| devotion, | godliness, | morality, | piety, | theology, |
| faith, | holiness, | pietism, | righteousness, | worship. |
Piety is primarily filial duty, as of children to parents, and hence, in its highest sense, a loving obedience and service to God as the Heavenly Father; pietism often denotes a mystical, sometimes an affected piety; religion is the reverent acknowledgment both in heart and in act of a divine being. Religion, in the fullest and highest sense, includes all the other words of this group. Worship may be external and formal, or it may be the adoring reverence of the human spirit for the divine, seeking outward expression. Devotion, which in its fullest sense is self-consecration, is often used to denote an act of worship, especially prayer or adoration; as, he is engaged in his devotions. Morality is the system and practise of duty as required by the moral law, consisting chiefly in outward acts, and thus may be observed without spiritual rectitude of heart; morality is of necessity included in all true religion, which involves both outward act and spiritual service. Godliness (primarily godlikeness) is a character and spirit like that of God. Holiness is the highest, sinless perfection of any spirit, whether divine or human, tho often used for purity or for consecration. Theology is the science of religion, or the study and scientific statement of all that the human mind can know of[308] God. Faith, strictly the belief and trust which the soul exercises toward God, is often used as a comprehensive word for a whole system of religion considered as the object of faith; as, the Christian faith; the Mohammedan faith.
Antonyms:
| atheism, | godlessness, | irreligion, | sacrilege, | ungodliness, |
| blasphemy, | impiety, | profanity, | unbelief, | wickedness. |
RELUCTANT.
Synonyms:
| averse, | disinclined, | loath, | slow, |
| backward, | indisposed, | opposed, | unwilling. |
Reluctant (L. re, back, and lucto, strive, struggle) signifies struggling against what one is urged or impelled to do, or is actually doing; averse (L. a, from, and verto, turn) signifies turned away as with dislike or repugnance; loath (AS. lath, evil, hateful) signifies having a repugnance, disgust, or loathing for, tho the adjective loath is not so strong as the verb loathe. A dunce is always averse to study; a good student is disinclined to it when a fine morning tempts him out; he is indisposed to it in some hour of weariness. A man may be slow or backward in entering upon that to which he is by no means averse. A man is loath to believe evil of his friend, reluctant to speak of it, absolutely unwilling to use it to his injury. A legislator may be opposed to a certain measure, while not averse to what it aims to accomplish. Compare [ANTIPATHY].
Antonyms: