Chapter 6 Flashcards
Autonomous
Self sufficient, interaction among communities is little.
Branch
A large and fundamental division within a religion.
Caste
The class or distinct hereditary order into which a Hindu was assigned according to religious law.
Cosmogony
A set of religious 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. (Subgroup).
Diocese
The basic unit of geographic organization in the Roman Catholic Church.
Ethnic religion
Appeals to primarily one group of people living in one place.
Fundamentalism
A literal interpretation and a strict and intense adherence to basic principles of a religion (or a religious branch, denomination, or sect).
Ghetto
A city neighborhood set up by law to be inhabited only by Jews.
Hierarchical religion
Has well defined geographic structure and organizes territory into local administrative units.
Missionary
Individuals who help to transmit a universalizing religion through relocation diffusion.
Montheism
The belief in one God.
Pagan
The word for a follower of a polytheistic religion in ancient times.
Pilgrimage
A journey for religious purposes to a place considered sacred.
Polytheism
The belief in a collection of gods.
Sect
A relatively small group that has broken away from an established denomination.
Solstice
The time when the sun is the farthest away from the equator so some ethnic religions celebrate winter and summer solstice.
Universalizing
Religions that attempt to be global and to appeal to all people, wherever they may live in the world, not just those of one culture or location.
Animism
Traditional ethnic religions that believe inanimate objects like plants and stones or natural events like thunderstorms and earthquakes have spirits and conscious life.
