Belief in an afterlife, which may be naturalistic or supernatural, is in contrast to the belief in eternal oblivion after death.

In contrast, Dark Shadows ( 1966 – 1971 ) and Port Charles ( 1997-2003 ) featured supernatural characters and dealt with fantasy and horror storylines.

They use this assertion to support their claim that modern science is atheistic, and contrast it with their preferred approach of a revived natural philosophy which welcomes supernatural explanations for natural phenomena and supports theistic science.

* Thomas Pynchon's three novels Gravity's Rainbow, Mason & Dixon and Against the Day are historical, and they variously contrast outrageous personal, subjective, hallucinogenic or even supernatural events with very real, well-researched accuracies from the past.

In contrast to the supernatural, preternatural phenomena are presumed to have rational explanations that are unknown.

In contrast to the fancifully poetic language devoted to fantastic and supernatural events about unbelievable creatures and chivalric knights, the realistic prose of Lazarillo described suppliants purchasing indulgences from the Church, servants forced to die with their masters on the battlefield ( as Lazarillo's father did ), thousands of refugees wandering from town to town, poor beggars flogged away by whips because of the lack of food.

In contrast to Duccio's regal depiction of the Virgin in the Maesta and Simone's Annunciation with a scene that appears supernatural, the Birth of the Virgin is notable for Pietro's representation of the Virgin in a corporeal setting.

This is another contrast to the old games, where so many different types of supernatural creature had been defined that normal humans often seemed unimportant.

In contrast to Pentecostals, charismatics tend to accept a range of supernatural experiences ( such as prophecy, miracles, healing, or " physical manifestations of an altered state of consciousness ") as evidence of having been baptized or filled with the Holy Spirit.

Besides providing a contrast to D's reserved demeanor, Left Hand is incredibly useful, possessing many mysterious powers such as psychometry, inducing sleep, determining the medical condition of a victim, and the ability to size up the supernatural powers or prowess of an enemy, even beyond D's keen senses.

In contrast to Buber, Scholem believed in the power of the language to invoke supernatural phenomena.

By contrast, Thales attempted to find naturalistic explanations of the world, without reference to the supernatural.

" Her gothic style of dress and her interest in death and the supernatural enigmatically contrast with her generally hyperactive demeanor and enthusiasm about her work.

This emphasised the mind as the route to internalising Hasidic mystical dveikus ( emotional fervour ), in contrast to general Hasidism's creative enthusiasm in faith.

Throughout the centuries, except for the initiated, most of the Japanese common folk knew little about its secretive doctrines and the monks of this " Mantra School " except that besides performing the usual priestly duties of prayers, blessings and funeral rites for the public, they practiced only Mikkyō ( 密教 ）, literally " secret ways " in stark contrast to all other Buddhist schools and were called upon to perform mystical rituals that could summon rain, improve harvests, exorcise demons, avert natural disasters, heal the sick and protect the state.

In contrast to Faust Part One, the focus here is no longer on the soul of Faust, which has been sold to the devil, but rather on social phenomena such as psychology, history and politics, in addition to mystical and philosophical topics.

Also, the mitzvot often have practical worldly / social effects ( in contrast to mystical effects as held by Lurianic Kabbalah ).

Aside from the fact that by perfecting themselves, the Jews set an example for the rest of the world, there is thus the additional distinction that mitzvot have practical, worldly effects — for example, charity benefits the poor materially, constituting tikkun olam by its improvement of the world physically or socially, in contrast to the mystical effects of mitzvot as held by Lurianic Kabbalah.

It is regarded as an " orthodox " Buddhist temple by local Chinese Buddhists, in contrast with some other shrines which worship Buddhist, Taoist, and mystical heroes in the same building.

In contrast to romantic theorists Sircello argued for the objectivity of beauty and formulated a theory of love on that basis.

This role was in stark contrast to his appearance in the lighthearted romantic comedy, Picture Perfect the following year.

Elements of classic screwball comedy often found in more recent films which might otherwise simply be classified as romantic comedies include the " battle of the sexes " ( Down with Love, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days ), witty repartee ( Down with Love ), and the contrast between the wealthy and the middle class ( You've Got Mail, Two Weeks Notice ).

This is in contrast to the modern romantic notion of the Scots army, which depicts its foot soldiers clad in kilts, painted woad and little else.

They provided artwork that was realistic of the Native American lifestyle in contrast to the work of Anglo-Americans romantic depictions.

The fictional Aeneas dutifully resists Dido ’ s temptation and abandons her to forge on to Italy, placing political destiny before romantic love, in stark contrast to his historical counterpart Antony, who puts passionate love of his own African queen, Cleopatra, before duty to Rome.

Yet in stark contrast with this positive view, research on the history of the metronome and its influence on performance practice reveals criticisms of metronome use, and highlights differences of " performance practice " and cultural perception / values between the current modern European / Western society ( which values the metronome ), and the same society during previous times ( beginning of the 19th century and earlier: classical / romantic / baroque eras etc.

At this time, the German medical tradition was inclined more towards ‘ romantic speculation ’ and ‘ naked empiricism ’, in contrast with the more scientific approach found in England and France.

Irish castles proved less popular, partially because contemporary tourists regarded the country as being somewhat backward and the ruins therefore failed to provide the necessary romantic contrast with modern life.

This was in stark contrast to traditional bush lore, where swagmen are depicted in distinctly romantic terms.

" The cover was also intended to create a collision between the overly romantic and classic image which made a stark contrast to the typography based on the modular, colour-coded alphabet he created solely for the band.

In stark contrast to broody, often pensive Angel, Riley is optimistic, trustworthy and reliable, and in theory presents Buffy with her first opportunity for a " normal " romantic relationship.

In contrast to the classic Shijing, the Chu Ci anthology ( also familiarly known, in English, as the Songs of Chu or the Songs of the South or transliterated as the Ch ' Tz ' u ) consists of verses more emphasizing lyric and romantic features, as well as irregular line-lengths and other influences from the poetry typical of the state of Chu.

In the contrast between the romantic story and the realistic dialogue he sees the first instance of humour quite foreign to the comic business of earlier comedy.

Medusa has sometimes appeared as representing notions of scientific determinism and nihilism, especially in contrast with romantic idealism.

As well as his Communion Service in the Phrygian Mode, his settings of the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis are still popular with cathedral and parish church choirs, particularly the services in F, D, and G, and the two settings in E flat ; during Passiontide his St Mark Passion is sometimes performed, and demonstrates Wood's interest in modal composition, in contrast to the late romantic harmonic style he more usually employs.

The critic for The National Post, Robert Fulford, commented on the " superb performance " of Power as " the seedy, stop-at-nothing exploiter of women " which was in sharp contrast to his earlier swashbuckling roles and romantic heroes.

She subverts all the standards of the romantic novel: she has an active role, she's not only beautiful but intelligent and witty, and her suitors are significantly younger than she is ( in contrast with Sense and Sensibility and Emma, which feature marriages of men who are sixteen years older than their wives ).

Wicca and Neopaganism, and to some extent the Goddess movement, were influenced by 19th-century occultism, such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn ( Greer 1995 ), and romantic nature movements in which both male and female were valued and honored as sacred, in contrast to and perhaps in reaction to mainstream Christian spirituality.

He was untrained in music, and his style of criticism was subjective, romantic and personal, in contrast with his critical contemporary Ernest Newman.

On the social side, Gareth enjoys some success with women, often in the local nightclub " Chasers ", but in contrast to Tim's interest in Dawn, Gareth's ' success ' with women is sexual in nature rather than romantic.

In contrast to homophile, the word focuses solely on the sexual acts which some churches believe to be sinful, side-stepping the associated issues of romantic or family love, community, and personal identity.

One of the comic strips from this time revealed her inner dialogue in which she characterized herself as a " shy, sensitive, withdrawn young woman who likes Smurf dolls, sad rainy days, and silly, romantic poetry ", in contrast to her public image.

One important strain of national feeling in Norway was Norwegian patriotism, a movement which began and was most influential in the 18th century and emphasised everyday rural-life and traditions, in contrast to the more idealistic romantic nationalism.