World Religions Final Exam Study Guide - 2025

Flashcards for World Religions Final Exam Study Guide - 2025

__: Belief in spiritual truths without proof.

Faith

__: Sacred stories explaining divine or cosmic events.

Mythology

__: A religion's view of the universe's nature.

Cosmology

__: Moral rules for human conduct.

Ethics

__: Authoritative religious teachings.

Doctrine

__: Formal worship or ceremony.

Ritual

__: Sacred objects or places.

Material

__: Understanding others' religious experiences.

Empathy

__: Direct experience of the divine.

Mysticism

__: Belief in one underlying reality.

Monism

__: Belief in one god.

Monotheism

__: Lacks belief in a god.

Nontheistic

__: God is identical with the universe.

Pantheism

__: Belief in many gods.

Polytheism

__: Acknowledges gods, but ultimate reality is beyond them.

Transtheism

__: Divine truth disclosed to humans.

Revelation

__: Beyond physical or normal experience.

Transcendence

__: Spirits of creators and tribal origin.

Ancestors

__: Mythic time of creation.

The Dreaming

__: Sacred social restrictions.

Taboo

__: Spiritual symbol connecting humans and nature.

Totem

__: Seeking knowledge of fate.

Divination

__: Ritual specialists in Yoruba culture.

Diviners

__: Sacred Yoruba city of origins.

Ife

__: Trickster and messenger deity.

Esu

__: Supreme, distant creator god.

Olorun

__: Divinely inspired guidance sources.

Oracles

__: Creator orisha of the world.

Orisha-nla

__: Yoruba deities with specific powers.

Orishas

__: Soul's path after death.

Milky Way

__: Communal ritual of renewal.

Sun Dance

__: Cleansing steam ritual.

Sweat Lodge

__: Mischievous figure teaching lessons.

Trickster Figure

__: Solitary spiritual journey.

Vision Quest

__: Lakota term for Great Spirit.

Wakan Tanka

__: Current cosmic age.

Age of the Fifth Sun

__: Cosmic center point.

Axis Mundi

__: Ritual to nourish gods.

Human Sacrifice

__: Final Aztec emperor.

Moctezuma II

__: Feathered Serpent god.

Quetzalcoatl

__: Priest-king linked to god.

Tolpiltzin Quetzalcoatl

__: Ancient city and sacred site.

Teotihuacan

__: Aztec capital city.

Tenochtitlan

__: Earth mother goddess.

Tonantzin

__: Goal of material success.

Artha

__: Eternal soul/self.

Atman

__: God incarnate in human form.

Avatar

__: Dialogue on duty and devotion.

Bhagavad-Gita

__: Path of loving devotion.

Bhakti Marga

__: Ultimate divine reality.

Brahman

__: Priest caste.

Brahmin

__: Creator god.

Brahma

__: Hindu social hierarchy.

Caste System

__: Respect for sacred cows.

Cow Veneration

__: Hindu funeral rite.

Cremation

__: Duty aligned with cosmic law.

Dharma

__: Sacred river of purification.

Ganges River

__: Spiritual teacher.

Guru

__: Path of knowledge.

Jnana Marga

__: Goal of pleasure.

Kama

__: Moral law of action

Karma

__: Path of action and duty.

Karma Marga

__: Warrior caste.

Kshatriya

__: Illusion of worldly life.

Maya

__: Liberation from rebirth.

Moksha

__: Sacred syllable of reality.

Om

__: Ritual worship offering.

Puja

__: Epic about Rama and Sita.

Ramayana

__: Cycle of rebirth.

Reincarnation

__: Oldest Vedic scripture.

Rig Veda

__: Spiritual absorption.

Samadhi

__: Rebirth cycle.

Samsara

__: Wandering renunciate.

Sannyasin

__: Former widow-burning practice.

Sati

__: Destroyer god.

Shiva

__: Servant caste.

Shudra

__: Philosophical Hindu texts.

Upanishads

__: Outcasts of the caste system.

Untouchables

__: Merchant/farmer caste.

Vaishya

__: Preserver god.

Vishnu

__: Spiritual practice for union.

Yoga

__: Four stages of life.

Ashramas

__: Nonviolence principle.

Ahimsa

__: No permanent self.

Anatta

__: All is impermanent.

Anicca

__: Enlightened one in Theravada.

Arhat

__: Person practicing self-denial.

Ascetic

__: Enlightened beings helping others.

Bodhisattvas

__: Siddhartha Gautama.

The Buddha

__: Tibetan spiritual leader.

Dalai Lama

__: Buddha’s teachings.

Dharma

__: Zen master-student interview.

Dokusan

__: Suffering or dissatisfaction.

Dukkha

__: Basic ethical guidelines.

Five Precepts

__: Teachings on suffering and its end.

Four Noble Truths

__: Sparked Buddha's journey.

Four Passing Sights

__: Zen paradox for enlightenment.

Koan

__: Compassion-focused Buddhism.

Mahayana

__: Sacred art in meditation.

Mandalas

__: Sacred chants.

Mantras