THEO 143 – Religions of the World Lecture Notes

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering weeks 1 through 4 of THEO 143: Religions of the World, based on lecture notes and readings.

Prothero's Model of World Religions

A four-part framework analyzing world religions through: 1) An analysis of the human problem (symptoms), 2) A solution to that problem (diagnosis), 3) Techniques for achieving that goal (prognosis), and 4) Exemplars who chart the path toward the goal (treatment).

Exemplars

Expert people in a religion who chart the path toward achieving the ultimate goal.

Academic Study of Religion

An anthropological and descriptive enterprise concerned with studying people, their claims, actions, practices, and institutions without making normative judgements about what people should believe.

School District of Abington Township, PA versus the Schempp family (1963)

A court case where a family successfully sued a public school board for reading Bible verses over the school PA system; Justice Clark stated that education is incomplete without studying comparative religion or the history of religion.

Square Peg Round Hole Fallacy

A logical fallacy where one takes one tradition as the normal standard and views everything else in terms of that normal (e.g., viewing a synagogue as the Jewish version of a church).

No Good Scotsman Fallacy

A logical fallacy of taking one example of something as its true form and dismissing any counterexamples as false or unrepresentative.

Kenosis

The theological term for self-emptying, representing the rejection of dominating supremacy.

God 5.0

Brian McLaren's concept of moving toward seeing God as nonviolent, loving, creative, and collaborative, rather than punishing or dominating.

The Great Spiritual Migration

A book by Brian D McLaren exploring three profound shifts in thinking about religion: spiritually, theologically, and missionally.

The Animals in the Pit

A Russian folktale by Alexander Nikoaevich Afanseyk about doing whatever it takes to survive.

Religions of Repair

A categorization of Abrahamic traditions based on their core orientations: Judaism (The Way of Exile and Return), Christianity (The Way of Salvation), and Islam (The Way of Submission).

Christianity (Prothero Model)

A tradition where the problem is Sin, the solution is Salvation from sin, the techniques are Faith and good works (for Catholics) or Faith alone (for Protestants), and the exemplars are Jesus, saints (for Catholics), or the 'great cloud of witnesses' (for Protestants).

Transubstantiation

The Catholic Eucharistic belief that the bread and wine change completely into the body and blood of Christ.

Consubstantiation

The Lutheran Eucharistic belief that Christ's body and blood are present in, with, and under the forms of bread and wine.

Great Schism (1054)

The historical split of Christendom into Roman Catholicism in the West and Orthodoxy in the East.

Ninety-Five Theses (1517)

Martin Luther's publication on indulgences that initiated the Protestant Reformation.

Nostra Aetate

A document from the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) containing five parts aimed at acknowledging commonalities of world religions, affirming non-Abrahamic religions, living in peace with Muslims, recognizing a special bond with Jews, and moving toward conversation.

Three Christian Theologies of Religion

Three ways Christians engage with differing religions: Exclusivism (assertive distance), Inclusivism (compassionate support), and Pluralism (open coexistence).

Religions of Release

A categorization of Eastern traditions: Hinduism (The way of devotion), Buddhism (The way of awakening), and Sikhism (The way of the guru).

Sikhism (Prothero Model)

A tradition where the problem is Egotism (haumai), the solution is Union with God in the realm of truth, the techniques are Hard work, service, and meditation on the divine name, and the exemplars are Gurus.

Haumai

In Sikhism, destructive selfishness or egotism that serves as the central human problem to overcome.

Five Thieves

In Sikhism, the inner obstacles to spiritual truth: Lust, wrath, greed (lobe), attachment (moe), and excessive pride.

Guru Nanak

The founder of Sikhism, born in 1469 in a Hindu family in a Muslim village, who disappeared while bathing in a river for 3 days before emerging as God's messenger.

Sri Guru Granth Sahib

The Sikh sacred building's scripture, which contains divine poetry set to classical music written by Guru Nanak, other Gurus, and Sikh, Hindu, and Muslim figures.

Langar

A free community kitchen established by Guru Nanak to reject caste distinctions and purity/pollution codes by serving all visitors.

Five Articles of Faith (Sikhism)

The physical items worn by Sikhs: Kesh (uncut hair), Kangha (comb), Kara (steel bracelet), Kirpan (sword), and Kaccha (undershorts).

Gurdwara

The Sikh place of worship, which contains the Sikh scripture, a community kitchen (langar), four doors, and the Nishan Sahib.

Religious Cosmology

A religious picture-map that explains the existence, order, and fate of the universe.

EVagruiys of Ponticus

A fourth-century Desert Father monk who mapped the journey of faith and taught that a knower of God must fight the eight deadly thoughts.

Rebbe

In Hasidic Judaism, a holy person who mediates a deep relationship with God and represents the unique dignity and religious uniqueness of each follower.