Spirituality and religion are two things that embody each other in many ways. These tenets have been around since the beginning of man. The practice of spirituality or religion takes place in almost everyone’s life at one time or another. Pope Francis at Apostolic Palace 00120, Vatican City, is the top religious leader of the day. Dalai Lama of Thekchen Complex, Teapc Road, P. O. Mcleadgani, Hemachal Pradesh, India, is the top spiritual leader. People need spirituality and religion in their lives for structure, enlightenment, joy, and happiness. These faiths are sometimes mistaken for the same thing, but spirituality and religion have very different meanings. Spirituality is the best way to practice a faith based way of life. Religion is too rigid and has many definitions with just as many denominations. Each religion has its own set beliefs, as well as its own way to worship. Pope Francis, who was elected as the world’s top religious leader said, “The Church is or should go back to being a community of God’s people, and priests, pastors and bishops, who have the c...
Religion has 7 core attributes that allow someone to call it a religion, these include Narrative, Doctrine, Emotional, Material, Ethical, Ritual and Social. These seven attributes help individuals identify what can be classified as a “religion”, however spirituality has no “easy way” to identifying it. Spirituality can be found within the individual looking for their “meaning” but not physically expressed.
Rodriguez makes a point of stating that there are tensions between the “brother religions”, religions that should be unified but instead are “united and divided by the masculine sense of faith”, still this same pattern is shown within the church (146). Rodriguez acknowledges the fact that the church is being divided each day due
The contemporary Church is so often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch-supporter of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the Church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the Church's silent and often vocal sanction of things as they are.”
Based on a mixture of ideas coming from the stated authors, I comprehend spirituality as believing in something and living for a purpose in life. Regardless of a religion, people can still be spiritual. Spirituality is the influence behind a person’s actions; whatever a person desires to do, will lead to actions and in turn, spirituality (Rolheiser 7). According to Rolheiser, “Spirituality is mo...
At the beginning of the sixteenth century church theologian, Martin Luther, wrote the 95 Theses questioning the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church. In this essay I will discuss: the practices of the Roman Catholic Church Martin Luther wanted to reform, what Martin’s specific criticism of the pope was, and the current practices Pope Francis I is interested in refining in the Roman Catholic Church today.
While spirituality is often defined today as the synonym for religion, there are many dissonant voices in Christianity who would disagree with this meaning. Peterson is one of them, arguing that spirituality is not religion or exclusive, but that spirituality is deeply integrated in the
Spirituality is a major factor for many people when deciding their morals. Spirituality can have various definitions, depending on who is asked. It can be something as simple as looking for a higher meaning to life, or something so complex that one can base their beliefs, religion, morals and overall life around it. According to the Oxford Dictionary, spirituality can be defined as “relating to, or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.” You can find this sense of spirituality in almost everything. Finding spirituality in something can make an individual feel enlightened and bring strong emotion and deep feeling. In comparison to the Oxford Dictionary, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary states that spirituality is “the quality or state of being concerned with religion or religious matters.” There is not one sole definition for spirituality because every individual has their own beliefs on what they think is spiritual.
Spirituality is a broad concept, often met with skepticism, but for those who believe in spirituality, it is something real and can have positive effects. Spirituality is difficult to operationalize because it is defined and understood in multiple ways. Participants in studies have described spirituality from experiencing a connection with God or a higher power, to believing something exists that is beyond oneself, to being a search for inner peace and supporting core values to become an ideal human (Hodge & McGrew, 2006). For this paper, spirituality will be defined as an inclusive, multidimensional phenomenon (Starks, Vakalahi & McPhatter, 2014). As well, for this paper belief in spirituality, belief in something bigger than oneself, whether
Early Modern Europe experienced several tragedies in which the citizens sensed that there must be a better way to live where happiness was more familiar. Alterations for what truly defines absolute happiness in a society during these times of catastrophe were expressed through utopian literature. Thomas More’s Utopia, Tomasso Campanella’s City of the Sun, and Caron De Beaumarchais’ The Marriage of Figaro together attempt to answer what truly creates a happy civilization during different periods of crisis within Europe. Each of these utopian literature’s suggest a different origin that happiness derives from, soundly signifying that change in Europe would be beneficial. The revolutionary ideas of change in Europe proposed by Utopia, City of the Sun, and The Marriage of Figaro through their individual utopias, demonstrated their beliefs that such change of social classes, the expression of pleasures morally, and a more unified government would lead to a happier, less corrupt society.
In the Western world, the schism within the Catholic Church has made its most significant impact due to rapid changes in social standards. Of greatest importance is the evolution of modern society and their response to the reverberated traditions of the Catholic Church as well as the evolving Protestant sects. In consequence of increases in technology and science, modern society has redefined its acceptable and moral behavioral standards within a social setting, whereas, the Catholic Church stands firm in its doctrines despite social and moral movements in the twentieth century. Except for the Second Vatican Council and the Council of Trent, the Roman Catholic Church has not worked to revise its religious traditions in response to a changing society. As a consequence with this unparalleled development, many young adults and the population in general has swayed from the devout Catholic worship.1
Ecumenical spirits influence various religions to lay aside theological differences, and accept and tolerate diverse beliefs coming together and forming ecclesiastical bonds. Historically, Catholics and Protestants fought each other, and not only through verbal exchange, but through physical means as well. World and religious leaders today advocate accepting all faiths and tolerance of differing viewpoints. For the most part they reflect the ideals of the general consensus. Popular opinion suggests that there are various paths to God, and it is narrow minded to believe there is only on...
Spiritual leadership has not been widely accepted by leaders because of the religious implications, according to Yusof and Tahir (2011). Additionally, theorists and practitioners do not agree on one definition, adding to many versions of the term spirituality (Fukui et al., 2010). Furthermore, terms such as workplace spirituality, spirituality, spiritual leadership, and organizational spirituality are used interchangeably, creating inconsistency and confusion. Others claim workplace spirituali...
“Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.” According to Buddha, everyone needs some form of spirituality to define his or her life and existence. Webster Dictionary defines spiritualism as “a system of beliefs or religious practices based on supposed communication with the spirits of the dead, often times through mediums.” Though this is one general definition of spiritualism, this concept is one that does not hold a conclusive meaning. Each and every single person has the ability and right to create and practice their own idea of spiritualism. From ancient times to present day, the term and practice of spirituality has transformed, particularly from region to region. Despite the discrepancies in practices and overall understanding of this idea, spirituality has had an effect and impact upon all of humanity since the creation of time. This religion that is believed to have been established in the early eighteen hundreds, after two little girls claimed to have the ability to talk to spirits, sparked interest in this spiritual movement, allowing it to spread rather rapidly over many geographical locations. Aside from being recognized as a religion, spiritualism is also believed to be a form of philosophy and a science in which spiritualists believe that there is life after death and try to demonstrate this through the ability of attempting to communicate with those that have passed on. Spiritualism was socially different from other religions in existence at the time because it presented followers with a more tolerant belief system that assimilated the principles and facts from a selection the world's religions. Spiritualism also made it acceptable for women to play a disti...
Ganga and Kutty stated (2013) spirituality refers to a path of life that enables people to seek reason of their existence and helps people explore challenges. Ganga and Kutty (2013) conducted a study on adults to see if spirituality had positive effects on their life, meaning did their life have purpose or value. Each participant partook in a study that asked questions about their life and purpose. The study consisted of a daily spiritual experience scale, it was a point scale that consist of 16 items to be rated on a 6-point scale. The results concluded that spirituality has positive effects on their life when seeking their purpose. Each participant felt that he/she had a purpose and that their life was valuable and meaningful (Ganga and Kutty, 2013). According to Ganga and Kutty (2013), spirituality is a way for people to discover the meaning of their life. Spirituality is a personal adventure to understand answers to the questions they seek to find about their spirituality and purpose in life. It says spirituality is a set of beliefs and practices that concludes with life changing paths that make a person’s life meaningful. Spirituality has been viewed as an important factor when realizing the purpose of life. Ganga and Kutty (2013) expressed spirituality enhances our emotions, thoughts, beliefs, relieves stress and it finds meaning and purpose of one’s life. I believe
Spirituality can have many different definitions, depending on who is asked. It can be something as simple as looking for a higher meaning to life, or something so complex that one can base their beliefs, religion and overall life around it. There are several different ways to express one's spirituality; rituals, songs, dances, stories, and writings are all common methods of expression.