AP Human - Ch. 6 Religion

Agnosticism

The belief that the existence of God cannot be proven or disproven empirically.

Animism

The belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have a discrete spirit 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 cooperates informally.

Branch

A large and fundamental division within a religion.

Caste

The class or distinct hereditary 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 beliefs concerning the origin of the universe.

Denomination

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

Ethnic religion

A religion with a relatively concentrated 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 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 discrimination.

Hierarchical religion

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

Lunar calendar

A calendar with months that correspond to cycles of moon phases.

Lunisolar calendar

A calendar with lunar months that are brought into alignment with the solar year through the same process.

Missionary

An individual who helps to diffuse a universalizing religion.

Monotheism

The doctrine or belief in the existence of only one God.

Pilgrimage

A journey to a place considered sacred for religious purposes.

Polytheism

Belief in or worship of more than one God.

Solar calendar

A calendar that relates to the season or the apparent position of the sun in relation to the starts.

Solstice

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

Syncretic

Combining several different religious traditions.

Universalizing religion

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

Utopian settlement

A community built around an ideal way of life, often based on a religion.