Religious Meaning in a Secular Age
The Greatest Commandment: Love and Religious Values
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Anthony Ezeogamba
God created humankind for humankind to know, love, serve God in this world and to be happy with God in the world to come. The implication is that there will be no worship of other gods besides God because other gods do not exist. God expects humankind to worship him with their whole heart, soul, mind and strength. This concern that is shown to God is expected to be reciprocated in the community of humankind. The general meaning of the Greek word agapē, as used in Mark 12:28-34, is good-will, affection, respect, benevolence, and concern for the welfare of the loved. Today, Christians have turned around to give to deities, shrines, images of animals, and even trees that stands in the forest this agapē that is due for God, and above all there is hatred between believers living together. This study adopts textual criticism and exegesis of Mark 12:28-34 as well as library research to unravel the intentions God expects from humankind towards himself and towards themselves. The aim of this study is to show why there is idol worship, double allegiance in worship of God, and hatred between believers in the world today, and to suggest that it is because there are few authentic Christians who understand the full meaning of the content of Mark 12:28-34. This study argues that the understanding of this passage will bring out true worship of God and harmonious relationship in various Christian families. This work can benefit all Christians and indeed all humankind.
The Relationship between Religiosity and Death Anxiety: Investigating the Mediating Effects of Meaning in Life and Life Satisfaction
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Aleena Mathew, Megha Deuskar
Belief in religious doctrines or intrinsic religiosity has been shown to be associated with better health and also to play a protective role in dealing with existential issues. In the present study we aim to investigate whether religiosity is correlated with death anxiety and life satisfaction. We also aim to investigate the moderating effect of Meaning in life (MIL) in the relationship between Religiosity, Death Anxiety (DA) and Life Satisfaction (LS). The Revised Intrinsic Extrinsic Religiosity Scale by Gorsuch & McPherson (1989), the Revised Death Anxiety Scale by Thorson & Powell (1992), the Meaning in Life Questionnaire by Steger & Frazier (2006) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale by Diener, Emmons et al (1985) will be administered to a sample of 150 Christians in India between the ages of 25 and 60. We hypothesize that there will be a negative correlation between Intrinsic Religiosity (IR) and DA and positive correlation between IR and LS. The expected result is that people with high IR who have already found meaning will have lesser DA and higher LS than high IR individuals who are still on the search for meaning. The study has important implications for counseling and psychotherapy.
Bringing Modernity's Cosmology into the 21st Century
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ken A Baskin
In Western Modernity, our cosmology has developed into the Big-Bang-to-the-present narrative that Carl Sagan presented in his TV series Cosmos, as interpreted through scientific materialism. That cosmology views the world as a mechanical collection of passive “things” that interact according to the Laws of Nature in chains of cause-and-effect. While it enabled people to enrich life by, for example, largely eliminating infectious diseases, creating technological innovations, and reducing poverty, it has also taught Westerners a mechanical way of thinking that contributed to existential challenges such as global warming, massive pollution, and the possibility of nuclear holocaust. This paper will begin with a brief examination of how scientific materialism contributed to the creation of these challenges and how it blocks our ability to address them. The remainder of the study will examine an alternative, replacing scientific materialism with a far more organic understanding of the world that has been developing for the last century in sciences ranging from quantum mechanics to complexity theory. By viewing our world as a highly interconnected set of processes, where even small changes can lead to cascades of adaptation – more like Eastern religion and philosophy than Western science – this reinterpretation of the Big-Bang-to-the-present narrative may be able to help people address the highly complex challenges our planet faces today.
