Spiritual naturalism
[2] Coming into prominence as a writer during the 1870s, Huysmans quickly established himself among a rising group of writers, the so-called Naturalist school, of whom Émile Zola was the acknowledged head...With Là-bas (1891), a novel which reflected the aesthetics of the spiritualist revival and the contemporary interest in the occult, Huysmans formulated for the first time an aesthetic theory which sought to synthesize the mundane and the transcendent: "spiritual Naturalism".
[5] With many different definitions as scholars try to pin down exactly what it is they are defining, it has tended to have a more positive connotation than religion broadly in recent years because of its "association with personal experiences of the transcendent".
Stone gives the definition as "affirm[ing] that attention should be focused on the events and processes of this world to provide what degree of explanation and meaning are possible to this life".
Some liberal Jewish congregations, nontheist Friends, and Unitarians[14] have similar orientations in their adoption of religious naturalist beliefs.
Although the overall movement toward these attitudes remains relatively small and loosely organized, various forms of spiritual naturalism have existed since time immemorial, with the pantheistic philosophies of Taoism and similar Eastern nature-mysticisms being perhaps the most notable example.
This is demonstrated in the recent rapid growth of Religious Naturalism, pantheism (particularly of an avowedly naturalistic variety) and some liberal Christian perspectives.
However recent authors (Ursula Goodenough, Chet Raymo, Karl E. Peters, Loyal Rue and Stuart Kauffman) are highlighting the paradigm via their naturalistic writings.
In addition a few modern theologians with liberal orientations have rejected some of the historical claims of some biblical doctrines and supernaturalism and moved to progressive forms of Christianity and Judaism akin to theistic naturalism.
Adherents believe that nature, in all its diversity and wonder, is sufficient unto itself in terms of eliciting the intellectual and emotional responses associated with spiritual experience, and that there is no need for faith in the traditional anthropomorphic concept of deities or similar ideas.
[22] Hick believed that demythologising the incarnation would make sense of the variety of world religions and give them equal validity as ways to encounter God.
Due to the meticulous adherence to "epilogismos" (empirical or pragmatic thinking) applied by the founder, Epicurus of Samos, this philosophy is particularly compatible with contemporary scientific insights.
It has deep roots in Western culture, and inspired the author of the US Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, as well as Giordano Bruno, Isaac Newton, and many others.
The Epicureans teach that these faculties are our nature-given connection with reality, and insist on clear expression, so as to make sure that language reflects the nature of things.
They also incorporate ritual (Eikas is a feast of reason, food, and friendship celebrated the Twentieth of every month and established by Epicurus in his Final Will), community, and other cultural traits traditionally associated with religion.
The epic poem De rerum natura by Lucretius--an ancient epitome of natural philosophy--is the most complete Epicurean writing, together with three of the founder's Epistles, his Principal Doctrines, and the Vatican Sayings.
Taoist propriety and ethics may vary depending on the particular school, but in general they tend to emphasize Wu-wei (action through non-action), 'naturalness', simplicity, spontaneity, and the Three Treasures: compassion, moderation, and humility.
In this secondary sense it is the way of the universe, the norm, the rhythm, the driving power in all nature, the ordering principle behind all life.
[26] The Noble Eightfold Path and the Five Precepts of Buddhism are rooted in right relationship between the devotee, morality, and practices that align with naturalism.
