AP HuGe Chapter 6 Vocabulary Terms

Agnosticism

The belief that the existence of god cant be proven empirically

Animism

The belief that objects such as plants and stones or natural events like thunderstorms and earthquakes have a discrete sport and conscious life

Atheism

the belief that god does not exist

autonomous religion

a religion that does not have a central authority but shares ideas and cooperatesbranch informally

branch

a large and fundamental division within a religion

caste

the class or distinct heredity order into which a Hindu is assigned according to religious law

congregation

a local assembly of persons brought together for common religious worship

cosmogony

a set of religious beliefsdenomination concerning the origin of the universe

denomintaion

a division of a branch that unites a number of local congregations into a single legal and administrative body

Ethnic relgion

a religion with a relatively concerted spatial distribution whose principles are likely to be based on the physical characteristics of the particular location in which its adherents are concentrated

Fundamentalism

literal interpretation and strict adherence to basic principles of a religion (or a religious branch denomination, or congregation)

Ghetto

during the middle ages a neighborhood in a city set up by law to be inhabited only by Jews now used to denote a section of a city in which members of any minority group live because of social legal or economic pressure.

hierarchical religion

a religion in which a central authority exercises a high degree of control

missionary

an individual who helps to diffuse a universalizing religion

monothesim

the doctrine of or belief in the existence of only one god

piligrimage

a journey to a place considered sacred for religious purposes

polytheism

belief in or worship of more than one god

solstice

an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the tilt of the axis is most inclined toward or away from the sun causing the sun’s apparent position in the sky to reach it most northernmost or southernmost extreme and resulting in the shortest and longest days of the year

syncretic

combing several religious traditions

universalizing relgion

a religion that attempts to appeal to all people not just those living in a particular location