RLGN 350 Exam 1

Sacred Text: Judaism

Tanakh, Mishnah, Talmud

Sacred Text: Christianity

Bible

Sacred Text: Islam

Quran, Hadith

Sacred Text: Hinduism

Vedas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita

Sacred Text: Buddhism

Tripitaka

Sacred Text: Sikhism

Adi Granth

Sacred Text: Daoism

Daedejing

Sacred Text: Confucianism

Analects

Sacred Text: Shinto

Kojiki

Sacred Text: Jainism

Purvas, Agamas

Hinduism

world's oldest religon

Judaism

Abraham- Abrahamic religion, mother of monotheistic faiths

Daoism

Laozi- China's aesthetic, ying-yang faith

Confucianism

Confucius' philosophy of proper ethics

Buddhism

Siddhartha- the West's favorite faith

Jainism

Mahavira- non-violent, conquering faith

Christianity

Jesus, easy to believe, hard to explain

Shinto

Nation-state of Japan, land of purity

Islam

Muhammad- Most geo-politically advancing

Sikhism

Guru Nanak- best of hindu-muslim devos

New Age Movements

East-west eclectic; occults, schisms

Post-truth/Christian

skeptical, agnostic, God is (NOT) dead

Emic

point of view from within the faith/culture

Etic

point of view from outside the other faith/culture

Mythological

stories expressing core human beliefs

Experiential

a reality that is consciously experienced

Ritual

repetitive expressions of some sacred customs

Social

norms shared by people group or community

Ethical

principles or practices deemed right/proper

Doctrinal

teachings or instruction are truths to live by

Sacred Founder

sage on whose life/teaching started their "following"; his creative acts and words deemed definitive and normative for faith

Sacred Stories

valuable "myths" of origins held in worldview, venerable characters, symbols, acts, language, objects

Sacred Place

particular space that is marked and set apart as "holy" and extraordinary to worship at and pilgrim to

Sacred Experiences

special heart-felt truth encounters that become defining moments with the transcendence

Sacred Writings

holy texts considered authoritative and basis of belief system to govern ethical/moral behavior

Sacred Power

divine enabling, deliverance/liberation, paths to salvation from life's sufferings to a better world to come

Sacred Community

faith group committed to gather regularly to worship and thrive within society

Sacred Time

special calendar events set aside to celebrate and re-enact faith core tenants

Sacred Functionaries

mediators, priests to assist ritual actions; serve as reps between people and 'god'

Sacred Being

ultimately, viewed as the Holy Other and considered as divine often worship as "god"

Revelation

what God the father has said in his word

Redemption

what God the son has done on the cross

Regeneration

what God the spirit alone does by grace through faith

Centrality

sacred texts house, capture, and communicate those core values that truly matter in religion

Accessibility

texts make functional, objective beliefs readily available in a tangible form to study

Beauty

truth is/has aesthetics, humans awed at divine wisdom literature, shared humanity, common grace, "inspired"

Comparability

theology, queen of all sciences, easily place side-by-side analyze, assess, apply

Creativity

imago dei, marvel at the sacred, don't lose the wonder of it all! be challenged.convinced of your own faith

Regard, Respect, Rapport, Relate, Reach In/Out

How to Study other Sacred texts

ORGANIC (nature) STRUCTURE (history)

how religions are related

Ablution

a ceremonial washing of the body or of objects

Agnostic

(not, knower) in common usage, synonym for skeptic

Allegorical

a method of interpretation that finds hidden or coded meanings in texts

Amulet

an object believed to possess special protective powers, often carried by or worn by a person

Ancestor Worship

religious actions that are concerned with the spirits of dead relatives

Animism

belief that spirits inhabit inanimate objects and natural phenomena

Anthropomorphism

a representation of gods in human form or with human characterists

Apocalyptic

matters related to the cataclysmic end of world and final judgement

Apologist

a defender or advocate for a particular viewpoint

Apostasy

the rejection of the faith that one once held

Ascetic

one who rejects ordinary social life for exceptional religious discipline, which often involves poverty, celibacy, and seclusion

Atheist

a nontheist; one who believes that gods and the spiritual world do not exist

Auspicious

favorable or conducive (as a time or condition) to successful outcomes from religious actions

Blasphemy

contemptuous or irreverent act or word concerning a deity or something sacred

Canon

the sacred and authoritatitive scriptires (writings) of a religious group

Celibacy

a rejection of the sexual aspects of life in the interests of focused religious devotion

Dualism

belief in two primary and competing cosmic powers of good and evil

Eschatology

(study of last things) a term for concepts related to the end of the world and of the human order

Exorcism

a ritual to drive out evil forces (demons) from places or people

Henotheism

worship of one god while not denying the existence of other gods

Heresy

the opposite of orthodoxy; beliefs or practices that are rejected as destructive to the essence of a religious tradition; a negative label imposed by the majority tradition

Iconoclast

someone opposed to the use of religious images

Laity

the adherents of a religion who are not part of the clergy or the priestly class

Liturgy

the form of public, group worship

Martyr

one who dies, usually voluntarily, for a cause

Monasticism

the practice of asceticism and poverty in order to devote life to constant religious service; often communal

Monotheism

belief in one divine being or god

Mysticism

a quest for deeper religious truth, bringing about a sense of union with the divine

Myth

stories reflecting the great deeds of the gods, which function as foundational stories for religious traditions

Orthodoxy

(correct belief) the opposite of heresy; the essential beliefs and practices by which a religious community defines itself; the determination of essential beliefs and practices generally made by the majority tradition

Pagan

a pejorative term, once commonly used by Western religions for adherents of polytheistic religions

Pantheism

a view that the universe as a whole is God or is part of God

Pantheon

full assembly of gods and goddesses in a religion

Pilgrimage

journey to a sacred place, done as a religious act

Polytheism

belief in a divine world of many gods and spiritual forces

Prayer beads

string of beats or knots that aids an individual in performing a cycle of prayers (sometimes called a rosary in Christianity)

Priest

a religious official; a range of offices may be found in evolved priesthoods

Profane

the opposite of sacred; the everyday; the ordinary; more negatively; to violate the sacred state of things

Proselyte

a convert from another religion

Purity

a state in which a person or object will not cause the sacred domain to be polluted

Reincarnation

rebirth of the person (or soul) into one or more successive lives; largely an Eastern concept

Revelation

knowledge gained by God disclosing truth to humans, often through a text or inspired speech

Rites of Passage

rituals that mark of change in status of a person within a community, e.g. birth, puberty, marriage, death

Sacred

the opposite of profane; the quality of things (places, objects, times, events) associated with the domain of the gods

Sacrilege

any intentional violation of a sacred object

Saint

one who has displayed a heightened degree of devotion or religious accomplishment

Sanctuary

sacred space, such as a temple or church

Scripture

the sacred writings of a religion, usually having primary authoritative status

Shaman

a religious healer and wonder-worker who often appears to be possessed by divine spirits and who is perceived to have power within the realm of the invisible

Taboo

a prohibition of a behavior or a restriction on the use of a particular object