Study of Religion Terms

Theism

belief in existence of one or more divine beings

Monotheism

belief that there exists only one divine being

Polytheism

belief in a plurality of gods

Pantheism

concept that all that exists is ultimately identical with divine reality

Panetheism

family of views dealing with the relationship b/w God and the world. God and the world are identical

Monism

belief that only one substance exists

Advaita Vedanta

monastic

Dvanita Vedanta

relationshp b/w worshipper and God persists

Shamanism

practice that center on communication with spirits of nature and the spirits of dead thru ritualized possession of a shaman who serves as a spirit medium

Animism

belief systems of traditional peoples that appear to hold that natural phenomena have spirits or souls

Mysticism

the diversity of experiences, doctrines, communities and teachers; bound together by family resemblances

Hinduism