Final Semester 2

New Spirituality

a worldview that believes in the monomyth; is pantheistic and believes that we need to connect to a collective consciousness (the universe) to achieve our full potential; disagrees with materialism; the theory of evolution frees humanity from the idea that we are all sinful; quantum physics affirms this worldview; the world we see is not all there is;. associated with astrology, firewalking, aura readings, and crystal therapy

New Spirituality’s View of Reality

reality is eternal, reality is impersonal, reality is divine

Contributions to the New Spirituality Worldview

eastern religion, pop psychology, self-help teaching

Law of Attraction

Good thoughts produce good energy and negative thoughts produce negative energy

Meditation

the art of focusing one’s mind to induce a higher state of consciousness; freedom from the Illusion of Self can be attained from practicing this as well as yoga

Goal of Reincarnation

To be cleansed from our karmic debt, to reconnect with consciousness, to rid ourselves of individualism

Deep ecology

the environmental philosophy that contends that all living creatures should have legal rights

Ecofeminism

the political philosophy that links the oppression of women and the exploitation of the environment

Bhagavad Gita

the ancient Hindu text that chronicles the conversations between Arjuna and Krishna; the primary source of special revelation for New Spiritualists

Enlightenment

New Spiritualist belief that we can permanently free ourselves from the illusion of self when this is achieved; we can transcend the limitations of our physical existence by connecting with a higher consciousness

Transcendentalism

movement from the early 1800s that believed in the inherent goodness of people and the immanence of the divine within nature

Consciousness

the divine interconnected essence of reality and our ultimate nature as human beings; an energy that we can connect to, harness, and use; New Spiritualists believe attaining it is our life’s purpose and ignorance of it is the source of suffering

Pantheism

the belief that everything is god

Reincarnation

is the process by which the body passes away but the soul continues its quest for enlightenment in another form

Karmic Debt

the belief that good is returned to those who do good, and evil is returned to those who do evil; karma encourages people to be ignorant toward those who are suffering; the chief among our karmic failings is seeing ourselves as finite individuals

Nirvana

the transcendental state of peace that comes through the release of suffering, self, and karmic bondage

Gaia Hypothesis

the theory that all living organisms form a collective self-regulating living entity

Channeling

the practice of communicating with disembodied spirits

The monomyth

all religions basically tell the same story

god of New Spirituality

everything and everyone is god; god is not a separate person with identifiable attributes, it is an energy; receive our god-likeness through meditation, manifestation, yoga, etc; the better we understand consciousness, the clearer our divinity becomes

Postmodernism

believes that truth and humans are socially constructed and that language functions as a tool of power and manipulation to oppress others; doubts the objectivity of everything; our gender, culture, and language affect how we see the world; truth cannot be known and we do not have direct access to reality; the problems with humanity is our adherence to metanarratives; all worldviews offer biased truth claims; things do not have essences; human nature does not exist

Friederich Nietzsche

pronounced “God is dead;” predicted that once we killed our belief in God, all truth, meaning, and morality will cease to exist

Where Christians and Postmodernists Agree

our cultures play a role in shaping who we are, our experiences contribute to who we are, language can be used to manipulate people

Where Christians and Postmodernists Disagree

Postmodernists say we cannot judge between competing ideas, we cannot perceive reality as it actually is, all language is manipulation

Deconstruction

states that the reader’s interpretation is more important than the author’s intent; there is no meaning in the text

Postmodernist Literary Criticism

claims that words cannot accurately describe objects in the world; words are about words

Modernism

characterized by a strong belief in human reason, empiricism, science, and technological progress as well as skepticism toward religion

Nihlism

the belief that the world and human existence are without meaning, purpose, truth, or essential value

Sophists

a group of people who practiced constructing persuasive arguments, regardless of whether or not they were true

Structuralism

an intellectual movement that believes human knowledge is not based on an accurate understanding of reality, but is the product of linguistically constructed forms or grammars that societies have developed over time

Post-Structuralism

an intellectual movement that contends human communication is not really about things but about the views and motivations of those involved in the conversation

Deconstruction

is a method of literary analysis that seeks to expose the underlying ideologies of a text

Jean-Francis Lyotard

described Postmodernism as an “incredulity toward metanarratives”

Anti-Realism

the denial of the existence or accessibility of an objective reality

Pragmatism

contends that propositions don’t mirror reality and should therefore be treated as tools and judged by their practical consequences; views words as tools for getting others to behave in a manner one deems preferable

Postmodernist-Christianity

hybrid worldview that teaches that since we are fallen and limited, we should demonstrate Christian humility by refusing to make exclusive truth claims

Marxism and Postmodernism

many Postmodernists start as Marxist, but see the violence and oppression it brings about and begin to disagree with it. They believe it puts too much power into the people in charge and is too focused on the group rather than the individual. Believe Postmodernism is the perfect balance of having some Marxist ideas, but not using violence or oppression to put certain people in power

Buddhism and Postmodernism

Postmodernism and middle-way Buddhism share a similar view of truth

Morality

a personal standard of determining right and wrong

Teleological Ethics

an ethical system that judges morality by the consequences of the actions

Deontological Ethics

an ethical system that judges morality based upon some principal of duty

Hedonism

the belief that we ought to do whatever maximizes our personal pleasure

Ethical Egoism

the belief that we ought to do whatever is in our own best interest

Scientism

the philosophical belief that reliable knowledge is obtained solely through the scientific method

Situational Ethics

the belief that the morality of an action is determined by the unique situation of that action

Luke 10:27; The Most Important Law

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself”

Romans 12:9

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.”

Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5-7; the apex of Christ’s ethical teaching

Ethics

the study of morals and how different moral beliefs come to be

Moral Relativism

the belief that there are no absolute moral laws or a moral lawgiver and that individuals can decide what is right and wrong for them

Utilitarianism

the ethical belief that whatever is good is whatever benefits the largest amount of people

Proletariat Morality

believes that whatever advances the Proletariat is moral and anything else is immoral

Cultural Relativism

believes that morals are specific to each individual culture

Karma

karma is the belief that whatever good or bad actions you take will follow you in this life or the next and you will either receive good things or punishment

Divine Command Theory

includes the claim that morality is ultimately based on the commands or character of God, and that the morally right action is the one that God commands or requires

Agape

unconditional love shown by God. Christians show agape love by serving others spiritually and physically

Universally Condemned Acts

murder, lying, and adultery

Secularist Ethics

Human beings make ethical rules; completely naturalistic explanation for ethics; ethical impulses emerge from nature; view science as the primary guide for forming a workable ethical outlook

Marxist Ethics

religion and capitalism are immoral; the ends justify the means so violent revolution is encouraged;

Postmodernist Ethics

suspicious of revelation, reason, and absolutes; rejects the notion of universal moral norms

Muslim Ethics

derives their ethics from Quran and Hadith; no divisions of ethics and law; Allan is not directly knowable, though his decrees are fully revealed through the actions of Muhammad

New Spiritualist Ethics

the source for morality is found within ourselves; Buddhism and Hinduism recognize that at least some actions are objectively wrong

Christian Ethics

moral norms proceed from God’s nature; task is to determine what conforms to God’s character and what does not; common ethical systems among vastly different cultures is evidence of a universal law and universal lawgiver; loving God means serving others both spiritually and physically