World religions Unit 1 vocab

sacred (holy)

sacred (holy)

set apart, reserved for special religious purposes, associated with the divine

Profane (mundane, secular)

everyday, ordinary (not sacred)

transcendent

beyond or above or far away from the mundane, human realm of existence

immanent

within or nearby, present in the realm of human experience

religion (Mary Pat Fisher’s definition)

this term describes activity that aims to connect human beings to sacred reality

spirituality

this term may be used to describe individualistic ways to connect to sacred reality (rather than social, communal, or institutional ways to connect to the sacred)

myth

a sacred story with symbolic meaning

ritual

a sacred action with symbolic meaning

rites of passage

ritual acts that mark transitions from one stage of life to the next (such as: birth, puberty, marriage, death)

doctrine (or dogma)

teaching or belief

orthodoxy

("right + teaching") - the officially correct teachings of a particular religious tradition

heterodoxy (or heresy)

("other + teaching") - beliefs that depart from the officially correct teachings within a particular religious tradition

orthopraxy

("right + practice") - the officially correct way of practicing a religion \n (which may include both ethical behavior and proper performance of rituals)

worldview

a way of understanding reality; \n the "lenses" or stories or belief-system through which someone interprets and makes sense of the world as they experience it (see also: "metanarrative")

theism

a worldview that understands ultimate, sacred, supernatural reality as personal \n (i.e., belief in a God or gods)

monotheism

("one + theism") - the belief that there is only one God, that God is One

polytheism

("many + theism") - the belief that there are many gods

atheism

("NO + theism") - the belief that God doesn't exist; denial of the belief that there are any gods

agnosticism

("NO + knowledge") - the position that it is impossible to know whether or not any god(s) exist

nontheism

a worldview that understands sacred reality as impersonal, or in which supernatural beings (gods or divinities) are not what is ultimately important

scriptures

literally "writings" - used especially of written texts (and sometimes of oral, unwritten traditions) that are seen as sacred or important in a religious tradition

layperson

someone who practices a religion, but who is not an expert (they do not have special training in the teachings or practices of their religion)

priest

a religious expert, one who has training in the proper performance of religious rituals; \n \n a person who acts as a go-between or intermediary between "ordinary" humans and God/gods/the Sacred

mysterium tremendum and fascinans

feelings of fearful awe & reverence ("trembling"), and attraction ("fascination") that are said by Rudolf Otto to characterize the experience of the Sacred (or "the Holy")

via analogia (way of analogy)

symbolic use of language to describe the sacred by comparing it to things found in ordinary/mundane experiences (ex. "God is like a loving parent," or "enlightenment is like putting out a fire")

via negativa (way of negation)

the attempt to talk about the sacred by saying what the sacred is not (ex. "God is not a human being", "nirvana cannot be described in words")

globalization

all the world's religions have members in almost every country or society; no society is so isolated that it contains only one religious culture

colonialism

the (political, social, cultural, and economic) domination and exploitation of one society by another

metanarrative

a "big story" or worldview which is accepted by almost everyone in society, and which shapes our understanding of reality / the world

premodernity

an era before modernity or globalization, when religion was seamlessly integrated into all of society, and when it was assumed that nearly everyone in society shared the same traditional religious worldview

modernity

an era when science replaced religion as the primary source of knowledge, when the dominant narrative was one of scientific progress, and when religion was seen only as a private belief

postmodernity

an era when there is no universally shared worldview or "metanarrative"; instead there is a plurality of religious and non-religious narratives, none of which is seen as the one and only, objective truth

fundamentalism

attempts to reject important aspects of modernity and to re-assert a traditional religious worldview or metanarrative as the one true understanding of reality, usually including the attempt to use a particular set of religious ideas and values to give shape to the whole of society

postmodernism

accepts pluralism because there is no universally accepted metanarrative, and takes an approach to public society in which many different religious and non-religious worldviews/narratives must find a way to coexist as one society

heretic (as used by Peter Berger)

"one who chooses"; in our post-modern, pluralistic society, all of us are forced to choose our beliefs/our worldview, since there is no one universally shared set of beliefs that everyone in our society takes for granted as true

religion (William James' definition)

"the belief that there is an unseen order, and that our supreme good lies in harmoniously adjusting ourselves" to that order

religion (Winfried Corduan's definition)

"a system of beliefs and practices that provides values to give life meaning and coherence by directing a person toward transcendence"

religious pluralism (Diana Eck's definition)

an attitude and practice of actively seeking to understand those of a different religious culture with whom you share a community

List the Seven Dimensions of Religion (from Ninian Smart)

(1) Ritual/Practical \n (2) Doctrinal/Philosophical \n (3) Ethical/Legal \n (4) Emotional/Experiential \n (5) Mythic/Narrative \n (6) Social/Institutional \n (7) Material

Myths of Nature

worldview story according to which: \n the problem is time (which brings decay, death) \n & the solution is return to (re-)creation, to new birth \n (through the practice of rituals connected to the cycles of nature, such as Summer-Fall-Winter-Spring)

Myths of History

worldview story according to which: \n history is a story with a beginning, middle, and end; \n the problem is: Injustice, Idolatry, Sin, Disharmony between Humans & God, Death \n & the solution is: God acting in history to bring about Judgment, to restore Harmony between Humans & God, right knowledge of God, forgiveness of Sin, and the resurrection of the Dead

Myths of Libertion

worldview story according to which: \n the problem is: every soul is trapped in an ending cycle of suffering (birth, suffering, death, and rebirth) \n & the solution is: escape from the cycle of rebirth

Myths of Harmony

worldview story according to which: \n the problem is: disharmony, caused by the fundamental elements of the cosmos being out-of-balance \n & the solution is: the restoration of balance or harmony

30%+ of the world's population (about 2.3 Billion people) are identified with this world religion

Christianity

24% of the world's population (about 1.8 Billion people) are identified with this world religion

Islam

15% of the world's population (about 1 Billion people) are identified with this world religion

Hinduism

the approximate % of the world's population that are "not affiliated" with any religious tradition

16% (or about 1.2 billion people in the world)

7% of the world's population (about 500 million people) are identified with this world religion

Buddhism

0.2% of the world's population (about 14 million people) are identified with this world religion

Judaism