Mystics Are Beyond Religions

Summoning the Powers Beyond: Traditional Religions in Micronesia

Beyond beliefs: religions bind individuals into moral communities.

Social psychologists have often followed other scientists in treating religiosity primarily as a set of beliefs held by individuals. But, beliefs are only one facet of this complex and multidimensional construct. The authors argue that social psychology can best contribute to scholarship on religion by being relentlessly social. They begin with a social-functionalist approach in which beliefs, ...

Beyond Reason: The Certitude of the Mystics from Al-Hallaj to

This article examines the teachings of several Christian and Sufi mystics on the position of reason in the spiritual life, from Al-Hallaj (d. 922) to David R. Hawkins (b. 1927). In the plethora of “maps,” “stages,” and “ladders” discussed by mystics, the level of reason is highly regarded as a “rung” of spiritual attainment. However, reason alone is not enough to transport the soul to the most ...

Religions / Adyān

s of the articles in Arabic Sources of Tolerance and Intolerance in Islam by Ibrahim Kalin Healing Interreligious Relationships by Leo Lefebure Disagreeing to Agree: A Christian Response to A Common Word by James Cutsinger Religious Diversity and Harmonious Living: The Indian Story and Challenge by Michael Amaladoss Jews and Muslims: Why They Have More in Common than They Realize by Robert Eise...

Explaining moral religions.

Moralizing religions, unlike religions with morally indifferent gods or spirits, appeared only recently in some (but not all) large-scale human societies. A crucial feature of these new religions is their emphasis on proportionality (between deeds and supernatural rewards, between sins and penance, and in the formulation of the Golden Rule, according to which one should treat others as one woul...