| A | B |
|---|
| Believing in one’s received traditions as completely and exclusively true. | absolutist |
| Belief that if there is anything beyond this life it is impossible for humans to know it. | agnosticism |
| Narrative using symbols to convey abstract ideas. | allegory |
| Theological concept proposed by the Catholic theologian Karl Rahner stating that those explicitly outside the Christian faith through no fault of their own can nevertheless live in a state of grace and therefore be counted as implicit members of the “Church of Christ.” | Anonymous Christianity |
| Belief that there is no deity. | atheism |
| Full awareness of invisible Reality. | awakening |
| Magnetic attraction, a quality often ascribed to spiritual leaders. | charisma |
| A discipline that attempts to compare and understand patterns found in different religious traditions. | comparative religion |
| Belief that all life was created by God. | Creationism |
| A specific teaching of a religious institution on the nature of the deity, sin, salvation, and/or afterlife. | doctrine |
| Doctrines proclaimed as absolutely true by religious institutions. | dogma |
| Any interdenominational initiative aimed at greater cooperation among Christian churches. The ultimate goal is Christian unity in the literal sense – there should be one Church of Christ. | ecumenism |
| Wisdom that is thought to come from direct experience of Ultimate Reality. | enlightenment |
| Theoretical perspectives on rules governing human conduct. | ethics |
| Belief that one’s own tradition is the only true religion and that others are invalid. | exclusivism |
| Insistence on what is perceived as the historical form of one’s religion. | fundamentalism |
| Intuitive "knowledge" of spiritual realities. | gnosis |
| An approach to life focusing on humans’ responsibility to lead ethical lives without necessarily a belief in the supernatural. | humanism |
| Present in the visible world. | immanent |
| Physical embodiment of the divine. | incarnation |
| Acceptance that truth may be found in all religions. | universalism |
| Utilitarian values | Instrumental values whose relevance deals with survival or pleasure; practical, functional; an ethical approach based upon practical outcomes rather than duties or commandments. |
| Values relevant to the creative source of all values (Ultimate Reality). | ultimate values |
| The definitive purpose to human existence and all of creation. | Ultimate Reality |
| Values whose relevance is illusory or inhibitory; people pursue these values irrationally because of obsessive-compulsive tendencies. | Ulterior values |
