Ch. 1/2 Flashcards
Define religion.
Characteristic of human species, awareness of a dimension beyond the invisible,
Define western religions.
Religions have that roots in the religious perspective of the Hebrew Bible; Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Define Judaism.
based on the religion of the ancient Hebrews and major reforms after the destruction of the first Jewish temple in 500s BCE, and other reforms after the destruction of the second temple in 70 CE; most scholars think it developed from a polytheistic Israelite society where monotheism was slowly developing.
Define Christianity.
Reform movement growing out of Judaism in the first century CE; became the religion of the Roman Empires in the 300s.
Define Islam.
Reform movement in Arabian Peninsula in the 600s CE, within a hundred years became the dominant power from Spain and the North African coast.
Define Eastern Religions.
Imprecise division; generally religions of Asia, Islam is treated as a western religion.
Define Hinduism.
Generic term for an array of religions native to India that recognize the Vedas; largely restricted to India.
Define Buddhism.
Rejection of the Vedic religion, developed by the Buddha in 500s BCE in northeastern India; expanded eastward and became the dominant religion of Southeast Asia. Based on the 4 Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.
Define confucianism.
Founded in 500s BCE by Confucius, emphasized social order and responsibility, reverence of family, restricted to East Asia.
Define Daoism.
Associated with Laos, teaches about the path (ado) consisting of maintaining a harmony of opposite but complementary forces and natural order; large;y restricted to China and Chinese communities. Taoism holds that humans and animals should live in balance with the Tao, or the universe. Taoists believe in spiritual immortality, where the spirit of the body joins the universe after death.
Define Sikhism.
Hindu reform movement, with elements of Islam; began by Nanak in 1500s CE, largely confined to Punjab areas of India. Monotheistic.
Define the dominant religions.
Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam Accounts for 75% of worlds population and 90% of religious population.
Define animism.
Sees the physical world acted on and dominated by spirits; who can render benefits or break havoc
Describe the Anthropology of religion.
Folk religions, tribal cultures and primitive religions are often the focus; rituals, shamanism, altered states, magic, and kinships also interested anthropologists historically. Now the focus has shifted to mainstream religions, though with emphasis on what is foreign or far.
Describe the sociology of religion.
Sociologists of religion study how religion shapes societal conditions and how social conditions shape religion; through either quantitative or qualitative means
Describe the philosophy of religion.
Discussion of the nature of truth and knowledge and the role of reason and revelation. Examines the rational basis of religious truth claims, often focusing on the nature of religious language,
Describe the theological approach to religion.
questions of human significance and meaning;
Define religious confessional.
Confessionalism, in a religious (and particularly Christian) sense, is a belief in the importance of full and unambiguous assent to the whole of a religious teaching. Confessionalists believe that differing interpretations or understandings, especially those in direct opposition to a held teaching, cannot be accommodated within a church communion.
Define a religious sect.
used for a subgroup within a major religious tradition, along with words such as school, branch, and subject
Define a cult.
Applied to a smaller group or a following with a very distinct focus.
Define shamans.
Independent religious operators; thought by their society to have an usual sense of the world of the invisible; and power within the world of gods
Define a ritual.
Patterned, repeatable, have meanings that must be learned, meaning of it is assigned by the group using it, no universal meaning, used at major points of transition in the life of a religious adherent
Where did the ancient religions develop and what were their main ideas?
Land of the Nile River in Egypt; Mesopotamia; centered on maintaining good divine-human relationships, in regard to political stability and social order and relationships—did not involve personal enlightenment, as in modern faiths
-Divine kinship rulers: rulers are descended from gods;
Major empires: Roman, Greek, Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian
Why do Western religions tend to dissociate themselves from ancient religions that preceded them?
They see themselves as unique revelations from god; western religions have one god
