A | B |
religion | An organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, practices, and worship that center on one supreme god. |
deity | a god or goddess; higher power |
monotheism | belief in one deity |
polytheism | belief in many deities |
theism | belief in a higher power |
agnostic | undecided; the existence of a deity cannot be proven or disproved. |
atheistic | Belief that there is/are no deity/ies |
cult | a group of people who follow the teachings of a leader |
Yahweh | God; "He who must not be names" |
Abraham | the father of three religions; a prophet |
Canaan | the land in Phoenicia promised to Abraham and his descendents in the covenent with Yahweh |
Jesus | traveled around Palastine teaching people about God |
Bethlehem | where Jesus was born |
Nazereth | where Jesus was raised |
messiah | sameone who would save them; savior |
Christ | from the Greek Christos meaning messiah |
crucified | executed on the cross |
resurrection | rising from the dead |
Pax Romana | a period of 200 years of peace established by Augustus |
Islam | "the act of submitting" |
Muhammad | the prophet of Allah |
Allah | the God |
Muslim | a follower of Islam |
Quran | Muslim holy scriptures |
pillars of faith | five duties all Muslims must fulfill |
First pillar of faith | confession of faith |
Second pillar of faith | prayer |
mosque | Muslim house of worship |
imam | Muslim prayer leader |
Third pillar of faith | zakah, or charity |
zakah | charity |
Fourth pillar of faith | fasting |
Fifth Pillar of faith | pilgrimage |
hajj | the pilgrimage to Makkah two months after Ramadan |
Makkah | the largest and richest city in the Hejaz region at the time |
Siddhartha Gautama | a weathy prince who later came to be known as the Buddha |
Buddha | "enlightened one" |
karma | the sum of good and bad deeds over the course of a lifetime. |
reincarnation | the cycle of rebirth and death |
nirvana | “heaven”; release from the cycle of rebirth |
Hindu | means "Indian" |
caste | social class system determined by birth |
samsara | the Hindu cycle of karma and reincarnation |
moksha | the release from the cycle of samsara |
Brahma | the Hindu god of Creation |
Vishnu | The Hindu god of preservation |
Shiva | The Hindu god of destruction |
Brahman | The ultimate supreme god in Hinduism |
Confucius | Chinese teacher and philosopher; K'ung Fu-tzu |
Taoism | a religion founded by Lao-Tzu, which includes the ideas ofculture, nature, right actions and language, and mysticism |
Tao Te Ching | one of the scriptures of Taoism |
Shinto | one of the world's oldest religions, which includes the ideas of nature, ancestor worship, and cleanliness. |
kami | "divine spirits" |
Golden Rule | universal code of content present in all the major world religions |