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183 Cards in this Set

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Dao Definition
Taoism" comes from the Chinese word Tao (pronounced "dow"), which literally means "way" or "path." The Dao is often translated as "the Way of all things," and is the mysterious source and ordering principle of the universe.
(The way of Nature)
Qi (definition)
primordial energy, the breath of life. generated from the swirling clouds of Dao.
Yin
which is dark, heavy, obscure, passive, earth, death, and feminine,
opposite of yang, both developed from Qi
Yang
which is light, warm, airy, active, life, heaven, and masculine
opposite of yin, both developed from Qi
Laozi
6th c. BCE
Laozi, a curator of the royal library of the Chou dynasty. He dictated the Daodejing to a border guard during the sixth century BCE. Laozi wanted to leave society at the reported age of 160. He was disgusted with the corruption and wars of the time. Tradition also asserts that Confucius came to visit him. Scholars question the historicity of Laozi.
"the old man child)
Daodejing
4th-3rd c BCE
contains short, enigmatic poems
- second only to the Bible in number of Western translations.
- systematized previous beliefs about the Dao. Dao cannot be described. It is too great, infinite. It is the ultimate ordering reality lying behind and within all things. It is not a creator or personal deity. It is the source of all.

The book’s main concern is that individuals experience the Dao and let their lives flow in harmony with it. The book was written originally as a political manual.
Wu-wei
- refraining from overly aggressive action
- refraining from taking an intentional action contrary to the natural flow of things
- action without ego-assertion

Concretely it means:
- having no ambitions, no desires for fame and power
- having no need to dominate others
- leading a contemplative life
- loving nature
The Way of the Celestial Masters
A reputed healer Zhang Daoling organized this group in the first-second c. CE) in Western China. This group still exists today in Taiwan. This secret society aimed to attain longevity through faith healing, meditative trance, and alchemy. The movement accepted minorities and women in the ranks of parish leadership.
strict hierarchy
led revolts against the government. It appealed to all segments of the population, women, minorities, lowly and high classes. At interval, thanks to this group, Daoism received imperial recognition
Zhang Daoling
founder of the way of celestial masters
elevated to the heavely rank of "celestial master", said to have been personally ordained by Laozi out of the spirit world
acended to heave on a tiger
The Celestial Worthies
Part of the pantheon representing the Dao, they were of the first level of the hierarchy

The Three Purities
1. Primordial or Heavenly Worthy
2. Celestial or Earthy Worthy of Nouminous Treasure
3. The Celestial Worthy of the Way and It's power (humanity)

they were meant to teach the Dao
Three Officials
Officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water)
were ancient deities who were believed to keep records of human deeds on earth
control each person’s life span and fate after death.
They are stern.
When a Daoist fell sick, the priest would submit petitions
analects
the book of the sayings of confucius
Dao
the mysterious origin of the universe, which is present and visible in everything
Daodejing
The classic scripture of Daoism
Five Classics
the classical literaute of the time preceding Confucius, including poetry, history, and divination
Four books
The major confucian boos, which include the sayings of Confucius and Mencius
Junzi
"noble person" the refined human ideal of confuncianism
Laozi
The legendary founder of Daoism
Legalists
the strictist of the Chieses phiolosophical schools, which advocated stong laws and punishments
Li
apporpriate action, ritual, propriety, etiquette
Mohists
a chinese school of philosophy that taught universal love
qi
the life force
ren
empathy, consideration for tohers, humaness,a confucian virtue
shu
reciprocity; a confucian virtue
wen
cultural refinement, a confucian virtue
xiao
family devotion, filial peity; a confucian virtue
yang
the acitve aspect of reality that expresses itself in speech, light, andheat
Yijin
an ancient Confucian book of divination, one of the five classics, still in use today
yin
the receptive aspect of the universe that expresses itself in silence, darkness, coolness, and rest
Zhuangzi
author of Zhuangzi, a book of whimsical sotries that express themes of early Daoist thought
Amaterasu
"shining in heaven" goddess of sun (Shinto)
bushido
military devotion to a ruler, demanding loyalty, duty and self-sacrifice. promoted by state-shinto
gagaku
stately ceremonial music of shinto
Ise
location in souteastern Honshu of a major shrine to Amaterasu (Shinto)
Izanagi
"male who invites" primordial male parent god
Izanami
"female who invites" primordial female parent god
jinja
a shinto shrine
kami
a spirit, god, or goddess of shinto
kamidana
a shelf or home altar for veneration of kami
kamikaze
"spirit wind"suicide fighter pilots of WWII
Kojiki
the earliest chronicle of Japanese history (Shinto)
misogi
a ritutal of purificaiton that involves standing under a waterfall (Shinto)
Nihongi
the second chronicle of Japane history (Shinto)
noh
dramas perfomred in mask and costume, associated with Shinto
Omoto
a new religion, which stresses art and beauty (Shinto)
samurai
feudal soldier (Shinto)
shimenawa
twisted rope, marking a sacred spot (Shinto)
Tehnrikyo
a new religion devoted to human betterment (Shinto)
torii
a gatelike structure that marks a shinto sacred place
how do daoists and confucians differ from one another?
Daoists emphasized nature and its laws. Confucians found the secret of life in persons and their better relationships.

Daoists sought the harmony of individuals with the Dao. Confucius desired harmony between the cosmos order and the social order.
Kung fu-tzu (confucius)
6th c BCE
Analects (Lun Yu).
They are the reputed sayings and conversations of Confucius. They were compiled after his death. They constitute the best source of information on Confucius.
Jun-zi
aristocrat, sage, ideal person
Where was Zoroastrianism founded?
Persia
Ahura Mazada
the one God (
Prophet Zarathustra
Ahura Mazda, the “Wise God”) spoke to the prophet Zarathustra (known in the West as Zoroaster) as his messenger. Zarathustra probably lived in the sixth or seventh century BCE.
Where is the center of Zoroastrianism today?
Mumbai, India
Avesta
zoroastrian liturgical book
spenta Mainyu
a good spirit
angra mainyu
an evil spirit = satan
what does fire symbolize in zorastrain worship?
The fire symbolizes God’s presence, power, and purity.
dakhma
the corpse of a deceased person is neither buried nor burned. Instead it was traditionally exposed in a special enclosure called a dakhma (“tower of silence”), a round structure open to the sky.
Judaism means,
literally, “religion of the people of the southern Israelite realm of Judah.”
Israelite means
“a descendant of the patriarch Jacob.”
Hebrew means
“children of Eber,” an ethnic term.
Hebrew seems to have been the name the ancient Israelites used for themselves when speaking with outsiders or outsiders used when referring to the Israelites.
Jew means
comes from the Latin Judaeus. It is derived from the Hebrew Yehudi. It means “one who lives in Judah.”
The Hebrew Bible (called Tanak)
- is the sacred book that interprets history as Jews have experienced it.
- is the foundation on which a Jewish life is built. It traces God’s activities in establishing a nation of Jewish families responsible to demonstrate God’s requirements and blessings for all people of the earth..

The Hebrew Bible is divided into three major sections: the Torah (the Teaching), the Nevi’im (the Prophets) and the Ketuvim (the Writings).
primal history of mankind
- the first man (Adam) and woman (Eve) in the Garden of Eden,
- their expulsion from paradise because of their disobedience,
- the great flood that destroyed the earth because of the wickedness of humanity
- the ark in which Noah and his family and pairs of all animals were saved
- the covenant (= contract, treaty) God made with Noah and all flesh in which God promised not to destroy the world again with a flood
- after further disobedience on the part of men and women the scattering of the nations throughout the earth with different languages.
covenant and circumcision
Abraham underwent circumcision (cutting away of the foreskin of the penis) as an initiatory rite, a sign of the covenant in which God agrees to be the divine protector of Abraham and his descendants. Following Abraham’s example, all males would be circumcised on the eighth day after birth.
12 sons of Israel
The twelve sons of Jacob are remembered as the ancestors of the twelve tribes that would make up the nation of Israel.
Sacrifice of Isaac
God tested Abraham’s faithfulness to the covenant by asking him to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham had two sons, one, Ishmael, by Hagar, an Egyptian concubine (Arabs consider Ishmael as their ancestor) and another by Sara, Isaac. When Abraham prepares to comply, God stops him, satisfied that “now I know you fear God.”
Passover
means that God “has passed” over Egypt. The last and greatest of the plagues was the death of the first-born children of the Egyptians. The Israelites were spared because they had marked the doors of their homes with the blood of a substitute – a sacrificial lamb. (Exod. 12:13)
Exodus
God raised up Moses to lead the Hebrew people back to their ancestral homeland of Canaan. The Egyptians were at first reluctant to allow the Hebrews to leave but ultimately were convinced by a succession of devastating plagues sent by God. The escape from Egypt is called exodus. Jews celebrate it every year in the Passover (usually April in the Spring.)
Mount Sinai and the 10 commandments
Moses led the people to the sacred mountain named Horeb or Sinai. There he received a revelation from God and the Ten commandments. The Mosaic covenant was an extension of the Abrahamic covenant:
Saul, David and Solomon
The priest Samuel anointed one of Israel’s tribal chieftains, Saul, as the nation’s first king. Then followed King David (ruled 1000-960 BCE) and his son King Solomon (960-922 BCE).
Philistines
By the middle of the eleventh century BCE, the Philistines were attacking by force. The Philistines were a seafaring people who migrated from Crete to Canaan shortly after the Israelites entered the land. They were armed with iron weapons and became the dominant power in the region after the collapse of the Egyptian Empire around 1100 BCE.
Solomons Temple
David created a mini-empire. Israel under his rule dominated much of Syria-Palestine and extended in land to the upper Euphrates. This period of time is considered by the Jewish community as the golden age.

David made his capital in Jerusalem, a small city he had conquered from its Canaanite ruler. There he started building a permanent, central sanctuary for Yahweh. Solomon completed the Temple.
After the death of Solomon (tenth century BCE), Israel was divided into two kingdoms:
- Israel in the north (comprised the ten northern tribes)
- Judah in the south, centering on Jerusalem, remained under the control of the Davidic dynasty
Who destroyed the Kingdom of Israel?
Assyrians in 722 BCE
Who destroyed the first temple and when?
Nebuchadenezzar II in 586 BCE
Prophets
A theological explanation for the destruction of the northern kingdom came from prophets of the time. A Prophet is the Greek translation of the Hebrew “navi.” It means a person who communicates the divinely inspired word and speaks for God. Prophets are emissaries sent by God to challenge the people to obey the covenant and not worship other deities.
The most famous prophet was Isaiah.
Prophets Message
According to the Prophets (among them Isaiah),
- when people are obedient to God the nation flourishes. When they are not loyal, catastrophe strikes.
- God was the God of all nations, not just the Israelites. The Prophets forced Israel to see that they did not own God nor the land of promise. God would use the other nations, if necessary, to punish Israel for any failure to keep the covenant.
- God will not give up easily on the people.
- God will send a Messiah, or anointed one, who will be a descendant of David and restore the Davidic kingdom in all its glory. At the end of the world, the fortunes of the nation of Israel or its remnants will be restored and all nations will live together in peace. Thanks to the nation of Israel, other nations will see the presence of God.
exile
Babylonia 586 BCE
Consequences of Exile
The people lost everything which previously defined them: independence, king (previously God had channeled national blessing through the house of David), temple, and land.

-Babylon however became an important center of jewish life
-Jews were greatly tempted to assimilate into a rich and sophisticated world culture.
-public ritual and animal sacrifices had come to an end.
-developed was the Sabbath service of worship, study, sermon, and psalms, performed in a meeting house, or synagogue (assembly of the people in Greek).
-oral Hebrew religious traditions had to be written down if the Jews were to survive.
-Dietary codes came also into focus during this period, as well as the insistence on male circumcision and bans on marriage outside the faith.

-Knowledge of the Hebrew language declined. Aramaic, a sister language, emerged as the common language.
Cyrus
ruler of Persia
took Babylonia, allowed Jews to return in 6th c. BCE
disapora
The exiles did not come back all at once. In fact some Jews preferred to stay in Babylonia, Persia, Syria, Anatolia, and Egypt . This group is called the Diaspora
Septuagint
With Hebrew becoming virtually a foreign language to these Jews, the Hebrew Bible was translated for the first time into Greek.
When did Romans take over?
63BCE
Sadducees
the first of the factions to emerge. They were members of the priestly families, living primarily in Jerusalem. They were powerful landowners, in charge of the Temple and its activities. They tended to cooperate with the occupiers of Palestine. They considered only the written Torah as binding, ignored the Oral Torah, rejected the other books of the Hebrew Bible, denying both resurrection and a judgement in the afterlife. According to them, only the priests could interpret the Torah.
Essenes
were the most conservative. They led an ascetic celibate life withdrawn from the Jewish religious establishment in Jerusalem which they believed was corrupt. It seems that they have produced the documents known as the Dead Sea Scrolls found in 1947. These documents indicate a passionate rejection of the Jerusalem priesthood, apocalyptic expectations of Israel’s imminent cleansing, and faith in life after death.
Pharisees
They emphasized daily religious routine and relied heavily on the scriptures for devotional guidance. They accepted as canonical a wider number of books than did the Sadducees. They valued the oral Torah or tradition that accompanied the written Torah. They held that all Israelites, even non-priests, were eligible to interpret the Torah, as long as they had mastered both the written and oral law and accepted them as divine. They also taught that all pharisees should observe the laws of diet and ritual purity that the written Torah required only of priests.
Zealots
They sought to rid Judea of Roman occupation. This form of Judaism was traceable to the Maccabees. They campaigned for Jewish independence and a resurrection of the great Israelite monarchy. They precipitated a rebellion which resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 CE.
To this day, the temple has not been rebuilt. Only the Western Wall of the platform survives.
Destruction of the Second Temple
70 CE
rabbi
(“my master”) probably emerged in the first century CE as a title for a person of learning who could interpret scriptures for others.
Rabbinic Judaism
The focus came to be on scripture and scriptural interpretation
no more sacrifices
Synagogue
1.A building or place of meeting for worship and religious instruction in the Jewish faith.
2.A congregation of Jews for the purpose of worship or religious study.
3.The Jewish religion as organized or typified in local congregations.
Oral and Written Torah
The origins of what is known as the oral Torah are found in the Jewish communities’ need to apply the commandments of the written torah to changing times. For instance, the written Torah stipulates that to obey the covenant with the Lord people must keep the Sabbath holy (Exodus 20: 8-11). However, what specifically does that mean? What can Jews do or not do on the Sabbath in order to keep the basic commandment? By the second century CE a large body of these legal guidelines had come into existence in oral form.
midrash
(“seeking out, search, interpret”), started during the first five centuries CE. Midrashic commentaries are line-by-line interpretation of the Biblical text. It provides information on the context.
* The codification of the Oral Torah also took place during the first five centuries CE
Mishnah
Mishnah (‘repetition’) by about 200 CE. It contained the teachings and opinions of some 148 scholars and was divided into six sections. One section called ‘Seeds’ contained agricultural laws and regulations dealing prayers, blessings, and the rights of the needy. The gives not only the legal decision that resulted from the deliberations, but the conflicting opinions as well.
Gemara
The second phase of Talmudic formation is the development of a commentary of the Mishnah. The result of this work was called the Gemara (“tradition,” “ completion”).
Talmud
Mishnah + Gemara
What is the most complete Talmud?
The Babylonian Talmud ca. 600 CE
Ashkenaz
Jews of Germany and France
Sepharad
Jews who fled Spain into the Middle East
Kabbalah
Jewish mysticism took the form of the Kabbalah (tradition, received, handed down). It was an esoteric (inner) form of biblical interpretation that looked for the inner, secretive meaning of the text. Based on the notion that the Hebrew scriptures contained all divine truth , it found every word, letter, number of the Bible to have some spiritual significance.
Zohar
(Book of Splendor) -- 1300, a mystical commentary on the Torah. The Zohar portrays God as a boundless energy (En Sof) from which emanated ten spheres or sephiroth, such as wisdom, beauty, and strength.
Hasidism, Israel ben Eliezer
18th c. Known as BESHT "Master of the good Name"
Israel ben Eliezer was an ecstatic healer who worked miracles using magic, amulets, and spells.

He taught that religious feeling and piety were more important than scholarship. Each individual, no matter how poor or ignorant, could commune with God by spiritual exaltation and abandonment of self.

Joy according to him was the appropriate response to the world no matter how much suffering Jews experienced. Enjoying the world was a way of enjoying God.

He formed a prayer circle characterized by ecstatic singing and dancing. Worship was not alone but festive and communal
tzaddik
(Righteous One). The Tzaddik was no ordinary man but one chosen by God as a direct link between heaven and earth.
Hakalah
Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786) and the rise of the Haskalah movement -- Haskalah means Enlightenment.

Moses Mendelssohn, a German Jewish intellectual, believed that German Jews should interact with their host culture. He translated the Hebrew scriptures in German.
Orthodox Judaism
It emerged as a response to the Reform movement.
- Jews can participate actively in secular life but they should also be ritually rigorous. They may wear clothing that non-Jews wear, have a secular education, choose their job.
- the oral and Written Torahs are the direct word or commandment of God. The whole Torah, written and oral, was revealed by God to Moses on Mont Sinai.
- commandments of the Torah should be strictly followed
- leadership and rituals are restricted to men
- Orthodox synagogues separate males and females, with females often sitting in an upstairs gallery
- for a service to take place, there must be a quorum (minyan) of ten Jewish males
- Services are conducted completely in Hebrew and led by male rabbis
- only males may celebrate the coming-of-age ceremony (bar mitsvah)
- Men at prayer use the prayer shawl and at weekday morning prayer use the tefillin
- males must keep their heads covered as a reminder that God is above all
- Orthodox Jews closely follow rules that prohibit any manual labor on the Sabbath. Cooking is not allowed, nor is driving a car, walking long distances, dialing a telephone, or even turning on an electric light
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Jews look for a middle ground. They sympathize with the concept of an evolving tradition. They recognize that change has always been part of the religion. For instance the temple sacrifices ceased after the destruction of the second temple but the Talmud was written. They believe that modification in Jewish ritual must grow organically from the life experience of the people, not by reform rabbis’ decrees.

The Conservative trend is quite strong in America.

Conservative synagogues retain the head covering and prayer shawl. They affirm the importance of dietary laws.

But they have mixed seating. Conservative Judaism permits driving to the synagogue (only to the synagogue) on the Sabbath.

The Conservative Jews have initially opposed the ordination of women as rabbis, but now accept it.
Reform Judaism
In German synagogues rabbis began reading the Sabbath liturgy in German rather than Hebrew
- the Talmud is a human historical tradition
- the idea of the coming of a messiah who would lead Jews back to a restored Israel was dropped. To be a Jew is not to be a people tied to a specific land but a “religious community.” Reform houses of worship are called “temples.” This means that the temple is in whatever place the Jewish community gathers, not just in Jerusalem.
- Reformers downplayed Judaism’s ritual dimensions.
* men and women sat together
* the prayer shawl (tallith) and the head covering were disregarded
*some of the dietary restrictions were declared obsolete. Commitment to the ethical teachings of the Torah is more important than adhering to the dietary laws. Individuals decide for themselves which of the Sabbath rituals have spiritual meaning.
Zionism
Zion is a symbolic name for Jerusalem)
According to Herzl, the institutions of the liberal state could not protect the Jews in Europe from persecution. In 1896, he published The Jewish State, in which he called for a separate state in which the Jews of the world might be assured of those rights and liberties that they should have enjoyed in the liberal states of Europe. Rabbinic strategy of accommodation or Reform strategy of assimilation were not solutions to the Jewish plight.
In 70 CE the Romans destroyed the Temple.
- the Nazarene movement, which became gentile Christianity. The early church began to develop its Christology especially after the destruction of the temple. We can see this by the fact that the four canonical gospels were written after 70 CE, the date of the destruction of the temple.

The Christians expected the world to come to an end and Christ to return. But this did not happen. In response they organized the Church. Church translates the Greek ekklesia (“gathering, those called together).
Constantine (who reigned between 306 and 337)
ordered the Edict of Milan or Edict of Toleration. Christianity was to be protected alongside other religions. Constantine made Sunday a legal holiday. He moved the capital of the Roman Empire to Byzantium in 330.

Constantine sought the unity of empire through the unity of religion.
Council of Nicea
declared that the Son was begotten of the father (that is, literally, conceived out of the Father), not made by God. In other words, the Son of God was the same essence as God. 325 CE
council of Constantinople
381 CE God is one being of three persons =trinity
Council of Chalcedon
451 christ was is fully god and fully human
Aceticism
Catholic church (catholic means universal) after Christianity was made the imperial state religion (3rd-4th c.).
the renunciation of physical pleasures and the practice of other forms of self-denial. The word asceticism comes from the Greek athletic world, with its training for competition (ascesis, training, exercise). Christians believed that they were training for the kingdom of God. Jesus was born of a virgin and himself was celibate. Paul also argued that the duties of marriage distracted from ministry
Where did the first christian hermits live?
egyptian desert in 3rd c CE
Benedict of Nursia 6th c CE
The most significant form of monasticism
His great contribution was to synthesize earlier practices into a written rule (the benedictine rule) of monastic life. Monks had to follow those rules. Benedict called for moderation in ascetic practice, economic self-sufficiency, communal and private devotional reading (monks should read the entire group of 150 psalms each week) and contemplation, manual labor in the fields and gardens, manuscript copying, all as a means of spiritual growth.
Three major branches of christianity
catholic, orthodox, protestant
two major schisms
the great schism 1054
and reformation 16th c. CE
Orthodox Vs. Catholic
Latin in the west; mainly Greek in the east.

* The Greek-speaking churches of the East took Constantine’s relationship of the state to the church as a model until the fifteenth century (the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks). Church and state existed in a symbiotic unity
In the West, the relations between the Church and State were both a mixture of cooperation and antagonism.
they disagreed on episcopal authority. In the East, there were four great centers of Greek orthodoxy, in Constantinople, Alexandria (Egypt), Antioch (Syria), and Jerusalem, each ruled by a patriarch. The patriarch is Constantinople had the status of first among equals. In the West, the pope claimed to be first above equals.

- they developed their own theology. They disagreed over the Holy Spirit. The Western Church argued that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father and the Son (filioque). Eastern theologians stressed the Father is the source from which everything issues.
Reformation
Martin Luther 1483-1546
Grace Alone
Faith Alone
Scripture Alone
Christ Alone
Priesthood of Believer
Vernacular Language
John Calvin
He shared the reform principles of salvation by faith alone, the exclusive authority of the Bible, and the priesthood for all believers. Calvin carried the doctrine of salvation by faith alone further. God has already decided the destiny of each person. By grace, some are to be saved; for God’s own reasons, others are predestined to be damned. Although there was nothing that people could do about it, their behavior would reveal which fate awaited them. Several signs in this life could indicate who would be saved: profession of faith, an upright life, work and improvement of oneself translated into a prosperous life, and participation in the sacraments.
the Anglicans.
King Henry VIII of England (sixteenth century) was outraged when the pope declined to grant him a divorce. He separated the Church of England from the authority of the pope. The monarch of England became the head of the church in so far as the Law of Christ allowed. Services of worship had a Catholic form, and the episcopal structure remained in place. The services were conducted in English. The Episcopalians in the United States are part of the Anglican communion.
Anabaptists
(meaning baptize again) was a Swiss movement that developed in the sixteenth century. They practiced adult believers’ baptism. They stressed the need for believers to be baptized as a sign of their inner conversion – even if they had been baptized as children. Their worship was simple. They rejected government involvement, believed in the complete separation of church and state, refused to take oaths, hold political office, and for the most part preached non-violence. They followed a strict sort of democracy in which all believers were considered equal.
Baptists
17th c. england
Quakers
Society of Friends 17th c. england founded by George Fox
Pentecostals
US, late 19th c.
Fundamentalism
Fundamentalism is not a specific branch of Christianity. Christian fundamentalists are more visible in the Protestant churches.

For the Fundamentalists, if there was a conflict between the scriptures and modern science then it must be modern science, not the Bible, that was in error. In a series of twelve paperback books entitled “The Fundamentals,” published between 1910 and 1915, various champions of the fundamentalist movement spoke in defense of Bible-based religion and against modernism. They took a stand on the inerrancy of the Bible (the Bible is without error), and succeeded in banning the teaching of evolution in many public schools in the South.
Vatican Council II in 1960-1962
This council made the following important changes:
- to decentralize the church governance. It promoted collegiality – that is, it gave responsibility and power to the bishops at the expense of the Vatican bureaucracy)
- to use the living languages of the people instead of Latin in ordinary church services
- to endorse the value of other major religions and dialogue with Christian groups
- to consult with lay people in matters of religious affairs
- to permit modern approaches to understand the Bible
- to simplify the decorations of church buildings
Council of Trent in Italy (1545-1563).
The Council of Trent declared that the Bible and church tradition were equal sources of truth, rather than scriptures alone, as Protestants contended.
Seven Sacraments
baptism
eucharist
confirmation
confession
marriage
ordination
extreme unction church year (advent, christmas, epiphany, holy week, pentecost)
holy week
the week before easter
Muhammads first revelation
610
Hijra
622 muhammad emigration from Mecca to Yathrib
Death of Muhammad
632
Death of Ali
661 and beginning of the Umayyad empire
karbala
680
end of the umayyad empire and beginning of the Abbasid empire
750
end of the Abbasid empire
1258
Islamic view of christianity and judaism
they have become diluted and are not the true form anymore
muslim
follower of islam
allah
god
Quran
The Holy Quran is the direct Word of God, eternal, irrevocable. It cannot be translated for it is God’s own speech; to try to express it in another language distorts its meaning. Therefore Muslims strive to memorize the Quran in Arabic. However translations exist, but they are called tafsir (interpretation).

The Quran is the final and definitive Word of God. It sums up and corrects the revelations given to previous prophets (in particular Moses and Jesus).
sura
chapter of the quran
mecca
pre-islamic trade and religious center
kaaba
cube-shaped shrine of mecca, that had a black metorite in itf
miraj
ascension, refers to the ascent of muhammad to heaven and into the divine presence
Why was medina responsive to the message of the prophet?
once called yathrib,
Muhammad accepted the invitation to come to Yathrib on condition that its inhabitants agree to embrace Islam, and most did.
quraysh tribe
muhammad's tribe
why did the quranic revelations threaten the traditional tribal structure and meccan oligarchy?
the revelations dismissed the authority of the old Bedouin sunna. One’s ancestors could not be guides to proper conduct. It was a challenge to the excessive importance the Bedouins gave to kinship

the revelations forbade the worship of other Gods and demanded the destruction of statues and images.
Qibla
direction of prayer (facing mecca)
Women before and after islam
wives and daughters were given a stronger position. Girls’ infanticide was prohibited. Males could not make use of their wives’ property
hadith
report or tradition of the sayings and deeds of the Prophet, containing his exemplary practice or sunna, the second cousrce of authority for Muslims after the Quran
sunna
"trodden path"= orginally tribal custom of pre-Islamic arabs; later after the death of the Prophet
sunna
the example of the Prophet or the authoritative example of the way a Muslim should live
umma
the world-wide muslim community
first four caliphs
Abu Bakr (r. 632-634)
Umar (r. 634-644) (assassinated by a Persian slave)
Uthman (r. 644-656) (assassinated by his former supporters)
Ali (r. 656-661) (assassinated by former supporters)
Abu Bakr
was the Prophet’s father-in-law. He consolidated Muslim rule in Arabia.
Umar
, what are now Syria, Iraq, Iran, Egypt became Muslim. Umar took Jerusalem and all of Palestine came to be under Muslim rule. The Muslims did not destroy Jerusalem. The Muslim army respected Jews and Christians and their places of worship.
Uthman
was another Muhammad’s father-in-law. Under the third caliph, Uthman, dissension arose. Uthman belonged to the Umayyad clan of the Quraysh tribe, a Meccan family who had long opposed Muhammad. Many of the early supporters of Muhammad opposed his election and accused him of nepotism. Uthman was also much criticized for establishing a standard version of the Quran.
Ali
was Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, the husband of Muhammad’s daughter Fatima. His reign never had universal acceptance. A power struggle ensued between Ali and the powerful Umayyad governor of Syria, who wanted Ali to hand over the assassins of Uthman for punishment. Ali was murdered.
divison between shiites and sunnis
Shiites (partisans of the House of Ali), claimed that it was the divine right of the family of Muhammad to rule. When leadership is decided by other factors, they argued, disaster is imminent. Their opponents, the Umayyads, believed that succession should be kept within the tribe of the prophet, but not limited to his kin.
Husayn
son of ali, cousin of muhammad
The people of what is now Iraq called Husayn to lead, and Husayn accepted. However at Karbala, in 680, he and his family were surprised and killed by the forces of the Umayyads. Husayn’s death allowed the Umayyad dynasty to maintain control for a hundred years. It also created strong opposition, which became the Shiite movement.

The martyrdom of Husayn became one of the central dates in the Shiite calendar.
karbala
pilgrammage site of the death of husayn
ashura
the tenth of the Muslim month of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar
imam
legitimate successor of the prophet used by the Shii for ali and his decendants
the twelvers
They acknowledge twelve imams after Husayn. Ismailis and Twelvers disagree on the identity of the Seventh Imam. The Twelvers constitute the majority of shiites and are dominant in Iran.
umayyad empire
their capital was in Damascus (Syria)
- Islam expanded across all of North Africa, entered Southern Spain. The French stopped Muslim invasion at the famous Battle of Tours in 732.
- The capitals of Muslim Spain were Cordoba and Granada. Arts flourished. Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together in general harmony.
- Non-Arab Muslims resented being treated as second-class Muslims. They had to pay taxes that Muslims were exempt. In 750, they supported a revolution that wiped out the Umayyads.
abbasid empire
The Abbasids were the enemies of the Umayyads. They were the descendants of Muhammad’s uncle, al-Abbas.
- The Political center moved from Damascus to Baghdad.
- By 850 the empire was more fragmented than unified. There were competing spheres of influence in Spain, Iran, Egypt, North Africa, and Syria.
shariah
Islamic law (Sharia = lit. the way to the water hole).
the four madhabas
legal schools
These came to be known as the ways of conduct or schools of law, four of which still exist:
- the Hanafite school founded in Baghdad, popular in Turkey and Pakistan (it emphasizes analogical reasoning and public good. It is the most liberal of all four. It employs personal opinion in some decisions, which could lead to forsaking even the commands of the Quran in some applications.)
- the Malikite school of Medina, popular in North Africa (it emphasizes the sunna of the Prophet and the consensus of the community that prevailed in Medina.)
- the Shafiite school popular in southern Arabia, east Africa, and East Asia (devised the classical methodoloy of legal interpretation, standardized the vocabulary and method). This school gives equal weight to the Quran and hadith, sometimes even more weight to the hadith. Where one of the hadith may be more specific and clear, it prefers it even to the Quran.
- the Hanbalite school founded in Baghdad, popular in Saudi Arabia (is the most conservative of all four). They adhere primarily to the letter of the Quran
sufism
islamic mysticism
Sufis’ goal is to drown their independent existence in union with God
Probably they received the name Sufi from the Arabic word suf (wool).
what do sufis call their masters
sheykh
what is the name of the sufi brotherhood?
Tariqa
dhikr
remembrance
applies particulalry to the sufi group practice of invoking the name of allah
Famous Islamic Empires
Ottoman Empire and Mughal Empire
The five pillars
shahada-profession of faith
salat-prayer
hajj-pilgrammage to mecca
zakat-almsgiving
sawm-ramadan-fasting
eld al-Fitr
muslim festival celebrating breaking the fast of Ramadan
Eid al-Adha
the day of sacrifice