Understanding Religion Ch 1

Front 1

Most Common Characteristics of Religion

Back 1

1. Community
2. central myths
3. ritual
4. ethics
5. characteristics
6. material expression
7. sacredness
8. belief system aka world view

Front 2

Monotheism

Back 2

belief in one god

Front 3

Polytheism

Back 3

belief in more than one god

Front 4

Atheism

Back 4

the belief that God or any god does not exist

Front 5

Agnosticism

Back 5

the belief that the existence of God cannot be proven

Front 6

Nontheism

Back 6

- a position that is unconcerned with the supernatural
-taking no position in whether they believe in any deity

Front 7

Transcendent

Back 7

-meaning - "climbing beyond"
- beyond time and space
-unlimited by the world and all ordinary reality (often referring to God)

Front 8

Immanent

Back 8

existing and operating within nature

Front 9

Dualism

Back 9

the belief that reality is made of two different principles (spirit and matter)
- the belief in two gods (good and evil) in conflict

Front 10

Pantheism

Back 10

the belief that everything in the universe is divine

Front 11

Animism

Back 11

-root- latin word: anima- meaning "spirit," "soul," "life source"
- a worldview common among oral religions
- sees all elements of nature as being filled with spirit or spirits

Front 12

Deconstruction

Back 12

- a technique making use of unexpected perspectives on cultural elements
-used for finding underlying values in a text, film, artwork, cultural practice, or religious phenomenon

Front 13

Structuralism

Back 13

-an analytical approach that looks for universal structures that underlie language, mental processes, mythology, kinship, and religions
- this approach sees human activity as largely determined by such underlying structures

Front 14

Post-structuralism

Back 14

- an analytical approach that does not seek to find universal structures that emphaize language, art, religions and other significant areas
- instead it focuses on observing carefully the individual elements in cultural phenomena