Defining spirituality

Spirituality has several definitions derived from distinct groups of people’s perceptions of its comprehension. It involves a sense of recognition and belief in something larger than the human individual. Nature’s spirituality is frequently cosmic or heavenly, and it extends beyond human sensory experience (DREYER, 2009). Spirituality is also defined as the recognition that human life extends far beyond the commonplace of daily existence, which is dependent on the level of biological demands that often drive selflessness and aggression. Simply put, spirituality is the recognition that the human being is a vital element of the purposefully unfolding life in the world. Spirituality encompasses the exploration of certain universal themes such as love, compassion, altruism, life after death truth and wisdom. When exploring these topics, human beings regularly understands that there are some group of people such as knowledgeable individuals and saints have achieved more manifested higher levels of development that is above the level of ordinary human beings (DREYER, 2009).

In understanding the topic of spirituality, the key concept such as pluralism, scientism, and postmodernism should be defined and explained for the purpose of use in explaining the meaning of the topic. Pluralism refers to the belief in either two or more worldviews in religion to be equally valid and acceptable. Pluralism recognizes the existence of multiple paths to Gods or gods to be possible, and the concept of exclusivism is usually contrasting it. Exclusivism concept has the idea that there is only one true religion and only one way to know God. This idea of pluralism has been in existence for an extended period of time that makes it more attractive in many parts of the world particularly in western Europe and the North America.

The other type of worldview is scientism which refers to as a deep base belief on the assumptions and research methods of the natural and physical science which are equally important to the other disciplines such as philosophy, humanities and in the field of social sciences. The concept usually believes that natural science has the overall authority over all the other interpretations of life and the method used in natural science the fundament element in philosophical inquiry. The concept of scientism was developed on from empiricism, and it has close relations to positivism. Positivism is the philosophy that believes that the only authentic knowledge is usually the scientific knowledge and such genuine knowledge can only come through positive affirmation of the scientific methods

Postmodernism worldview believes that absolute truth is not existing. People supporting this philosophy rejects the long – held beliefs by other individuals and conventions. They maintain that all other viewpoints are equally valid. In the current world, the philosophy of postmodernism has led to relativism (“Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing 2004 Reviewers”, 2004). Relativism is the idea that all the actual truths are relative. Relative truth means that something taken to be the right by a given group is not necessarily right to the existing groups. An example that can help in explaining this scenario is morality. In Christians teachings, they believe that sex before marriage is a sin. In postmodernism, the philosophy claim that such view is partisan to Christians except those who follow Jesus Christ.

World View Questions

What is the prime reality?

Prime reality according to James Sire is God or gods or any other material cosmos. The answer of prime reality is fundamental as it set the boundaries for the other remaining worldviews question (RINEHART, 2016).

What is the nature of the world around us?

In this question, we give our views on the current happenings in the world around us as created or autonomous or if the world around us is chaotic or orderly as a matter of spirit. The question also examines if we emphasize our own subjective and the existing relationships to the world around us.

What is a human being?

A person is a highly complex machine or a sleeping god. It is a person we believe to made in the image of God similar to a naked ape.

What happens to individuals at death?

When a person dies, he undergoes personal extinction or going through a transformation to a higher state or reincarnation. The person can also go through departure to a shadowy existence to the ”other side.”

Why is it possible to know anything at all?

It is feasible to know the answer at all based on the idea that we are in the image of Creator God or based on the notion that human being consciousness and rationality has developed under the contingencies of survival through a long period of evolution.

How do we know what is right and wrong?

We can know that something is good or bad simply because we are made in the image of God whose character is considered to be good. Write and wrong can also be determined by human choices alone or through what feels good; it can also be distinguished through a notion of deeply developed under impetus towards physical and cultural survival.

What is the meaning of human history?

The history of humanity can be taken as the realization of the purpose of God or the gods, making a paradise on earth and preparation of the people for life in a community with a holy and loving God (RINEHART, 2016).

In conclusion, world views are very fundamental as they provide foundations for the people moral values and the corresponding actions. Our worldviews usually provide a holistic perspective from which people can interpret the ambiguous evidence.

References

DREYER, E. (2009). The Spirituality of Philanthropy. Studies In Spirituality, 19(0), 135-156. http://dx.doi.org/10.2143/sis.19.0.2043677

RINEHART, R. (2016). ETHNOGRAPHIC WORLDVIEWS. [Place of publication not identified]: SPRINGER.

Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing 2004 Reviewers. (2004). Worldviews On Evidence-Based Nursing, 1(4), 250-250. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1524-475x.2004.04081.x