Chapter 1: Living Religions:

Front 1

Absolutist

Back 1

Believing in one's received traditions as completely and exclusively true.

Front 2

Agnostic

Back 2

Belief that if there anything beyond this life it is impossible for humans to know it.

Front 3

Allegory

Back 3

Narrative using symbols to convey abstract ideas.

Front 4

Atheism

Back 4

Belief there is no deity (God).

Front 5

Awakening

Back 5

Full awareness of invisible reality.

Front 6

Charisma

Back 6

Magnetic attraction, a quality often ascribed to spiritual leaders.

Front 7

Comparative Religion

Back 7

A discipline that attempts to compare and understand patterns found in different religious traditions.

Front 8

Creationism

Back 8

Belief that all life was created by God.

Front 9

Dogma

Back 9

Doctrines proclaimed as absolutely true by religious institutions.

Front 10

Enlightment

Back 10

Wisdom that is thought to come from direct experience of ultimate reality.

Front 11

Exclusivism

Back 11

Belief that one's own tradition is the only true religion and that others are invalid.

Front 12

Fundamentalism

Back 12

Insistence on what is perceived as the historical form of one's religion.

Front 13

Gnosis

Back 13

Intuitive knowledge of spiritual realities.

Front 14

Heretic

Back 14

One whose assertions about religion are considered false by his or her religious institution.

Front 15

immanent

Back 15

Present in the visible world.

Front 16

Incarnation

Back 16

Physical embodiment of the divine.

Front 17

Intelligent design

Back 17

Theory that scientific discoveries prove the the existence of an all-encompassing Designer, since they reveal complexities that seem to be beyond chance or evolutionary process.

Front 18

Liberal

Back 18

Taking a flexible, non-dogmatic approach.

Front 19

Metaphysics

Back 19

Philosophy based on theories of subtle realities that transcend the physical world.

Front 20

Monotheism

Back 20

Belief that there is only one deity.

Front 21

Mysticism

Back 21

The intuitive perception of spiritual truths beyond the limits of reason.

Front 22

Myth

Back 22

A symbolic story expressing ideas about reality or spiritual history.

Front 23

Orthodox

Back 23

Strictly standing by received traditions.

Front 24

Phenomenology

Back 24

study of religious practices to comprehend their meaning for their practitioners.

Front 25

Polytheism

Back 25

Belief that there are many deities.

Front 26

Profane

Back 26

Worldly, secular, as opposed to sacred.

Front 27

Realization

Back 27

Personal awareness of the existence of Unseen Reality.

Front 28

Redaction

Back 28

Editing and organization of a religion's scriptures.

Front 29

Religion

Back 29

A particular response to dimensions of life considered sacred, as shaped by institutionalized traditions.

Front 30

Ritual

Back 30

Repeated, patterned religious act.

Front 31

Sacred

Back 31

The realm of the extraordinary, beyond everyday perceptions, the supernatural, holy.

Front 32

Scientific Materialism

Back 32

Belief that only the material world exists and that the supernatural is only imagined by humans.

Front 33

Spirituality

Back 33

Any personal response to dimensions of life that are considered sacred.

Front 34

Symbol

Back 34

Visible representation of an invisible reality or concept.

Front 35

Theism

Back 35

Belief in a deity or deities.

Front 36

Transcendent

Back 36

Spiritual reality that exists apart from the material universe.

Front 37

Universalism

Back 37

Acceptance that truth may be found in all religions.

Front 38

The Materialistic Perspective

Back 38

The supernatural is imaginary, only the Material world exists. Karl Marx said that religion is the longing of the oppressed.

Front 39

The Functional Perspective

Back 39

Religion is useful for individuals and society . Religion is seen as a glue which holds human society together. Religion has positive physiological effects (prayer). Religion is beneficial to psychological well-being.

Front 40

The Belief Perspective

Back 40

Some form of ultimate reality exists. Some use holy books to come to their own conclusions. Reality=Rational Thought & reason and non -rational modes of knowing; religious practitioners may use both methods.

Front 41

Mircea Eliade

Back 41

Helped develop comparative religion which compares religious patterns found throughout the world. (Shared & Profane).

Front 42

The istic religions

Back 42

They understand the "sacred" to be a personal reality and which is based on one's relationship to the personal sacred. the belief that a t least one God Exist.

Front 43

Non-theistic

Back 43

A sacred reality that is not in the form of personal God.

Front 44

Negative aspects of organized religions

Back 44

• Religions may split rather than unify humanity.
• Religions may devote more energy to preserving the outer, institutional form of the religion than its inner spirit (Weber’s “routinization of charisma”).
• Those in religious power have the ability to dominate and manipulate the faithful; people may put their faith in unethical or misguided spiritual leaders.
• Religion may lead to an exaggeration of guilt in people with perfectionist or paranoid tendencies; religion may become a form of escapism; religion may be psychologically harmful to some.
• Religion is a potential center for political power, and may be used as a rallying point for wars against other peoples or nations.

Front 45

Patriarchal

Back 45

Having male leaders who are like father figures.

Front 46

Darwinism

Back 46

The scientific concept of a universe evolving mechanistically.

Front 47

Modes of Encountering Ultimate Reality

Back 47

Rational thought and Non-rational modes of knowing

Front 48

Non-rational modes of knowing

Back 48

Mysticism and Meditation

Front 49

Early worship of female high goddess

Back 49

Neolithic and Agricultural cultures

Front 50

Ninian Smart

Back 50

Influential scholar of world religions. He distinguished seven dimensions of religion.

Front 51

7 Dimensions of religion

Back 51

1. Ritual
2. Narrative and mythic
3. Experimental and emotions
4. Social and Institutional
5. Ethical and Legal
6. Doctrinal and philosophical
7. Material

Front 52

Ludwig Feuerbach

Back 52

Philosopher. Scientific Materialism

Front 53

Karl Marx

Back 53

Socialist philosopher. Scientific Materialism. His ideas led toward twentieth-century atheistic communism.

Front 54

Emile Durkheim

Back 54

French socialist. Functional perspective.