Religious Beliefs, MIR-NOS
Our religious beliefs can affect our lifestyle, our perceptions, and our way of relating to fellow human beings. Is there a higher power (or powers) that governs the universe and judges all of us? Does committing a mortal sin mean the death of a soul, or is there a chance for forgiveness? The answers to such questions differ widely across different religions.
Religious Beliefs Encyclopedia Articles By Title
miracle
miracle, extraordinary and astonishing happening that is attributed to the presence and action of an ultimate or......
Mishna
Mishna, the oldest authoritative postbiblical collection and codification of Jewish oral laws, systematically compiled......
missal
missal, type of book containing the prayers, important chants, responses, and necessary instructions for the celebration......
mission
mission, in Christianity, an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. During the early years,......
miter
miter, liturgical headdress worn by Roman Catholic bishops (including cardinals, archbishops, and popes) and abbots......
Mithraism
Mithraism, the worship of Mithra, the Iranian god of the sun, justice, contract, and war in pre-Zoroastrian Iran.......
Mitnagged
Mitnagged, member of a group of tradition-minded Jews who vigorously opposed the mid-18th-century Hasidic movement......
Mitzvah
Mitzvah, any commandment, ordinance, law, or statute contained in the Torah (first five books of the Bible) and,......
Mizrahi Jew
Mizrahi Jew, member or descendant of the approximately 1.5 million Jews who lived in North Africa and the Middle......
miḥnah
miḥnah, any of the Islāmic courts of inquiry established about ad 833 by the ʿAbbāsid caliph al-Maʾmūn (reigned......
modern Paganism
modern Paganism, family of new religions that all take their inspiration from the extinct pre-Christian religions......
Mohism
Mohism, school of Chinese philosophy founded by Mozi (q.v.) in the 5th century bce. This philosophy challenged......
moksha
moksha, in Indian philosophy and religion, liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth (samsara). Derived from......
Monarchianism
Monarchianism, in Christianity, a Christological position that opposed the doctrine of an independent, personal......
monasticism
monasticism, an institutionalized religious practice or movement whose members attempt to live by a rule that requires......
monk
monk, man who separates himself from society and lives either alone (a hermit or anchorite) or in an organized......
monophysite
monophysite, in Christianity, one who believed that Jesus Christ’s nature remains altogether divine and not human......
monotheism
monotheism, belief in the existence of one god, or in the oneness of God. As such, it is distinguished from polytheism,......
Monothelite
Monothelite, any of the 7th-century Christians who, while otherwise orthodox, maintained that Christ had only one......
monsignor
monsignor, a title of honour in the Roman Catholic Church, borne by persons of ecclesiastic rank and implying a......
monstrance
monstrance, in the Roman Catholic Church and some other churches, a vessel in which the consecrated eucharistic......
Montanism
Montanism, a schismatic movement founded by the prophet Montanus that arose in the Christian church in Phrygia,......
moon worship
moon worship, adoration or veneration of the moon, a deity in the moon, or a personification or symbol of the moon.......
moral theology
moral theology, Christian theological discipline concerned with identifying and elucidating the principles that......
mortal sin
mortal sin, in Roman Catholic theology, the gravest of sins, representing a deliberate turning away from God and......
Mother goddess
Mother goddess, any of a variety of feminine deities and maternal symbols of creativity, birth, fertility, sexual......
motu proprio
motu proprio, (Latin: “on one’s own initiative”), in the Roman Catholic church, a papal document personally signed......
Mourning
Mourning, formal demonstration of grief at the death of a person, practiced in most societies. Mourners are usually......
Mozarab
Mozarab, (from Arabic mustaʿrib, “arabicized”), any of the Spanish Christians living under Muslim rule (8th–11th......
Moʿed
Moʿed, (Hebrew: “Festival”), second of the six major divisions, or orders (sedarim), of the Mishna (codification......
mudang
mudang, in Korean shamanism, a priestess who employs magic to effect cures, to tell fortunes, to soothe spirits......
mudor šuan
mudor šuan, ceremony held by the Votyaks, or Udmurts (people of the Ural Mountains), to consecrate a new family......
mudra
mudra, (“seal,” “mark,” or “gesture”), in Buddhism and Hinduism, a symbolic gesture of the hands and fingers used......
muezzin
muezzin, in Islam, the official who proclaims the call to prayer (adhān) on Friday for the public worship and the......
mufti
mufti, an Islamic legal authority who gives a formal legal opinion (fatwa) in answer to an inquiry by a private......
Muharram
Muharram, in the Islamic calendar, the first month of the year, which is considered a sacred time in Islam. It......
mujahideen
mujahideen, in its broadest sense, Muslims who fight on behalf of the faith or the Muslim community (ummah). Its......
mujāhadah
mujāhadah, (Arabic: “striving”), in Sufism, struggle with the carnal self; the word is related to jihad (struggle),......
mullah
mullah, a Muslim title generally denoting “lord”; it is used in various parts of the Islāmic world as an honorific......
multiple souls
multiple souls, widely distributed notion, especially in central and northern Asia and Indonesia, that an individual’s......
mummy
mummy, body embalmed, naturally preserved, or treated for burial with preservatives after the manner of the ancient......
Murder Most Horrid: The Grisliest Deaths of Roman Catholic Saints
Beheading, stoning, crucifixion, burning at the stake: In the annals of Roman Catholic saints, those methods of......
murti
murti, in Hinduism, a sacred image or depiction of a deity. In Sanskrit the word murti means anything that has......
musaf
musaf, (Hebrew: “additional sacrifice”), in Jewish liturgy, the “additional service” recited on the sabbath and......
Muscular Christianity
Muscular Christianity, ideology that promotes engagement in athletics as an expression of Christian ethical values......
mushāhadah
mushāhadah, in Sufi (Muslim mystic) terminology, the vision of God obtained by the illuminated heart of the seeker......
musubi
musubi, in the Shintō religion of Japan, the power of becoming or creation. A number of deities are associated......
mutʿah
mutʿah, in Islamic law, a temporary marriage that is contracted for a limited or fixed period and involves the......
Muʿtazilah
Muʿtazilah, in Islam, political or religious neutralists; by the 10th century ce the term had come to refer specifically......
mysterium tremendum et fascinans
mysterium tremendum et fascinans, Latin phrase coined by German scholar of religion and theologian Rudolf Otto......
mystery religion
mystery religion, any of various secret cults of the Greco-Roman world that offered to individuals religious experiences......
- Introduction
- Secular Communities, Rituals, Beliefs
- Hellenistic, Rituals, Beliefs
- Ancient Rituals, Gods, & Beliefs
- Rituals, Initiation, Gods
- Rites, Festivals, Beliefs
- Seasonal Festivals
- Ancient Beliefs, Rituals, & Practices
- Rituals, Gods, Beliefs
- Ancient Rituals, Reliefs, Beliefs
- Ancient Beliefs, Rituals, Practices
mystical body of Christ
mystical body of Christ, in Roman Catholicism, a mystical union of all Christians into a spiritual body with Jesus......
mysticism
mysticism, the practice of religious ecstasies (religious experiences during alternate states of consciousness),......
myth
myth, a symbolic narrative, usually of unknown origin and at least partly traditional, that ostensibly relates......
- Introduction
- Folklore, Legends, Fables
- Origins, Functions, Types
- Allegory, Symbolism, Narrative
- Origin, Ritual, Belief
- Folklore, Ritual, Symbolism
- Rituals, Symbols, Beliefs
- Storytelling, Art, Ritual
- Origins, Rituals, Beliefs
- Messianic, Millenarian, Beliefs
- Kings, Ascetics, Legends
- Animals, Plants, Legends
- Creation, Origins, Beliefs
- Creation, Plants, Animals
- Transformation, Culture, Rituals
- Alter Ego, Life Index, Storytelling
Märchen
Märchen, folktale characterized by elements of magic or the supernatural, such as the endowment of a mortal character......
Mādhyamika
Mādhyamika, (Sanskrit: “Intermediate”), important school in the Mahāyāna (“Great Vehicle”) Buddhist tradition.......
Mālikī
Mālikī, in Islam, one of the four Sunni schools of law, formerly the ancient school of Medina. Founded in the 8th......
Māturīdiyyah
Māturīdiyyah, Muslim orthodox school of theology named after its founder Abū Manṣūr Muḥammad al-Māturīdī (died......
Mʾzabite
Mʾzabite, member of a Berber people who inhabit the Mʾzab oases of southern Algeria. Members of the Ibāḍīyah subsect......
naga
naga, in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, a member of a class of mythical semidivine beings, half human and half......
Nagual
Nagual, personal guardian spirit believed by some Mesoamerican Indians to reside in an animal, such as a deer,......
Namdhari
Namdhari, an austere sect within Sikhism, a religion of India. The Namdhari movement was founded by Balak Singh......
Nashim
Nashim, (Hebrew: “Women”), the third of the six major divisions, or orders (sedarim), of the Mishna (codification......
nat
nat, in Burmese folk religion, any of a group of spirits that are the objects of an extensive, probably pre-Buddhist......
Native American religions
Native American religions, religious beliefs and sacramental practices of the indigenous peoples of North and South......
Nature worship
Nature worship, system of religion based on the veneration of natural phenomena—for example, celestial objects......
naus
naus, prehistoric grave found in the Balearic Isles. The naus was built of closely fitting blocks of stone in the......
navagraha
navagraha, in Indian astrology (jyotisha), the set of nine celestial bodies that is thought to impact people’s......
Navratri
Navratri, in Hinduism, a nine-day festival held in honor of the divine feminine. The term navratri originates from......
Nayanar
Nayanar, any of the Tamil poet-musicians of the 7th and 8th centuries ce who composed devotional hymns of great......
Nazarene
Nazarene, in the New Testament, a title applied to Jesus and, later, to those who followed his teachings (Acts......
Nazirite
Nazirite, (from Hebrew nazar, “to abstain from” or “to consecrate oneself to”), among the ancient Hebrews, a sacred......
Nechung oracle
Nechung oracle, oracle-priest of Tibet who, until the conquest of Tibet in 1959 by the People’s Republic of China,......
necromancy
necromancy, communication with the dead, usually in order to obtain insight into the future or to accomplish some......
Necropolis
Necropolis, (from Greek nekropolis, “city of the dead”), in archaeology, an extensive and elaborate burial place......
neilah
neilah, in Judaism, the last of the five Yom Kippur services. As the concluding rite of Yom Kippur, the service......
Neo-Confucianism
Neo-Confucianism, in Japan, the official guiding philosophy of the Tokugawa period (1603–1867). This philosophy......
neoorthodoxy
neoorthodoxy, influential 20th-century Protestant theological movement in Europe and America, known in Europe as......
ner tamid
ner tamid, (Hebrew: “eternal light”), lamp that burns perpetually in Jewish synagogues before or near the ark of......
New Age movement
New Age movement, movement that spread through the occult and metaphysical religious communities in the 1970s and......
New Fire Ceremony
New Fire Ceremony, in Aztec religion, ritual celebrated every 52 years when the 260-day ritual and 365-day civil......
New Moon
New Moon, (Hebrew: “Head of the Month”), the start of the Hebrew month, a minor Jewish festival on which fasting......
new religious movement
new religious movement (NRM), the generally accepted term for what is sometimes called, often with pejorative connotations,......
New Year festival
New Year festival, any of the social, cultural, and religious observances worldwide that celebrate the beginning......
Neziqin
Neziqin, (Hebrew: “Damages”), the fourth of the six major divisions, or orders (sedarim), of the Mishna (codification......
Nichiren Buddhism
Nichiren Buddhism, school of Japanese Buddhism named after its founder, the 13th-century militant prophet and saint......
nigun
nigun, wordless song sung by Ḥasidic Jews as a means of elevating the soul to God. Because they lacked words, the......
nikāya
nikāya, in Buddhism, any of the so-called “Eighteen Schools” of Indian sectarian Buddhism. After the second Buddhist......
Nirankari
Nirankari, religious reform movement within Sikhism. The Nirankari movement was founded by Dayal Das (died 1855),......
nirjara
nirjara, in Jainism, a religion of India, the destruction of karman (a physical substance that binds itself to......
Nirmala
Nirmala, an ascetic order of the Sikhs, a religious group of India. Nirmalas (“those without blemish”) at first......
nirvana
nirvana, in Indian religious thought, the supreme goal of certain meditation disciplines. Although it occurs in......
nix
nix, in Germanic mythology, a water being, half human, half fish, that lives in a beautiful underwater palace and......
nkisi
nkisi, in west-central African lore, any object or material substance invested with sacred energy and made available......
Noahide Laws
Noahide Laws, a Jewish Talmudic designation for seven biblical laws given to Adam and to Noah before the revelation......
noaidi
noaidi, in Sami religion, a shaman who mediates between the people he serves and the supernatural beings and forces......
nomocanon
nomocanon, Byzantine collection of ecclesiastical legislation (canons) and civil laws (Greek nomoi) related to......
Nonjuror
Nonjuror, in British history, any of the beneficed clergy of the Church of England and the Episcopal Church in......
norito
norito, in the Shintō religious practices of Japan, words, or prayer, addressed by worshipers to a deity. The efficacy......
Nostradamus and His Prophecies
Nostradamus was a 16th-century seer. He and his prophecies—revered by some, ridiculed by others—are still well......