AP Human Geography Chapter 6 Religions

Religion

the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal

Branch

A large and fundamental division within a religion

Denomination

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

Sect

relatively small group that has broken away from an established denomination

Universalizing(global) religion

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

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 where it originated.

Syncretic religion

Religious syncretism exhibits blending of two or more religious belief systems into a new system, or the incorporation into a religious tradition of beliefs from unrelated traditions.

Hierarchal religion

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

Autonomous religion

A religion that does not have a central authority but shares ideas and cooperates informally.

Monotheism

Believe in one God

Polytheism

Believe in multiple gods

Sacred space

enables those who acknowledge and accept it to feel reverence and connection with the spiritual.

Atheism

Doesn't believe in God

Agnosticism

Does believe there is no God but can't prove there is one

Animism

the attribution of a soul to plants, inanimate objects, and natural phenomena

Baha'i

is a monotheistic religion which emphasizes the spiritual unity of all humankind.

Buddhism

encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teachings attributed to Gautama Buddha, commonly known as the Buddha ("the awakened one").

Christianity

Christianity is the world's largest religion, with over 2.4 billion adherents, [note 2] known as Christians. [note 3] Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as Christ or the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament.

Confucianism

a system of philosophical and ethical teachings founded by Confucius and

Hinduism

a major religious and cultural tradition of South Asia, developed from Vedic

Islam

the religion of the Muslims, a monotheistic faith regarded as revealed through Muhammad as the Prophet of Allah.

Judaism

the monotheistic religion of the Jews.

Shintoism

the indigenous religion of Japan consisting chiefly in the cultic devotion to deities of natural forces and veneration of the Emperor as a descendant of the sun goddess.

Sikhism

in Punjab in the 15th century by Guru Nanak.

Taoism

a Chinese philosophy based on the writings of Lao-tzu ( fl. 6th century BC), advocating humility and religious piety.

Missionary

An individual who helps to diffuse a universalizing religion.

Pilgrimage

A journey to a place considered sacred for religious purposes.

Sectarianism

Sectarianism is a form of bigotry, discrimination, or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, nationalism, class, regional or factions of a political movement.

Fundamentalism

Literal interpretation and strict adherence to basic principles of a religion (or a religious branch, denomination, or sect).

Caste system

The class of distinct hereditary order into which a Hindu is assigned according to religious law.

Pagan

A follower of a polytheistic religion in ancient times.