Home›Core Tenets›Obligation›ObligatoryBrowse ByObligatoryThis page groups beliefs by whether a tradition requires adherents to hold them. Wikipedia notes one live philosophical debate asks "what is the rational way to revise one's beliefs when presented with various sorts of evidence?" Browsing by obligation lets a visitor tell a required belief from one merely tolerated within a tradition.FactsLearn MoreObligatorySourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedThe central affirmations of a tradition, stated one at a time. What counts as a core tenet is set by each tradition, and traditions differ over whether assent to stated propositions is what makes a member: creedal Christianity and Islam draw such lists explicitly, while Judaism, Hinduism and most Indigenous traditions do not. 2StatusStanding as a Comparative CategoryWell-attestedUsed, but its validity as a comparative category is disputed 3DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedBeliefs & Restrictions 1ComparisonPrimary Academic DisciplineWell-attestedComparative Religion 4Learn MoreThe core tenets This group gathers the core tenets of the traditions, the central affirmations and defining beliefs that stand at the heart of a religion or worldview, the doctrines a tradition holds as essential to its identity. It is the largest belief grouping in the atlas. The browser will find the core tenets the atlas gathers from across the traditions. The entries describe each belief in its own terms, distinguishing what a tradition affirms of itself from the historical and comparative perspective of scholarship.ObligatoryFilter Results96 entriesStatus Within the TraditionAllA minority position within the tradition (2)Affirmed, but left to individual conscience (1)Binding, without a formal definition (56)Defined and binding within this tradition (4)Formally condemned by this tradition (3)Genuinely disputed within the tradition (6)Rejected, or not held, within this tradition (20)Standard teaching, not formally defined (28)The mainstream position, not formally binding (2)Origin Period Start YearAll-700 (2)150 (1)451 (1)800 (1)1515 (1)1525 (1)1610 (1)1648 (1)1690 (1)1740 (1)1741 (1)1844 (1)1854 (1)1881 (1)1901 (1)1930 (1)1934 (2)1966 (1)1971 (1)Affirmation OfAllAhura Mazda (1)Baptism in the Holy Spirit (1)Barakah (1)Believer's Baptism (1)Buddha-nature (1)Continuing Revelation (1)Dependent origination (1)Dzogchen (1)Halakha (2)Justification (1)Kami (1)Karma (1)Primacy of Honor Among Orthodox Churches (1)Sunyata (1)Category of BeliefAllCore Tenets (37)Cosmological Beliefs (2)TraditionAllAfrican Methodist Episcopal Church (6)African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (6)Ahmadiyya (1)Alexandrian Wicca (1)American Humanist Association (1)Amish (2)Anabaptism (3)Anglican Communion (3)Anglicanism (3)Armenian Apostolic Church (6)Assyrian Church of the East (6)Baptist (5)Breslov Hasidism (2)Calvinism (Reformed) (3)Chabad-Lubavitch (3)Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (6)Church of Cyprus (7)Church of England (3)Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) (4)Church of Greece (7)Church of Ireland (3)Church of Satan (1)Church of Scotland (2)Church of Sweden (2)Church of the Nazarene (4)Churches of Christ (3)Community of Christ (1)Conservative Judaism (1)Coptic Orthodoxy (6)Dianic Wicca (1)Disciples of Christ (2)Divine Science (2)Dutch Reformed Church (2)Eastern Orthodoxy (7)Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (7)Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church (7)Ethical Culture (1)Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (7)Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (2)Evangelicalism (2)Free Methodist Church (5)Gardnerian Wicca (1)Gaudiya Vaishnavism (2)Gelug (6)Georgian Orthodox Church (7)Global Methodist Church (6)Greek Orthodox Church (7)Haredi Judaism (1)Hasidic Judaism (1)Humanistic Judaism (1)Humanists International (1)Ibadism (1)Irani Zoroastrianism (1)ISKCON (Hare Krishna) (2)Ismailism (2)Jehovah's Witnesses (1)Jodo Shinshu (4)Jonang (5)Kagyu (5)Karma Kagyu (5)Kashmir Shaivism (1)Khalsa (1)Kharijites (2)Latter-day Saints (Mormonism) (2)Lingayatism (2)Lutheranism (2)Madhyamaka (4)Mahayana (5)Maronite Church (7)Mennonites (2)Methodism (6)Modern Orthodox Judaism (2)Moravian Church (3)Nath Sampradaya (1)Nation of Islam (2)National Baptist Convention of America (5)Nichiren (5)Nichiren Shoshu (5)Nirmala (1)Nyingma (6)Old Believers (6)Oneness Pentecostalism (2)Order of Nine Angles (1)Oriental Orthodoxy (6)Orthodox Judaism (1)Palo Mayombe (1)Parsi Zoroastrianism (2)Pentecostalism (7)Presbyterianism (3)Progressive National Baptist Convention (5)Protestantism (1)Pure Land (4)Quranism (1)Reconstructionist Judaism (1)Religious Science (Centers for Spiritual Living) (1)Rinzai (6)Roman Catholicism (5)Romanian Orthodox Church (7)Russian Orthodox Church (7)Sakya (4)Salafism (1)Samkhya (1)Sect Shinto (1)Seicho-no-Ie (1)Serbian Orthodox Church (7)Sethianism (1)Seventh-day Adventism (5)Shaivism (1)Shakers (2)Shaktism (1)Shia (Twelver) (3)Shingon (6)Shri Vidya (1)Shrine Shinto (1)Smartism (1)Soka Gakkai (7)Soto (5)Sri Vaishnavism (2)Sufism (1)Sunni (4)Tendai (6)The Episcopal Church (3)The Satanic Temple (1)The United Methodist Church (6)Theravada (4)Tiantai (5)Tibetan Buddhism (4)Udasi (2)Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (7)Ukrainian Orthodox Church (7)Unity (Unity School of Christianity) (1)Vaishnavism (1)Vajrayana (5)Wahhabism (1)Wesleyan Church (4)Zaidiyyah (3)Zen (5)SubjectAllCommunity and its boundaries (6)Death, rebirth and destiny (6)Ethics and conduct (1)Human nature (3)Knowledge and reason (9)Religious authority and succession (16)Revelation and scripture (9)Ritual and worship (13)Sacred history: what happened (2)Salvation and liberation (9)Society and politics (3)The cosmos and creation (3)The nature of the divine (16)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 96A Disciple May Hold No Other Sufi AffiliationObligatoryA Divine Element Is Trapped in Matter and Wakes Through KnowledgeObligatoryA lay movement without a priesthoodObligatoryA married clergy and no monastic ruleObligatoryA Married Parish Priesthood With Celibate BishopsObligatoryA Muslim Who Commits a Grave Sin Ceases to Be a BelieverObligatoryA person carries a ka, the vital force needing offerings after death, and a ba, the mobile aspect of self that can leave the tomb and move between the dead and the living.ObligatoryA Solitary Report Is Weighed Against the Established Principles of the QuranObligatoryA Transmitted Report Outweighs Reasoning by AnalogyObligatoryAbd al-Qadir al-Jilani Is the Supreme Helper Among the SaintsObligatoryAhura Mazda as the one supreme creatorObligatoryAl-Masalih al-Mursala: Unstated Public Benefit Is a Ground for RulingObligatoryAn Eastern Liturgical Rite in Full Communion With RomeObligatoryAn Expanded Biblical Canon Including Enoch and JubileesObligatoryAnalogical Reasoning Is Not a Source of LawObligatoryAncestors continue to watch over and can bless or punish their living descendantsObligatoryAncestral Sin as Inherited Mortality Rather Than Inherited GuiltObligatoryAql: Reason Stands Beside Quran, Sunna and Consensus as a Source of LawObligatoryArminianism (free will and universal atonement)ObligatoryAscetic renunciation and celibate monasticismObligatoryAtheistic Satanism (Satan as symbol of the self)ObligatoryAuspicia: Jupiter's Consent Read in the BirdsObligatoryAuthority of the four Sunni schools of jurisprudenceObligatoryAutocephaly and Conciliar Governance Without a Universal PrimateObligatoryBaptism in the Holy SpiritObligatoryBarakah: Blessing Flows Through the Saints and Their TombsObligatoryBelief May Not Be Concealed, Whatever the DangerObligatoryBeliever's baptism (credobaptism)ObligatoryBeyond the great state gods, each person had a personal god, an ili, who watched over them individually and explained private suffering or fortune when appeased or neglected.ObligatoryBiblical inerrancyObligatoryBoth the Sanskrit Vedas and the Tamil Hymns of the Alvars Are RevelationObligatoryBuddhahood in this very body (sokushin jobutsu)ObligatoryBuddha-nature in all beingsObligatoryCaste Hierarchy and Vedic Ritualism Are RejectedObligatoryCessation of the miraculous spiritual giftsObligatoryChalcedonian Christology (Two Natures in One Person)ObligatoryChristian perfection (entire sanctification)ObligatoryClosed communionObligatoryConditional immortality (annihilationism)ObligatoryCongregational Chanting of the Divine Names Is the Practice Appointed for This AgeObligatoryCongregational church governanceObligatoryConnexionalismObligatoryContemplative Prayer Worked Through the Faculties of Chochmah, Binah and DaatObligatoryContinuation of the spiritual gifts (charismata)ObligatoryContinuing revelation through living prophetsObligatoryDaimoku: chanting Nam Myoho Renge KyoObligatoryDependent origination (pratitya-samutpada)ObligatoryDescended from Zoroastrians who migrated to IndiaObligatoryDevotion to a Rebbe and mystical joyObligatoryDhikr Is Made Aloud in AssemblyObligatoryDhikr Is Made Silently in the HeartObligatoryDzogchen, the Great Perfection, as the highest teachingObligatoryEcumenical Councils Continue and Are Confirmed by the PopeObligatoryElijah Muhammad Is the Messenger of GodObligatoryEmptiness (sunyata)ObligatoryEpiscopal church governanceObligatoryEsoteric and exoteric teaching as oneObligatoryEternal progression and exaltationObligatoryEternal security of the believerObligatoryExclusive worship of the GoddessObligatoryFive Eternal Differences Divide God, Souls and MatterObligatoryFormal debate as a means of realizationObligatoryGod Appeared in the Person of Master Fard MuhammadObligatoryGod created the world but does not intervene in itObligatoryGod Has No Eternal Attributes Distinct From His EssenceObligatoryGod Is an Indwelling Principle of Good Rather Than a Being Apart from the WorldObligatoryGod Is Omnipresent and That Presence Is the Only RealityObligatoryGod's Attributes Are Affirmed as Revealed, Without Asking HowObligatoryGod's Attributes Are Real and Are Neither God Nor Other Than GodObligatoryGood and Evil Are Knowable by ReasonObligatoryGood and Evil Are Known Only Through RevelationObligatoryHalakha is binding and authoritativeObligatoryHalakha is binding but evolves through scholarshipObligatoryHalakhic Observance Together with Full Secular Education and Civic LifeObligatoryHuman beings are responsible for their own meaning and purposeObligatoryHuman Beings Author Their Own Acts and God Judges Them JustlyObligatoryHuman revolution: inner change as the engine of social changeObligatoryIjma: The Consensus of the Scholars Is BindingObligatoryImpermanence (anicca)ObligatoryInfant baptism (paedobaptism)ObligatoryInitiatory lineage and three degreesObligatoryIstihsan: A Jurist May Set Aside a Strict Analogy for a Better RulingObligatoryIt Is Taboo to Speak the Name of the Recently DeadObligatoryJesus survived the crucifixionObligatoryJewish Identity Rests on History, Culture and Peoplehood Rather Than on GodObligatoryJudaism as an evolving religious civilizationObligatoryJuristic Preference Is Not a Valid Source of LawObligatoryJustification by faith alone (sola fide)ObligatoryKami (sacred spirits in nature)ObligatoryKarma: action determines future rebirthObligatoryKasb: God Creates Every Act and the Human Being Acquires ItObligatoryKensho, seeing into one's own natureObligatoryKhidma: Work Done for the Shaykh Is Itself WorshipObligatoryLeadership by the most qualified elected imamObligatorySeventh-day (Saturday) SabbathObligatoryThe Seven Fold WayObligatorySources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. Encyclopedia of Religiontier 1Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005View the Source3. Belief, Language, and Experiencetier 1Rodney Needham, Basil Blackwell, 19724. Wikipedia: Comparative religiontier 2WikipediaComparative religion, opening definitionQuote, Comparative religion, opening definitionComparative religion is the branch of religious studies that systematically compares the doctrines, practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the worlds religions.View the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.