POG Midterm Terms

exegesis

in-depth textual analysis and/or interpretation; usually refers to religious text (thinking)

theology

study of religion, usually from Christian POV; study of God; borrowed from Christianity

theosophy

mystical idea of intuitive insight into the nature of God (feeling)

theodicy

how can evil exist in what we think is a just universe? assumption that tGod and what He created is good (why do bad things happen to good people, etc.)

God

creator, caring, omnipresent, all-powerful; notion that God is one; miracles, just, fair, all-knowing, perfect?, involved?; revelation/tells, morals, values, justice meaning, worship, punishment for bad behavior, reward for following rules (salvation) (entire last category = how to relate back to God)

rabbi

Jewish teacher; someone who interprets Torah/Bible/oral Torah/Talmud/Halalcha, etc.

Torah

Jewish religious text/scripture —> written Torah/Bible, oral Torah/Talmud

Halalcha

Jewish law (Law of God); interpretation of commandments/how Jews make commandments present in daily life; changes

Talmud

book Jews believe in that Christians don’t; other teachings; oral Torah; leaders/trusted members of the community; deeper teachings than written Torah; greater understanding; eventually gets written down —> “2nd cut”; runs thru multiple volumes

Arianism

God the father must’ve proceeded the son; “There was a time when Christ was not;” God sends Jesus to humanity; doesn’t agree w/nicene creed

nicene creed

three parts: Father, Son, Holy Spirit (325 CE)

Catholics

Jesus was always there (didn’t come after God the Father; only Jesus’s human form was created later); all parts of God are eternal; divine part of Jesus that came before human form and after crucifixion is eternal; the Trinity is timeless; HEAVILY AND VIOLENTLY debated for 50 years

Qur’an (Koran)

(for Islam) word of God; recorded by Muhammed; rule book

Hadith

supplementary collections of sayings of prophet Muhammed (ex of what to do, how to worship, etc.); functions the way the Talmud does ie as a supplement (in this case to the Qur’an vs. to the Torah)

Muhammed

(Islam) last messenger; wants to reform religion; chosen by God; polytheist

Umma

all Muslims/Muslim community

‘Ulama

literate, educated Muslims, voluntary study and spokespeople

sunnis

larger, majority sect of Islam

shias

smaller, minority sect of Islam; often discriminated against

5 “pillars” of Islam

things the Umma/Muslims/followers of Islam should do

one of 5 “pillars” of Islam

fast all day during month of Ramadan (eat after sunset only) —> know what it feels like to be w/o God

one of 5 “pillars” of Islam

Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca)

one of 5 “pillars” of Islam

prayer —> regular prayer times, communal, different intervals up to 5 times a day (humans need reminders and structure), particular focus and session (sermon) on Fridays, not going long w/o thinking of God

one of 5 “pillars” of Islam

charity (zakat) oms (?) giving

one of 5 “pillars” of Islam

shahada (profession of faith) —> declaration of what you believe, succinct and basic —> no God but THE God, Muhammed is His prophet

messiah/messianism

leader or savior of a particular group/cause; belief in the messiah as the savior of humankind

Mahdi

expected messiah of the Muslim tradition

Shi’ism

the religious system or distinctive tenets of the Shiʽa

Imam

the prayer leader of a mosque; a Muslim leader of the line of Ali held by Shiites to be the divinely appointed, sinless, infallible successors of Muhammad; any of various rulers that claim descent from Muhammad and exercise spiritual and temporal leadership over a Muslim region

reason

human intellect viewing and interpreting world in a logical way

revelation

humans couldn’t know until God revealed it to them

science (classical sense) =

philosophy and vice versa

sufism

most well known branch of Islamic mystics

scholasticism

birth of universities (monasteries); Anslem on of early scholastics —> can we use philosophy to better understand religion? philosophy is limited but its a powerful tool to understand faith and thus strengthens faith; ontological (a branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature and relations of beings; Ontology deals with abstract entities; a particular theory about the nature of being or the kinds of things that have existence); Maimonides

Mishneh Torah

law code, collection of Halalcha; written by Maimonides

Guide for the Perplexed

philosophy (people who want deeper understanding of world); written by Maimonides

Herem

to shun (in Judaism for malpractice)

mysticism

one of the most misunderstood religious terms; interested in religious experiences that transform people (often physically); want to open themselves up to experiences and revelations; prepare/seek to be open and connected; believe that words/other things can’t articulate particular experiences; strong, powerful, transformative feelings can’t be explained; exists in all religions; often seen as a journey to God, enlightenment, etc.; moving journey metaphor/journey inward to God

unio mystica

mystical union w/God or an aspect of God; either God is in this state of being or in a parallel state of being you have to go to; bonding w/God semi-permanently; most mystics believe you don’t get full bond w/God until death (shed body, which holds us to earth, senses, etc. to allow soul to connect w/God)

Kabbalah

standard form of Jewish mysticism (at least in last 1000 years)

exegetical (type/branch of mysticism)

tying mysticism to scripture; ex teaching people to find extra stuff, hints, hidden details, deeper meaning, etc. in Bible/scripture —> only mystics can teach this; one form = numerology which is when numbers have mystical meaning

ecstatic (type/branch of mysticism)

ecstasy, altered state; try to put themselves in this state; getting around brain, senses, body, etc. to expose soul and get thru to God

reform

integrated into histories of all religions; notion of decline from a better state —> how do we get back?; we can do better/need to reform; we’re not doing the best we can/not living up to religious values; large reforms in every religion at some points in time but also smaller periodic reforms in every religion

“The” (Protestant) Reformation

15th-17th centuries; Christian; Martin Luther unintentionally started; not high point of reform in other religions/they have their own reforms

sola fide

faith alone (Martin Luther)

sola scriptura

only authority you need to be christians: don’t need church, clergy, sacraments, etc. —> reading/knowing bible and scripture = faith

jesuits (society of jews)

las great order of monks of the Middle Ages, have to figure out how to approach/discuss religion

exercises

spiritual exercises; quasi-mystical; Loyola created; program you go through to connect more deeply w/god; spiritual self-help

council of Trent (1545-1563)

higher ups; catholic council w/power during split of catholics and protestants