Chapter 14: Religion

Question 1

religious speech

Answer 1

Invocations, prayers, prophecies, songs of praise, and curses that are powerful means of transmitting messages about the world and also creating the world

Question 2

cosmology

Answer 2

religious worldview of a people, including beliefs about the origin of the world, the pantheon of deities that exist, and their relationships to the spirit realm

Question 3

animism

Answer 3

belief in the existence of souls.

Question 4

animatism

Answer 4

belief that objects and natural processes are imbued with power.

Question 5

polytheism

Answer 5

belief in the existence of numerous deities that have specific attributes, powers and functions

Question 6

monotheistic religions

Answer 6

belief systems that hold to the existence of one supreme deity who has powers and knowledge that effect all aspects of life

Question 7

ancestor worship

Answer 7

belief in the importance of ancestors as they affect the lives of their survivors, protecting thei descendants in return for rituals of honor

Question 8

mana

Answer 8

a force, power. or essence that endows people, animals. other living things, and possibly inanimate objects with special qualities or powers

Question 9

totemism

Answer 9

beilief system in which people believe they are descendants of spirit beings

Question 10

secret societies

Answer 10

organization that control use of special objects used in religious rituals

Question 11

mediums

Answer 11

people having special gifts to make contact with the spirit world, often in a state of trance

Question 12

diviners

Answer 12

people with he power to predict the future through messages and omens from the spirit world

Question 13

healers

Answer 13

Religious practicioners who acquire spirit power to diagnose the spirit cause of illness and effect cures

Question 14

shamans

Answer 14

part-time religious practitioners who make contact with the spirit world through prayer, ritual and trance

Question 15

priests

Answer 15

full time religious practitioners who lead a religious organization and officiate at rituals but are not expected to be able to communicate directly with the spiritual world

Question 16

rituals

Answer 16

activities, including religious speech, ceremonies and behaviors that are demonstrations of beliefs

Question 17

sacred rituals

Answer 17

activities, places, or objects that are connected to the spirit realm and are imbued with power

Question 18

rites of renewal

Answer 18

rituals performed with the goal of renewing the bounty of the earth

Question 19

prayer

Answer 19

religious speech or thought through which believers transmit message to the spirit beings

Question 20

sacrifice

Answer 20

offerings made to spirit beings to show gratitude and honor

Question 21

puberty rites

Answer 21

rituals performed to mark the passage of an individual from childhood to adulthood; also called initiation rites

Question 22

funerary rites

Answer 22

rituals performed to mark a person’s death and passage to the afterworld

Question 23

spirit possession

Answer 23

belief that spirits can enter a body and take over a person’s thoughts and actions

Question 24

imitative magic

Answer 24

magic that operates on the principle of like causes lik

Question 25

contagious magic

Answer 25

magic that operates on the principle that positive and negative qualities can be transferred

Question 26

calendric rituals

Answer 26

ceremonies performed at specific times during the year, for example, agricultural rituals performed for planting, growing, and harvesting crops.

Question 27

prophets

Answer 27

religious leaders who receive diving inspiration, often in a vision or trance

Question 28

nativistic movements

Answer 28

revitilization movements attempting to rid society of foreign elements and return to what is conceived to be a prior state of cultural purity

Question 29

revivalistic movements

Answer 29

revitalization movements focused on bringing back cultural and religious practices that express core values that have been largely abandoned.

Question 30

millenarian movements

Answer 30

revitalization movements incoporating apocalyptic themes, prophesying an abrupt end to the world as we know it, leading to the establishment of a new way of life or form of existence

Question 31

messianic movements

Answer 31

revitalization movements stressing the role of a prophet or messiah as a savior for the people

Question 32

cargo cults

Answer 32

revitalization movements arising in melanesia in the early 20th century with the aim of obtaining material wealth through magical means.

Question 33

proselytism

Answer 33

the attempt to convert a person or group from one religion to another

Question 34

fundamentalism

Answer 34

a term coined in the united states in the 1920s meaning a commitment to do battle to defend traditional religious beliefs