He wants them to use their great power to strengthen man's rational side, to teach virtue, and to encourage religion.

In the absence of a truly adequate conceptuality in which the gospel can be expressed, the unavoidable need to demythologize it makes use of whatever resources are at hand -- and this usually means one or another of the various forms of `` folk religion '' current in the situation.

This was not a cynical use of religion to manipulate his subjects into obedience, but an intrinsic element in Alfred's worldview.

Similar small shrines, called naiskoi, are found in Greek religion, but their use was strictly religious.

Linnaeus ' father began teaching him Latin, religion, and geography at an early age ; one account says that due to family use of Latin for conversation, the boy learned Latin before he learned Swedish.

The Jewish religion still retains the Torah scroll, at least for ceremonial use.

Among the reasons given by those who oppose the use of Common Era notation is that it is selective as other aspects of the Western calendar have origins in various belief systems ( e. g., January is named for Janus ), Style guides for academic texts on religion generally prefer BCE / CE to BC / AD.

While they had the same skin color and religion as the majority, in the Churches, they had to use segregated doors, drink from segregated fonts, receive communion on the end of long wooden spoons.

" Some creationists and creationist organizations, such as the Institute of Creation Research, use these terms in an effort to make it appear that evolutionary biology is a form of secular religion.

A striking image of religion by such rules used by Paul is his use of the word ' shadows '.

The Decline and Fall is known for the quality and irony of its prose, its use of primary sources, and its open criticism of organized religion.

The witches Gardner was originally introduced to were originally referred to by him as " the Wica " and he would often use the term " Witch Cult " to describe the religion.

Edward Gibbon, in his classic The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, discusses the topic in considerable detail in his famous Chapter Fifteen, summarizing the historical causes of the early success of Christianity as follows: "( 1 ) The inflexible, and, if we may use the expression, the intolerant zeal of the Christians, derived, it is true, from the Jewish religion, but purified from the narrow and unsocial spirit which, instead of inviting, had deterred the Gentiles from embracing the law of Moses.

Zamenhof is honored as a deity by the Japanese religion Oomoto, which encourages the use of Esperanto among its followers.

Jews may use the term omniscience, or preordination as a corollary of omniscience, but normally reject the idea of predestination as being incompatible with the free will and responsibility of moral agents, and it therefore has no place in their religion.

Many languages have words that can be translated as " religion ", but they may use them in a very different way, and some have no word for religion at all.

In 2008, the organizers of an APA panel on the relationship between religion and homosexuality canceled the event after gay activists objected that " conversion therapists and their supporters on the religious right use these appearances as a public relations event to try and legitimize what they do.

To further minimize confusion with religion, the use of the word " Temple " to describe Shriners ' buildings has been replaced by " Shrine Center ", although individual local chapters are still called " Temples ".

* From the 17th century onwards, it also became possible to use the term ' theology ' to refer to study of religious ideas and teachings that are not specifically Christian ( e. g., in the phrase ' Natural Theology ' which denoted theology based on reasoning from natural facts independent of specifically Christian revelation ), or that are specific to another religion ( see below ).

The use of Chinese concepts, such as Dao, that were close to Buddhist ideas and terms helped spread the religion and make it more amenable to the Chinese people.

The chalice itself has long been a symbol of liberal religion, and indeed liberal Christianity ( the Disciples of Christ also use a chalice as their denomination symbol ).

Civil wedding ceremonies may use references to God or a deity ( except in UK law ), but generally no references to a particular religion or denomination.

Although women were required to wear veils in many churches through at least the 19th century, the resurgence of the wedding veil as a symbol of the bride, and its use even when not required by the bride's religion, coincided with societal emphasis on women being modest and well-behaved.

In religion, a papal bull authorized the use of torture in the Medieval Inquisition, and the Roman Catholic church clarified the concept of purgatory.

The first was the late 7th century Deuteronomistic reform of official Judean religion under king Josiah, who banned many elements of the old polytheistic cult from the Temple, and the sudden collapse of Assyria and the rise of Babylon to take its place ; the second was exile of the royal court, the priests and other members of the ruling elite following the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem c. 586 BCE.

Aside from these core elements, a civilization is often marked by any combination of a number of secondary elements, including a developed transportation system, writing, standardized measurement, currency, contractual and tort-based legal systems, characteristic art and architecture, mathematics, enhanced scientific understanding, metallurgy, political structures, and organized religion.

But they counteract or eradicate the more subversive elements of culture ( exclusionary aspects of religion, language, and political / ideological beliefs ).

Some Christians who view the Jewish people as close to God seek to understand and incorporate elements of Jewish understanding or perspective into their beliefs as a means to respect their " parent " religion of Judaism, or to more fully seek out and return to their Christian roots.

Secular or atheist feminists have engaged in feminist criticism of religion, arguing that many religions have oppressive rules towards women and misogynistic themes and elements in religious texts.

The 1st century Greek author Philo of Byblos may preserve elements of Iron Age Phoenician religion in his Sanchuniathon., to which the prophets, martyrs and other pious people will go at the time of their death.

This period has been called the Golden Age of India and was marked by extensive achievements in science, technology, engineering, art, dialectic, literature, logic, mathematics, astronomy, religion, and philosophy that crystallized the elements of what is generally known as Hindu culture.

Founded by Maharaja Sri-Gupta, the dynasty was the model of a classical civilization. Maurya and Gupta empires are called as the Golden Age of India and were marked by extensive inventions and discoveries in science, technology, art, religion and philosophy that crystallized the elements of what is generally known as Indian culture. The religions of Hinduism and Buddhism, which began in India, were an important influence on South, East and Southeast Asia

Gardner states that he had reconstructed elements of the religion from fragments, incorporating elements from Freemasonry, the Occult, and Theosophy, which came together in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, where Gardner met Aleister Crowley, whose influence became the basis for Wiccan magical practices.

Most Japanese people generally do not exclusively identify themselves as adherents of only one religion, but rather incorporate various elements in a syncretic fashion.

Other examples of syncretism include Judeo-Paganists, a loosely organized set of Jews who incorporate pagan or Wiccan beliefs with some Jewish religious practices, like Messianic Judaism ; Jewish Buddhists, another loosely organized group that incorporates elements of Asian spirituality in their faith ; and some Renewal Jews who borrow freely and openly from Buddhism, Sufism, Native American religion, and other faiths.

In western Eurasia, the ancient traditions of the Slavic religion had elements of monotheism, of a supreme deity known by many names worshiped by some tribes.

Carlo Ginzburg, on the other hand, regards Cohn's views as a polemic and believes that although Murray was too eager to accept all testimonies as accurate, and failed to critically differentiate those elements introduced by the interventions of judges, inquisitors and demonologists, she still had a " correct intuition " in identifying the remnants of a pre-Christian ' religion of Diana ', and in believing that witch-trial testimonies did at times represent actual or perceived experiences.

Syncretic or eclectic approaches are sometimes inspired by historical traditions, but are not bound by any strict identification with a historical religion or culture ; eclectic and syncretic movements freely combine elements of multiple religious traditions.

The Wiccan religion revolves around the veneration of a Horned God and a Goddess, elements of a variety of ancient mythologies, a belief in and practice of magic and sometimes the belief in reincarnation and karma.

Many of the " revivals ", Wicca and Neo-druidism in particular, have their roots in 19th century Romanticism and retain noticeable elements of occultism or theosophy that were current then, setting them apart from historical rural ( paganus ) folk religion.

Thus, non-narrative elements of religion, such as ritual, are not myths.

Eliade approached myth sympathetically at a time when religious thinkers were trying to purge religion of its mythological elements:

In the church-sect typology they are described as newly formed religious groups that form to protest elements of their parent religion ( generally a denomination ).

Whatever religious, mystical or spiritual elements were central to Stonehenge, its design includes a celestial observatory function, which might have allowed prediction of eclipse, solstice, equinox and other celestial events important to a contemporary religion.

Richard H. Jones has recently proposed a " control " model that incorporates elements of both the conflict thesis and also the idea that religion can support science.

Claiming that true religious language is universal, Paine uses elements of the Christian rhetorical tradition to undermine the hierarchies perpetuated by religion itself.

Durkheim saw totemism as the most ancient religion, and focused on it as he believed its simplicity would ease the discussion of the essential elements of religion.