0.1 Glossary  (Page 2/5)

Creation myth – Story about the creation of the world.

Cross–religious Universals – Ideas that crop up in every religion.

Cult – A very small religious group that teaches religious doctrines very different from those held in wider society.

Deism – an Enlightenment-era belief in the existence of a supreme being—specifically, a creator who does not intervene in the universe—representing a rejection of the belief in a supernatural deity who interacts with humankind

Democracy – Power concentrated in many people in a society or community.

Denomination – A large religious group which has been well established and enjoys wide acceptability in the community.

Denotative definition of religion – A definition that attempts to describe the essence of religion in a single short phrase.

Doctrine – Religious teaching.

Ecclesia – A very large (possibly international) religious group with a strict hierarchical division of power.

Ecumenism – The fostering of positive relationships between sectors of one religion, and between religions.

Empathy – Having great insight into and compassion for the problems of others.

End–time myth – A story about the eventual fate of the world and its inhabitants.

Enlightenment – an eighteenth-century intellectual and cultural movement that emphasized reason and science over superstition, religion, and tradition

Ethics – Set of principles directing good living.

Faith – Experience of believing; religious trust and commitment; also used as synonym for religion.

First Great Awakening – an eighteenth-century Protestant revival in the North American British colonies that emphasized individual, experiential faith over church doctrine and the close study of scripture

Foundation myth – A story about the foundation of a religion.

Founder – A person who is regarded by his or her followers as the initiator of their religious community.

Freemasons – a fraternal society founded in the early eighteenth century that advocated Enlightenment principles of inquiry and tolerance

Functional definition of religion – A definition that attempts to describe what religion "does".

Fundamentalism – A form of conservatism, selectively utilising elements of an old tradition, blending such elements with elements of modern society with a view to promoting the interests of a religious group.

Gender – The roles and behaviours that are culturally defined as being appropriate for a female and a male.

Golden Rule – Universally–held ethical prescription, found in nearly all religious and other ethical systems.

Gregorian calendar – The most commonly used calendar system in the world today.

Hadith – Recollections of things the Prophet Muhammad said that are not written down in the Qur'an.

Halaal – Food that is fit for human consumption under Islamic religious law.

Haraam – Food that is unfit for human consumption under Islamic religious law.

Hereditary – Passed on from parent to child.

Hierarchy – A distribution of power in which one person is at the top and has most of the power. Below him or her are a few trusted lieutenants who have some power, and so it goes on until we find the mass of the people at the bottom with almost no power at all.