) which can be administered by apostles of the Messengers and their successors.
- From earliest times Messengers of Light have come forth from the True God in order to assist humans in their quest for Gnosis. Only a few of these salvific figures are mentioned in Gnostic scripture; some of the most important are Seth (the third Son of Adam), Jesus, and the Prophet Mani. The majority of Gnostics look to Jesus as the principal savior figure (the Soter).
- It is not by Jesus’ suffering and death but by His life of teaching and His establishing of mysteries that He has performed His work of salvation.
- The True God of transcendence is unknown in this world; in fact, He is often called the Unknown Father. Jesus is the Logos of the True God, but he himself is not equal to the one True God.
- Gnostics are opposed to “ethics” and “morality” as systems of rules. Such systems usually originate with the Demiurge and are covertly designed to serve his purposes. Rules of conduct may serve various ends, such as the structuring of a peaceful society, but rules are not relevant to salvation; that is brought about only by Gnosis.
- “Morality” therefore must be viewed primarily in secular terms; it is ever subject to changes and modifications in accordance with the spiritual development of the individual. Truly spiritual persons are generally more concerned with other, higher matters.
- Also, different historical periods require different attitudes regarding human conduct. The present period of Western culture perhaps resembles in more ways that of second and third century Alexandria. It seems therefore appropriate that Gnostics in our age adopt the attitudes of classical Alexandrian Gnosticism, wherein matters of conduct were largely left to the insight of the individual.
- Gnosticism embraces numerous general attitudes toward life: it encourages non-attachment and non-conformity to the world, a “being in the world, but not of the world”; a lack of egotism; and a respect for the freedom and dignity of other beings. However, it is up to the individual Gnostic to determine their own personal guidelines. The ideal morality comes from an inner integrity arising from the illumination of the divine spark.
- Death does not automatically bring about liberation from bondage in the realms of the Demiurge. Those who have not attained Gnosis in their lifetime may become trapped in existence once more. It is quite likely that this might occur by way of the cycle of rebirths.
- Christ and Sophia await the spiritual man (who achieved Gnosis) at the entrance of the Pleroma, and help him to enter the bridechamber of final reunion. In the fullness of time, every spiritual being will receive Gnosis and will be united with its higher Self - the angelic Twin - thus becoming qualified to enter the Pleroma. None of this is possible, however, without earnest striving for Gnosis.
http: //gnosis.org/gnintro.htm
Docetism
Docetism:
the doctrine, important in Gnosticism, that Christ’s body was not human but either a phantasm or of real but celestial substance, and that therefore his sufferings were only apparent.
Skepticism
Skepticism:
- a skeptical attitude; doubt as to the truth of something.
- PHILOSOPHY: the theory that certain knowledge is impossible.
Humanism
Humanism:
(“We don’t need God.”)
an outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters. Humanist beliefs stress the potential value and goodness of human beings, emphasize common human needs, and seek solely rational ways of solving human problems.
Ecumenism
Ecumenism:
the principle or aim of promoting unity among the world’s Christian churches.
Nihilism
Nihilism:
the rejection of all religious and moral principles, often in the belief that life is meaningless.
Pantheism
Pantheism:
a doctrine that identifies God with the universe, or regards the universe as a manifestation of God.
Secularism
Secularism:
the principle of separation of the state from religious institutions.
Existentialism
Existentialism:
a philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.
(“The power of the will to conquer despair”)
Determinism
Determinism:
the doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes external to the will. Some philosophers have taken determinism to imply that individual human beings have no free will and cannot be held morally responsible for their actions.
Mysticism
Mysticism:
belief that it is possible to gain experiential knowledge of that which transcends the limits of human reason and sensory perception. In religious traditions, the mystic holds that it is possible to gain an awareness of God or ultimate reality through certain kinds of experiences, which are often claimed to be ineffable (can’t be expressed or described in intelligible language).
Confucianism
Confucianism:
a system of philosophical and ethical teachings founded by Confucius and developed by Mencius.
Deism
Deism:
belief in the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator who does not intervene in the universe. The term is used chiefly of an intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries that accepted the existence of a creator on the basis of reason but rejected belief in a supernatural deity who interacts with humankind.
Asceticism
Asceticism:
severe self-discipline and avoidance of all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons.
Pragmatism
Pragmatism:
an approach that assesses the truth of meaning of theories or beliefs in terms of the success of their practical application.
Jainism
Jainism:
a nontheistic religion founded in India in the 6th century BC by the Jina Vardhamana Mahavira as a reaction against the teachings of orthodox Brahmanism, and still practiced there. The Jain religion teaches salvation by perfection through successive lives, and noninjury to living creatures, and is noted for its ascetics.
Scientism
Scientism:
excessive belief in the power of scientific knowledge and techniques.
(“Science has disproved God.”)
Hedonism
Hedonism:
(“Whatever makes you happy.”)
- the pursuit of pleasure; sensual self-indulgence.
- the ethical theory that pleasure (satisfaction of desires) is the highest good and proper aim of human life.
Pluralism
Pluralism:
(“All paths are equally valid.”)
- a condition or system in which two or more states, groups, principles, sources of authority, etc., coexist.
- a form of society in which the members of minority groups maintain their independent cultural traditions.
- a political theory or system of power-sharing among a number of political parties.
- a theory or system of devolution and autonomy for individual bodies in preference to monolithic state control.
- philosophy: a theory or system that recognizes more than one ultimate principle.
Subjectivism
Subjectivism:
1) the doctrine that all knowledge is limited to experiences by the self, and that transcendent knowledge is impossible.
2) any of various theories maintaining that moral judgments are statements concerning the emotional or mental reactions of the individual or the community.
Syncretism
Syncretism:
the amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought.
Postmodernism
Postmodernism:
a late-20th-century style and concept in the arts, architecture, and criticism that represents a departure from modernism and has at its heart a general distrust of grand theories and ideologies as well as a problematical relationship with any notion of “art.”
