Perhaps the central paradox of the religious life is that it seeks transcendence, a dimension of existence that goes beyond our mundane lives, but that human beings can only experience this transcende...
People would continue to adopt a particular conception of the divine because it worked for them, not because it was scientifically or philosophically sound.
One of the chief tasks of our time must surely be to build a global community in which all peoples can live together in mutual respect; yet religion, which should be making a major contribution, is se...
Mir Dimad (d. 1631) and his pupil Mulla Sadra (d. 1640) founded a school of mystical philosophy at Isfahan, which Majlisi did his best to suppress. They continued the tradition of Suhrawardi, linking...
Men and women have formulated this perception of sacred space in different ways over the centuries, but in their discussion of the special status of a city such as Jerusalem certain themes tend to rec...
Many found the very idea hilarious. Hi, Karen—how’s God? they would ask, as though inquiring about a mutual acquaintance.
Jesus
Jefferson the deist was accused of being an atheist and even a Muslim.
It is not true that Islam makes it impossible for Muslims to create a modern secular society, as Westerners sometimes imagine. But it is true that secularization has been very different in the Muslim...
In the Quranic vision there is no dichotomy between the sacred and the profane, the religious and the political, sexuality and worship. The whole of life was potentially holy and had to be brought int...
In fact, the causes of conflict are usually greed, envy, and ambition, but in an effort to sanitize them, these self-serving emotions have often been cloaked in religious rhetoric.
Het was niet het opzet van de eerste christenen om zich van het jodendom af te scheiden. De enige Jezus die we echt kennen, de Jezus is die wordt beschreven in het Nieuwe Testament, dat niet als objec...
He was decisive and wholehearted in everything he did, so intent non the task at hand that he never looked over his shoulder, even if his cloak got caught in a thorny bush. When he did turn to speak t...
Enmity shapes our consciousness and identity.
Descartes’s argument turns out to be a reworking of Anselm’s Ontological Proof. When we doubt, the limitations and finite nature of the ego are revealed. Yet we could not arrive at the idea of imperfe...
Deeds that seemed unimportant at the time would prove to have been momentous; a tiny act of selfishness and unkindness or, conversely, an unconsidered act of generosity would become the measure of a h...
De wetenschappelijke consensus is dat het verhaal van de uittocht niet historisch is. [...] Omstreeks 1200 v.C. is er in dit gebied voor het eerst sprake van een volk dat 'Israel' heet. Sommige wetens...
De profeet Jeremia [...] had zo zijn bedenkingen tegen een geschreven wet: de 'pen van de schrijvers' kon de traditie door een simpele schrijffout vervalsen en een geschreven tekst kon een oppervlakki...
Compassion has been advocated by all the great faiths because it has been found to be the safest and surest means of attaining enlightenment.
Christian spirituality had been strongly influenced by Platonism, which sought to liberate the soul from the body, but in some circles in the early fourth century, people were beginning to hope that t...