| A | B |
|---|
| Animism | belief that objects, such as plants adn stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and conscious life. |
| Autonomous religion | a religion that does not have a central authority but shares ideas and cooperates informally |
| Branch | a large and fundamental division within a religion |
| Caste | the class or distinct hereditary order into which a Hindu is assigned according to religious law. |
| Cosmogony | a set of religous beliefs concerning the origin of the universe |
| Denomination | a division of a branch that unites a number of local congregations in a single legal and administrative body |
| Diocese | the basic unit of geographic organization in the RCC |
| Ethnic religion | a religion with a relatively concentrated spatial distribution whose principles are likely to be based on teh physical characteristics of the particular location in which its adherents are concentrated |
| Fundamentalism | literal interpretation and strict adherence to basic principles of a religion (or a religious branch, denomination, or sect) |
| Ghetto | during the middle ages, a neighborhood in a city set up by law to be inhabited only by Jews; now used to denote a section of a city in which members of any minority group live because of social, legal, or economic pressure |
| Hierarchial religion | a religion in which a central authority exercises a high degree of control |
| Missionary | an individual who helps to diffuse a universalizing religion |
| Monotheism | the doctrine or belief of the existence of only one God |
| Pagan | a follower of a polytheistic religion in ancient times |
| Pilgrimage | a journey to a place consdiered sacred for religious purposes |
| Polytheism | belief in or worship of more than one God |
| Sect | a relatively small group that has broken away from an established denomination |
| Solstice | time when th sun is farthest from the equator |
| Universalizing Religion | a religion that attempts to appeal to all people, not just those living in a particular location. |
