%0 Journal Article
%T An Analysis of Secular Alternatives to Religion
%J International Journal of Applied Sociology
%@ 2169-9739
%D 2012
%I 
%R 10.5923/j.ijas.20120204.01
%X Secular alternatives are not Religions in themselves, but they are presented as ideas or ideologies or lies to which man can commit himself so deepy & unreservedly that they replace religion in him. A person can opt for one of the modern ideologies rather than a religious adherence to give him guidance in life. He will commit himself to such an ideology or with the same dedication & personal commitment as is demanded of a religious believer. The term ¡°ecumenical¡± in theology today generally refers to the movement which seeks to achieve external unity among the world¡¯s denominationally divined churches. The original meaning of the word (from oikeo: to dwell, inhabit; and oikos: house, household; oikoumene: the whole inhabited earth [Lk. 4: 5]) has lapsed into disuse, as did the later development of the sense of a common basic attitude or into disuse, as did the later development of the sense of a common basic attitude or doctrinal consensus by the ¡°inhabitants¡± of the surface of the earth or the members of the church. A more modern, comprehensive meaning has since been developed: ¡°ecumenical¡± means the entirety of the church, which, looking back to its common original traditional and looking forward to its hope, seeks a commonality in doctrine and in the life of faith. The ecumenical movement consists of those Churches which ¡°together seek to know Christ.
%K Ecumenism
%K Humanism
%K Existentialism
%K Secularism
%U http://article.sapub.org/10.5923.j.ijas.20120204.01.html