(back to human cognitive evolution page - theological phase)

The four stages in theological evolution:
supernaturalism | animism/shamanism | theism | transcendent idealism

General Resources on Religion:

The Unitarian Universalist Association Main Page This is a philosophically orientated religion with no "credo test" for membership. Without doctrines and dogmas, it maintains a list of principles and purposes that are voted on by its General Assembly. It, therefore, is open to wisdom and inspiration from all world religions, philosophers, poets, scientists and thinkers that are in harmony with their ideals. Influential leaders such as Thomas Jefferson and Ralph Waldo Emerson considered themselves Unitarian. Though this is a particular denomination, it is a religion of generalists in spirit.  The window here is a painted glass window found at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Rockford, IL.  The images link to the various religion links below.
Also see: 
Zorastrianism | Taoism and Zen
SpiritWeb is a superb resource for various kinds of spiritual exploration on the WWW.
SpiritWeb Symbol

Graduate Theological Union Home Page This is a slow link but is the HQ of a large theological union of 9 schools in California. It includes Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Jewish and Buddhist members or affiliates within its fold.

Harvard Divinity School This is the theology home page of the oldest school in the nation.

The Boston Theological Institute Home Page This is a premier theological institute of 9 theology schools in Boston, MA. It has the insignia and links to all 9 schools and an extensive set of internet resources to ecumenical resources (courtesy of the World Council of Churches).

Mysticism in World Religions This is an extensive database of links to the original writings of mystics from all the major world religions classified by broad topics. There are longer quotations and a Short List for an introduction to the site's approach.

Religion Alcove Has a good set of links to indices, databases, electronic sacred texts and discussion forums in religion.

Religion and Science The Center for Faith and Science Exchange works with the Boston Theological Institute (BTI) in this Religion and Science program as well as with the BTI Religion and Ecology group.

Spiritualism This is a very interesting page that starts out with a few general links on religion and then gives one link on any of a large number of religions and denominations both large and very small in size. He ends with an evaluation of atheism as a religion and agnosticism as the only truly rational position on matters of "postmortem futures" which, he says, all religions primarily address.

Internet Resources for Religious Studies A guide to links on several major world religions and a few minor ones.

supernaturalism: prana, dreamtime

(prehistoric religion of nomadic tribes): (top)

dreamtime of Australian aborigines An Australian aborigine explains his religion to us and gives the viewers a "gift" of his religious artwork.

shamanism - animism (top)

(tribal religion of hunters and gatherers):

Castaneda's tensegrity Tensengrity is movements of the body called "magical passes" that enhance the art of dreaming which involves displacing the "assemblage point" where perception is assembled within the luminous egg of the body. The movements of this assemblage point help us to perceive different energy filaments and therefore different aspects of the universe which are usually interpreted as different worlds. This is a metaphysic or worldview of the shamans/sorcerers of the Yaqui tribe in the New Mexican desert. It is explained in much greater detail than above in this web site as well as in two books he wrote. One can also sign up for conferences and/or his journal on sorcery.

Magical Blend Magazine Online (shamanism) A "high gloss" magazine that has a printed format as well. It is a very entertaining magazine giving the modern shaman's or sorcerer's view of life in our age. An eclectic approach of different shamanistic traditions...different in this way from Tensegrity.

Nierica - The Sacred Doorway (shamanism) Appears to be a slow link. It is the home page of Dr. Tom Pinkson who completed an 11 year apprenticeship with a shaman in Mexico. It is a very elegant site, much like Magical Blend in this respect.

Shamanism UK A site with links to organizations, books, and conferences that are located, written or attended in Europe. Very good looking site.

The Sorcerer's Dream (shamanism) This is a home page with associated links that follows the tradition of Carlos Castenada (re: tensegrity) which he calls either "naguelism" or simply sorcery. I like its explanation of naguelism better than that of that of Castenada himself.

The Soulutions Now Home Page (shamanism) This page is very loosely shamanistic. It is concerned with problems of modern life and attempts to find solutions (obvious re: title of page) by an ecological spirituality or religious environmentalism of sorts. Lots of sources of links which explore this approach are given.

Theism - pantheism, polytheism, monotheism -

(urban religion of agricultural and industrial ages) (top)

Zorastrianism: (top)

Zorastrian Archives Avesta The entire text of the primary scripture of this ancient religion is online.

Religion Resources esp. in Zorastrianism This is a part of the Internet Resources for Religious Studies above but deals with Zorastrianism explicitly (and voodoo and Taoism incidentally). Zorastrianism is of particular historical importance due to its theological influence (directly or indirectly) of all 6 major world religions in the history of ideas.

Judaism (top)
Jewish Theological Seminary Online
Judaism 101
Judaism and Jewish Resources
The Spiritual Judaism Home Page
Conversion to Judaism
Christianity (top)
Christianity Online
Early Sources of Christianity
Virtual Christianity Bibles
Islam (top)
 Islam Web
 Discover Islam
 The Call of Islam Magazine Online
 Islamic Texts and Resources MetaPage
 Convert to Islam

Hinduism: (top)

The Bhagava Gita of Hinduism Here it is argued that the Gita from the literature of India is "the highest expression of pantheism" ever known and infers that it is a form of scientific pantheism.

Hindu Temples Reference Center A thorough site covering the construction , history, art and locations of Hindu Temples.

Hindu Electronic Ashram This site is the home of the magazine Hinduism Today which can be viewed online. It also offers connections to a few Hindu churches and information about its leader, Gurudeva.

The Hinduism Today Home Page This page explains and focuses on the magazine in particular and has many full color photographs in its site.

Buddhism: (top)

Maitreya World This site is dedicated to the fifth and last Buddha that is expected to arrive within the next 30,000 years. There is much devotional prose about him (Maitreya) in this site.

Nomius - Zen Garden This site has a rich collection of stories, pictures sounds and koans to enrich the Zen spiritual life of those interested. It is a delectable jewel for those interested in Zen.

Timeless Wisdom - Zen home page From the Center for Timeless Wisdom this site encompasses Buddhism, Taoism and a psychological approach to healing and peace. It offers resources in books, videos and, I expect, retreats as well.

Zen Buddhism Welcome Page This is a very professional looking site that is composed mostly by one Zennist. It is the "official" site of most Bay area Zen Centers and has a variety of stuff such as a virtual tour of a Japanese Zen Temple, other links of course and a harp site as well.

Zensite's Home Page It has contacts, information, references and meditations on Zen. [I did get a message to cancel an executable file that was going to be downloaded to my computer so be careful...even a Zen site may not be safe from viruses. I did cancel the transfer but still had no problem viewing the site.]

The Zen Internet Group This is a group of 4 computer professionals (programmers I suspect) who share an interest in Zen. Each of these have their own approach and home pages for you to view. One of them wrote 2 books that were published by book sellers and are linked to online as well.

Taoism: (top)

Taoism - Other Sources of Taoist Information This has some choice links on Taoism from the Taoism Information Page.

Taoism and Poetry This attractive page has links to several books on Taoist poetry for you to read. It also has a bulletin board and a weekly poem (which you can submit entries for).

Taoism and the Philosophy of T'ai Chi Ch'uan This is a superb collection of information about the history of Taoist thought including important monks, deities and background.

Taoism Information Page Several important Taoist books are included online as well as an introduction to Taoism and its relationship to martial arts, geomancy, alchemy, modern life, etc.

Taoism This is a personal discourse on Taoism from "one young man's perspective".

The Taoism Web Ring A collection of Taoist related links that you can submit your URL to if you like

The Truth - (Taoism) This is an essay about Taoism with several subsections with their own links. It is subtitled "The Universe is a Growing God" suggesting a pantheistic tendencies of Taoist philosophy and metaphysics.

Thigpen's Taoism Page A small page which has translations of parts of 2 classic Taoist books: Tao Te Ching and The Art of War.

Taoism & Zen Buddhism: (top)

The Way - Taoism and Zen This is a brief explanation of Taoism and its relationship with Zen.

transcendent idealism (top)

(ex-urban, cosmopolitan religion of information age)

The Unitarian Universalist Association Main Page This has been already listed under General Resources but really constitutes its own separate trend in the historical evolution of religious thought. Religious thought starts as a diffuse supernaturalism to a multitudinous animism and then to various theistic views ranging from pantheism to polytheism and more recently (in mankind's history) to monotheism. An anthropologist (such as Joseph Campbell, a comparative mythologist) would suggest that these religious stages are well correlated with changing economies and polities of the cultures that house the beliefs. The societies' religions are a celestial reflection of those societies that invented them.

Quakers (Society of Friends) This religion though historically associated with Christianity has also been considered to have a philosophical and egalitarian emphasis that is characteristic of this newest phase in religious thought. Unfortunately, I do not know of any internet links to Quaker web sites. If anyone does know of such a site(s) please let me know.

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E-mail me.Symbol of Islam - the Star and Crescent MoonSymbol of Hinduism - Aum, the cosmic wordSymbol of Judaism - the Star of DavidSymbol of Taoism - Yin and Yang of T'ai ChiSymbol of Buddhism - Dharma or Wheel of LifeSymbol of Christianity - the CrossSymbol of Unitarianism - the Flaming Chalice