The fundamental practice of Soka Gakkai and SGI members is derived from Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism, a form of Nichiren Buddhism. However, due to a number of ongoing issues and disputes that existed between the current high priest and the leadership of Soka Gakkai, Nichiren Shoshu's high priest excommunicated Soka Gakkai and SGI, and later SGI President Daisaku Ikeda in 1992. At that time, Soka Gakkai wa ...

See also:

Soka Gakkai International, Soka Gakkai International - History, Soka Gakkai International - Doctrine, Soka Gakkai International - Practice, Soka Gakkai International - SGI Charter, Soka Gakkai International - Criticism, Soka Gakkai International - Excommunication, Soka Gakkai International - Sources

Read more here: » Soka Gakkai International: Encyclopedia II - Soka Gakkai International - Excommunication

In 1871, Mary was wrongly excommunicated by Bishop Sheil, who was against most of the things she had fought for, on the grounds that 'she had incited the sisters to disobedience and defiance'. An Episcopal Commission exonerated her and she was reinstated in St Ignatius Church in 1872. Despite her ordeal, where she could have reserved bitterness towards the church, she never once publicly blamed the church leaders for their actions. ...

See also:

Mary MacKillop, Mary MacKillop - Early Life, Mary MacKillop - Legacy, Mary MacKillop - Excommunication, Mary MacKillop - Josephites Expand, Mary MacKillop - Death, Mary MacKillop - Beatification, Mary MacKillop - Other information, Mary MacKillop - Reference, Mary MacKillop - Bibliography

Read more here: » Mary MacKillop: Encyclopedia II - Mary MacKillop - Excommunication

Excommunication is a religious censure which is used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community. The word literally means "out of communion," or, "once was in communion, but now is not". (Sections in alphabetical order.) ( Excommunications(List) ) Excommunication - Christianity. Excommunication - Anathema. The biblical form of excommunication is to declare one anathema. The difference between an anathema and excommunication is that generally excommunication ...

Including:

• Excommunication - Christianity
• Excommunication - Anathema
• Excommunication - Calvin's view on excommunication
• Excommunication - Roman Catholic Church
• Excommunication - Amish and Mennonite
• Excommunication - Eastern Orthodox Communion
• Excommunication - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Excommunication - Jehovah's Witnesses
• Excommunication - Islam
• Excommunication - Judaism

Read more here: » Excommunication: Encyclopedia - Excommunication

Excommunication - Anathema. The biblical form of excommunication is to declare one anathema. The difference between an anathema and excommunication is that generally excommunications are pronounced by the Catholic Church, which has created a ceremony that corresponds to them. This ceremony is proper only to Bishops and other prelates, and is contained in the Pontificale Romanum, a liturgical book of the Roman Rite which contains all of the sacraments and other ceremonies a Bishop might perform. Anathemas were emp ...

See also:

Excommunication, Excommunication - Christianity, Excommunication - Anathema, Excommunication - Calvin's view on excommunication, Excommunication - Roman Catholic Church, Excommunication - Amish and Mennonite, Excommunication - Eastern Orthodox Communion, Excommunication - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Excommunication - Jehovah's Witnesses, Excommunication - Islam, Excommunication - Judaism

Read more here: » Excommunication: Encyclopedia II - Excommunication - Christianity

A Christian theological definition of Excommunication according to CARM - The Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry:

"

Excommunication

See also: Excommunication , Christianity, Body Mind and Soul

Excommunication

A religious sanction that removes an individual from the ritual and social community of the church when that member has transgressed some law or regulation of the church. In some churches, upon repentance, the person is welcomed back into fellowship within the church.

Because Judaism has no central authority, excommunication, forced isolation from the Jewish community to punish improper behavior or belief, is usually decreed by a local rabbinical court and applies primarily within that community. There is no formal court procedure or presentation of evidence for excommunication, and any rabbinical court can lift a decree.

Under the ordinary form of excommunication, called nidduy (Heb. ), the excommunicant behaves like a mourner (except for the ritual tearing of clothes), lives only with family, is shunned by others, and is not counted for the quorum required for worship. The excommunicant's coffin is stoned at burial.

Nidduy is announced by the head of the court. A more severe form, called herem ("devoted thing," something forbidden for common use) requires, in addition, that the excommunicant study alone and make a living only from a small shop.

The procedure for decreeing a herem entails a proclamation in the synagogue either before the open ark or with Torah scroll in hand, the sounding of the shofar (ram's horn), the congregational extinguishing of candles, and the recitation of biblical curses against and warnings about associating with the excommunicant. In medieval times, the excommunicant was treated as a non-Jew. That status often was extended to the excommunicant's spouse and children, who might also be ostracized.

Talmudic and medieval rabbinic literature lists various reasons for excommunication. Among other causes, a person could be ostracized for causing the public profanation of God's name, ignoring prescribed religious behavior or hindering the public performance of it, incorrect business practices, breaking a vow, improper sexual conduct, violating the Torah on the basis of spurious analogies, insulting a scholar, or decreeing excommunication without sufficient reason.

Over time, particularly in Orthodox communities, excommunication was applied so routinely and automatically to any unacceptable behavior that it lost its punitive and coercive effect.

Excommunication in the Christian tradition is an action taken by church authorities by which a person is cut off from participation in the worship life of a congregation because of some serious fault or breach of church discipline. Most commonly, the individual is barred from the sacraments. In certain communities such persons are also socially ostracized in a practice called "shunning. ".

(See also: Excommunication , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

Druids Members of a priestly hierarchy among the ancient Celts of Britain, Gaul, and Ireland, composed of the three Orders of Druids, Bards, and Ovates. According to the Gaulish reports mentioned by Julius Caesar, Druidism was founded in Britain, which remained in his time its headquarters, candidates for the priesthood being sent to that island from Gaul for their training.

The Welsh tradition confirms this, stating the The Wisdom had always existed; that in remote times it was known simply as Gwyddoniaeth (science) and its teachers as the Gwyddoniaid (sing., Gwyddon); that knowledge of it had declined until at some unknown period a wiseman named Tydain Tad Awen arose and taught it to his three disciples, Plenydd, Gwron, and Alawn, who in their turn taught it to the race of the Cymry. From that time forth it was known as Derwyddoniaeth or Druidism, "the wisdom taught in oak groves."

Classical references to the Druids are many, coming from about 200 B.C. until about 200 A.D. Those written before Caesar made his attack on Gaul speak of the Druids as possessors of a high wisdom; the very first reference says that it was held in Greece that philosophy came to the Greeks from the barbaroi or foreigners: the Brahmins of India, the Magi of Persia, the Egyptian priesthood, and the Druids.

While the Romans were fighting the Celts, writers, beginning with Caesar, repeat more or less what has been said before about the wisdom of the Druids but, following Caesar, have much to say about their atrocities. When the Romans were no longer at war with the Druidic Celts, however, the references to the Druids are similar to the early ones, with no mention of atrocities.

Blavatsky stated that Druidism was the one branch of the sacred Mysteries of antiquity in the Western world which had not degenerated; and that during the campaigns of Caesar and his forces in Gaul, three million Gauls were killed and Druidism virtually wiped out there. It is Caesar who is responsible for the current notion that the Gauls and Britons were crude savages and the Druids barbarous and cruel. He stated first that the Druids of Gaul, who were judges as well as priests, inflicted excommunication as their severest sentence, passed even on the worst criminals. Excommunication was their capital punishment. Later on in his book he describes the famous wicker cages filled with criminals (with just men added when there were not criminals enough) who were then burnt. The two statements are contradictory. The later statement is entirely unsupported; the former is not only compatible with the Druids' reputation for profound wisdom and great humanity, but is supported indirectly by practically every classical reference which mentions the Druids at all.

In Gaul in Caesar's time Druidism was very highly organized and controlled the whole civilization, a fact Caesar is known to have deliberately understated, for in many respects Gaulish civilization was more advanced than Roman. We know nothing of Druidism in Britain from the classical writers, except that Britain was its headquarters and place of origin, and that the Druids were massacred in Mona (Anglesea), an island in northwest Wales which seems to have been the Druids headquarters in Britain.

Of Druidism in Ireland we know even less: the Irish Sagas do not indicate that the Druids there were either priests or jurists, or indeed very important people; they appear rather as necromancers at the royal courts, astrologers, magicians, etc. Had Druidism been an organized system, as in Gaul and presumably in Britain, Patrick, the Christian missionary, could hardly have converted the whole island with the little trouble he had. In Britain, however, as soon as the Romans with their proscription of Druidism had departed in 410, there is every reason to think that Druidism flamed up again: Welsh literature, from the 6th to the end of the 15th century, is full of interesting references.

Greek and Roman authors all make much of the Druidic belief in reincarnation. One of them relates that you could always borrow money to be repaid in such and such a future life on earth -- showing that it was reincarnation, the coming back as a human being, and not transmigration, the coming back as an animal, that was taught. The likeness between Druidism and Pythagoreanism is often mentioned, which perhaps suggested the legend that Pythagoras studied not only under Eastern but also under Western or Druidic teachers; and that other belief, that philosophy came to Greece not only from the East, but also from the Druids.

(See also: Druids , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Disfellowshipping

As practiced by the Mormons and many other groups, this is a level of church discipline involving a probationary period of restricted privileges, but retaining church membership.

As practiced by the Jehovah's Witnesses, it is an alternate term for �excommunication,� being completely cut off from the church organization; see shunning.

(See also: Disfellowshipping , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

Apostasy (αποστασις, in classical Greek a defection or revolt from a military commander, from απο, apo, "away, apart", στασις, stasis, "standing") is a term generally employed to describe the formal renunciation of one's religion, especially if the motive is deemed unworthy. In a technical sense, as used by sociologists without the sometimes pejorative connotations of the word, the term refers to renunciation and criticism of or opposition to one's former religion. One who commits apostasy is an ...

Including:

• Apostasy - Sociological definitions
• Apostasy - In International Law
• Apostasy - In Christianity
• Apostasy - In Hinduism
• Apostasy - In Islam
• Apostasy - In Judaism
• Apostasy - In purported cults and new religious movements NRMs
• Apostasy - Opinions about the reliability of apostates' testimony and their motivations
• Apostasy - Other uses of the term
• Apostasy - Noted apostates
• Apostasy - Christianity
• Apostasy - Islam
• Apostasy - Judaism
• Apostasy - Hinduism
• Apostasy - Bibliography
• Apostasy - Testimonies memoirs and autobiographies
• Apostasy - Writings by others

Read more here: » Apostasy: Encyclopedia - Apostasy

Some scholars of new religious movements define as apostates specifically those individuals that leave new religious movements and become public opponents against their former faith to distinguish them from other former members who do not speak against their former faith, while others contest such a distinction. Former members of NRMs often see the use of "apostate" as an attempt to discredit them and their statements. Some scholars use the term post-cult trauma to describe the emotional and social problems that some members of cults ...

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Apostasy, Apostasy - Sociological definitions, Apostasy - In International Law, Apostasy - In Christianity, Apostasy - In Hinduism, Apostasy - In Islam, Apostasy - In Judaism, Apostasy - In purported cults and new religious movements NRMs, Apostasy - Opinions about the reliability of apostates' testimony and their motivations, Apostasy - Other uses of the term, Apostasy - Noted apostates, Apostasy - Christianity, Apostasy - Islam, Apostasy - Judaism, Apostasy - Hinduism, Apostasy - Bibliography, Apostasy - Testimonies memoirs and autobiographies, Apostasy - Writings by others

Read more here: » Apostasy: Encyclopedia II - Apostasy - In purported cults and new religious movements NRMs

The Churches of Christ are autonomous Christian congregations. In the United States, for the most part the churches' roots can be traced back to the Restorationist movement championed by American Protestant preachers in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, most notably Thomas Campbell and his son Alexander. Individuals in these churches often aspire to be members of the one body of Christ described in the New Testament, without denominational affiliation. They view congregational identity not as denominational identity, ...

Including:

• Church of Christ - Church organization
• Church of Christ - Hermeneutics
• Church of Christ - Specific teachings and prohibitions
• Church of Christ - Other Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement bodies
• Church of Christ - Disputes within the Church
• Church of Christ - Notes

Read more here: » Church of Christ: Encyclopedia - Church of Christ

In Islam, apostasy is called "ridda" ("turning back") and it is considered by Muslims to be a profound insult. A person born of Muslim parents that rejects Islam is called a "murtad fitri" (natural apostate), and a person that converted to Islam and later rejects the religion is called a "murtad milli" (apostate from the community). The question of the penalties imposed in Islam for apostasy is a highly controversial topic that is passionately debated by various scholars. On this basis, according to some scholars, if a Muslim consciou ...

See also:

Apostasy, Apostasy - Sociological definitions, Apostasy - In International Law, Apostasy - In Christianity, Apostasy - In Hinduism, Apostasy - In Islam, Apostasy - In Judaism, Apostasy - In purported cults and new religious movements NRMs, Apostasy - Opinions about the reliability of apostates' testimony and their motivations, Apostasy - Other uses of the term, Apostasy - Noted apostates, Apostasy - Christianity, Apostasy - Islam, Apostasy - Judaism, Apostasy - Hinduism, Apostasy - Bibliography, Apostasy - Testimonies memoirs and autobiographies, Apostasy - Writings by others

Read more here: » Apostasy: Encyclopedia II - Apostasy - In Islam

This is a list of some notable persons that have been labelled an apostate by a notable source, regardless whether they fit any of the mentioned definitions. Apostasy - Christianity. Julian the Apostate ex-Christian and Roman emperor Maria Monk sometimes considered an apostate of the Roman Catholic church, though there is little evidence that she ever was a Roman Catholic. Bertrand Russell Friedrich Nietzsche ...

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Apostasy, Apostasy - Sociological definitions, Apostasy - In International Law, Apostasy - In Christianity, Apostasy - In Hinduism, Apostasy - In Islam, Apostasy - In Judaism, Apostasy - In purported cults and new religious movements NRMs, Apostasy - Opinions about the reliability of apostates' testimony and their motivations, Apostasy - Other uses of the term, Apostasy - Noted apostates, Apostasy - Christianity, Apostasy - Islam, Apostasy - Judaism, Apostasy - Hinduism, Apostasy - Bibliography, Apostasy - Testimonies memoirs and autobiographies, Apostasy - Writings by others

Read more here: » Apostasy: Encyclopedia II - Apostasy - Noted apostates

The term apostasy is also derived from Greek ἀποστάτης, meaning "political rebel," as applied to rebellion against God, its law and the faith of Israel (in Hebrew מרד) in the Hebrew Bible. In Talmudic Hebrew, an apostate is a mumar or kofeir. Other expressions for apostate as used by rabbinical scholars are "mumar" (מומר, literally "the one that changes") and "poshea yisrael" (פושע ישראל, literally, "transgr ...

See also:

Apostasy, Apostasy - Sociological definitions, Apostasy - In International Law, Apostasy - In Christianity, Apostasy - In Hinduism, Apostasy - In Islam, Apostasy - In Judaism, Apostasy - In purported cults and new religious movements NRMs, Apostasy - Opinions about the reliability of apostates' testimony and their motivations, Apostasy - Other uses of the term, Apostasy - Noted apostates, Apostasy - Christianity, Apostasy - Islam, Apostasy - Judaism, Apostasy - Hinduism, Apostasy - Bibliography, Apostasy - Testimonies memoirs and autobiographies, Apostasy - Writings by others

Read more here: » Apostasy: Encyclopedia II - Apostasy - In Judaism

Christians often quote the prophecy in 2 Thessalonians about a coming apostasy: "Let no one in any way deceive you, for that day cannot come without the coming of the apostasy first, and the appearing of the man of sin, the son of perdition, who sets himself against;" (2 Thessalonians 2:3 NASB/WEY). Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) believe that this foretold apostasy, "The Great Apostasy," began with the death of the early apostles and ...

See also:

Apostasy, Apostasy - Sociological definitions, Apostasy - In International Law, Apostasy - In Christianity, Apostasy - In Hinduism, Apostasy - In Islam, Apostasy - In Judaism, Apostasy - In purported cults and new religious movements NRMs, Apostasy - Opinions about the reliability of apostates' testimony and their motivations, Apostasy - Other uses of the term, Apostasy - Noted apostates, Apostasy - Christianity, Apostasy - Islam, Apostasy - Judaism, Apostasy - Hinduism, Apostasy - Bibliography, Apostasy - Testimonies memoirs and autobiographies, Apostasy - Writings by others

Read more here: » Apostasy: Encyclopedia II - Apostasy - In Christianity

The American sociologist David G. Bromley defined the apostate role as follows and distinguished it from the defector and whistleblower roles. [2] Apostate role: defined as one that occurs in a highly polarized situation in which an organization member undertakes a total change of loyalties by allying with one or more elements of an oppositional coalition without the consent or control of the organization. The narrative is one whi ...

See also:

Apostasy, Apostasy - Sociological definitions, Apostasy - In International Law, Apostasy - In Christianity, Apostasy - In Hinduism, Apostasy - In Islam, Apostasy - In Judaism, Apostasy - In purported cults and new religious movements NRMs, Apostasy - Opinions about the reliability of apostates' testimony and their motivations, Apostasy - Other uses of the term, Apostasy - Noted apostates, Apostasy - Christianity, Apostasy - Islam, Apostasy - Judaism, Apostasy - Hinduism, Apostasy - Bibliography, Apostasy - Testimonies memoirs and autobiographies, Apostasy - Writings by others

Read more here: » Apostasy: Encyclopedia II - Apostasy - Sociological definitions

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights, considers the recanting of a person's religion a human right legally protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: "The Committee observes that the freedom to 'have or to adopt' a religion or belief necessarily entails the freedom to choose a religion or belief, including the right to replace one's current religion or belief with another or to adopt atheistic views [...] Article 18.2 bars coercion that would impair the right to have or adopt a religion or belief, includi ...

See also:

Apostasy, Apostasy - Sociological definitions, Apostasy - In International Law, Apostasy - In Christianity, Apostasy - In Hinduism, Apostasy - In Islam, Apostasy - In Judaism, Apostasy - In purported cults and new religious movements NRMs, Apostasy - Opinions about the reliability of apostates' testimony and their motivations, Apostasy - Other uses of the term, Apostasy - Noted apostates, Apostasy - Christianity, Apostasy - Islam, Apostasy - Judaism, Apostasy - Hinduism, Apostasy - Bibliography, Apostasy - Testimonies memoirs and autobiographies, Apostasy - Writings by others

Read more here: » Apostasy: Encyclopedia II - Apostasy - In International Law

The Báb · Abdu'l-Bahá Kitáb-i-Aqdas · Kitáb-i-Íqán The Hidden Words Administrative Order The Guardian Universal House of Justice Continental Counsellors Spiritual Assembly Haifa · Akká Shiraz · Baghdad Bahá'í History · Timeline Bábís · Shaykh Ahmad Táhirih · Quddús · Badí' Shoghi Effendi Rúhíyyih Khanum Unity of humanity Unity of religion Gender equality Universal educati ...

Including:

• Covenant-breaker - Definition
• Covenant-breaker - Categorization
• Covenant-breaker - Included categories of people
• Covenant-breaker - Excluded categories of people
• Covenant-breaker - Current groups

Read more here: » Covenant-breaker: Encyclopedia - Covenant-breaker

Yoreh De'ah is a section of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation of halakha (Jewish law), Arba'ah Turim. This section treats all aspects of Jewish law not pertinent to the Jewish calendar, finance, torts, marriage, divorce, or sexual conduct. (Nevertheless there exists occasional overlap into the excluded areas). Yoreh De'ah is therefore the most diversified area of Jewish law. Later, Rabbi Yosef Karo modeled the framework of his own compilation of practical Jewish law, the Shulkhan Arukh after the Arba'ah Turim. Many lat ...

Read more here: » Yoreh De'ah: Encyclopedia - Yoreh De'ah

Shunning is the act of deliberately avoiding association with an individual or group. The historical punishments of ostracism and exile were forms of shunning. Today, shunning in an official, formalized manner is practiced by only a few religions, although it continues to be practiced informally in every sort of human grouping or gathering. Religious shunning is often applied to those who have been excommunicated (also v ...

Including:

• Shunning - Shunning in Christian denominations
• Shunning - Catholic Church
• Shunning - Anabaptists Amish and Mennonites
• Shunning - Jehovah's Witnesses
• Shunning - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Mormons
• Shunning - Shunning in Judaism
• Shunning - Shunning in the Bahá'í Faith
• Shunning - See Also
• Shunning - Books

Read more here: » Shunning: Encyclopedia - Shunning