Philosophy Key Words

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Absolute Truth

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Fixed, unalterable truths. Something which is true for all times and in all cultures.

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Afterlife

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Life after death.

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Agostic

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A person who believes we cannot be sure whether God exists or not.

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Authority

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Something or somebody accpeted as having the power or right to expect obedience.

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Awe

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A feeling of great respect mixed with wonder.

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Benevolence

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Goodness, being all-loving (a quality of God).

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Big Bang

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The beginnings of the universe according to many scientists took place when a singularity exploded and from this explosion, all the matter that makes up the universe came into being

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Channelling

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Communicating with the dead through a medium.

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Compassionate

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One of the qualities of God; showing concern for the sufferings of others; literally 'suffering with'.

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Compatibility

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When two or more different ideas can be used together without problems or tension,, e.g. whether a scientific view of the origings of life is compatible with a religious one.

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Conscience

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The inner feelingyou are doing right or wrong.

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Conversion

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When a person becomes a member of a faith, often following a dramatic change of heart.

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Cosmological

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Referring to the origin and structure of the universe.

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Cosmological argument (First Cause)

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A proof for th existence of God based on the idea that there had to be an uncaused cause that made everything else happen, otherwise there would be nothing now.

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Cosmological Revolution

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Development of the scientific ideas that challenged religious belief in the late Middle Ages, for example, that the earth is round and the sun is the focal point of the universe.

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Creation

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The act by which God brought the universe into being.

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Creationism

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A view which only acceptsthat God created the universe, as laid down in the sacred text followed by the believer (e.g. book of Genesis).

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Creation story

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Myths or symbolic religious stories concerning the origins of the world.

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Creator

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God is the creator of the earth and of life. (Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism).

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Darwin

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Charles Darwin was a naturalist who developed the theory of evolution.

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Design Argument (Teleological Argument)

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The argument that God designed the Universe because everything is so incarnately made in its detail that it could not have happened by chance.

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Dream

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Images, ideas, emotions that occur during sleep.

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Dualism

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The idea that humans have two basic natures, the physical and the spiritual.

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Eternal Life

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Everlasting life after death.

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Evidence

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Facts that can indicate whether something is true.

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Evil

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The opposite of good.

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Evolution

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Scientific belief that life forms have changed over time, developing from simple to complex creatures.

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Experience

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Knowledge gained by living through events in life.

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Experiment

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A scientific way of checking and proving hypotheses.

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Faith

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A commitment to something that goes beyond proof and knowledge, especially about God and religion.

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Focal Point

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The centre of interest or ativity.

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Free will

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Having the ability to choose or determine one's own actions.

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Fundamentalist.

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A person who believes in the basics of a religion, particularly believing that what is contained in a sacred text is an accurate almost factual account that cannot be questoined.

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General revelation

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God making himself known through ordinary, common human experiences.

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Ghost

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The spirit of a dead person.

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God as the first cause

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The belief that God created the universe. Everything has a cause so God must be the cause of the universe.

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Heaven

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The state of eternal happines in the presence of God that Christians believe will be granted to the faithful after this life.

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Hell

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The state of eternal seperation from God, seen as punishment for sin.

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History

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A record of past events.

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Humanist

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A thought process and outlook that says that the human condition is what is of greatest importance and that this shouldbe the guiding force behind all decisions.

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Hume

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David Hume was a philosopher and historian who thought that the observation and experience should be the foundation of human knowledge.

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Hypothesis

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An idea, based on known facts, that is yet to be proved as being correct.

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Illusion

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An erroneous perception of reality

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Immanence

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The idea that God is present in and involved with life on earth and in the universe.

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Immortality

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Endless life or existence, life after death

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Impersonal Force (Nature of evil)

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The idea that evil is a power outside of people that draws them to evil.

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Impersonal Nature (of God)

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The idea that God has no 'human' characteristics, is unknowable and mysterious, more like an idea or a force.

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Just

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Fair or right

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Karma

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The law of cause and effect.

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Laws of nature

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Descriptions of how scientists expect nature to work.

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Legacy

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Something handed down from an ancestor; a way of being remembered after death.

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Man-made suffering

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Suffering caused by the actions of humans, e.g. through war, pollution, crime.

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Meditation

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Contemplation on religious matters.

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Memory of others

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Being remembered after one's death by family or friends.

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Merciful

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A quality of God that stresses God's willingness to forgive the wrongdoer.

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Middles ages

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A period of history roughly from the 5th century C.E. to the 16th century C.E.

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Mind

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The thinking, feeling part of a person; human consciousness.

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Miracle

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A seemingly impossible occurence, usually good.

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Monotheism

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The belief that there is only one God.

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Moral Argument

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The argument that God exists because people have a sense of duty, a sense of right and wrong whose source is God.

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Moral Evil (man-made evil)

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The negative results of a bad choice made by human beings by their free will.

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Morality

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A system of ethic which distinguishes between right and wrong.

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Natural Evil

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The harm or damage that is done to people and creation as a result of the forces of nature and the structure of the earth.

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Natural selection

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The animals or plants best suited to their environment survuve, and those who are not suited or do not adapt die out.

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Natural suffering

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Suffering caused by nature, e.g. because of earthquakes, volcanoess, floods.

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Nature

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The natural world, the world of living things, the outdoors.

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Nature of evil

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What evil is like, whether a personal being, a psychological phenomenon or impersonal force.

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Nature of God

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What God's character is like.

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Near death experience

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Some people, when they are close to death or in an intense operation situation, claim to have has a sense of themselves leaving their bodies and seeing what exists beyond this life.

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Omnipotent

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Almighty, unlimited power.

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Omniscient

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The quality of knowing everything.

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Origins of life

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How life began

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Personal Being (nature of evil)

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The idea that evil is and evil spirit or devil rather than an impersonal force.

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Personal Nature (of God)

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The idea that God is an individual or person with whom people are able to have a relationship or feel close to.

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Philosophy

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Literally 'the love of knowledge'. The study of iseas and the nature of knowledge and existence.

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Prayer

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Words or praise, thanks ir sorrow, etc... offered to God or to gods.

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Proof

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Something which shows that something else is a fact.

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Psychological phenomenon

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An idea about the nature of evil that is something from the mind of a person.

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Reality

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The quality or state or being actual or true.

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Reason

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A source of moral authority

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Rebirth

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Being born again after death.

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Reincarnation

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Being born again in another form.

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Religious experience.

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An experience that is outside normal experience, usually involving the supernatural.

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Religious Experience Argument

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The argument for God's existence based on personal experience of God through a revelation, miracle, conversion, worship, etc...

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Religious Truth

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Truths that are spiritually revealed and part of the doctrine of a religion.

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Responsibility

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Duty; the idea that we are in charge of our own actions.

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Resurrection

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Rising from the dead or returning to life.

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Revelation

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God shows himeself to belivers. This is the onliy way anybody can really know anything about God.

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Scientific truth

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Based upon observation, hypothesis, experiments and repeated testing.

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Scripture

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The sacred writings of a religion.

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Soul

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The spiritual rather than physical part of humans

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Special Revelation

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God making himself known through direct personal experience or an unusual specific event.

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Spirituality

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A sense of something which is outside normal human experience.

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Spiritual Truth

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Based upon religious authority, sacred writings and conscience.

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Suffering

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When people have to face and live with unpleasant events or conditions.

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Supremacy

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Supreme power or authority.

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Sustainer

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God sustains the universe and ensures that it continues - if he does not sustain it, the universe will cease to exist.

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Theist

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A person who believes on God.

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Theory

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A hypothesis that explains facts that are widely accepted or well-tested.

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Tradition

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Something that has been done for a very long time and is therefore thought to be true.

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Transcendence

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The idea that God os beyond and outside life on earth and the universe.

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Ultimate Questions

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Questions about the nature and purpose of the universe.

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Unjust

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Unfair or not right.

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Vision

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Seeing something especially in a dream or trance, that shows something about the nature of God or the afterlife.

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Worship

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Love and devotion to God expressed through prayers, ceremonies or religious rituals.