0.1 Glossary  (Page 11/5)

African Religion – The religious practices and beliefs of the African people before the arrival of Christian and Islamic missionaries. Also, the contemporary practice of this religion.

Androcentrism – T he theory that the male sex is primary and the female secondary in nature.

Animism – The belief that everything in the world is alive and has a soul. .

Antisemitism – Hatred for, and persecution of, Jewish people.

Aristocracy – Power concentrated in a few persons, and handed down within a small number of families.

Axial Age – The period from approx. 700 BCE to approx. 500 CE, during which the main patterns of all the major world religions were laid down.

Baha'i Faith – A religion that originated in Iran in the nineteenth century and later moved its headquarters to Israel. .

BCE – Before the Common Era, cf. CE.

Belief system – Set of views about ultimate reality or divinity.

Bhagavad Gita – The most important Hindu holy book.

Bible – The Christian scripture, consisting of the Old Testament (roughly equivalent to the Jewish Scriptures) and the New Testament.

Black separatism: An ideology that called upon African Americans to reject integration with the white community and, in some cases, to physically separate themselves from whites in order to create and preserve their self-determination

Black Power: A political ideology encouraging African Americans to create their own institutions and develop their own economic resources independent of whites

Black Pride: A cultural movement among African Americans to encourage pride in their African heritage and to substitute African and African American art forms, behaviors, and cultural products for those of whites

Bronze Age – The period in a civilisation's development in which they developed the techniques of making weapons and tools of bronze.

Buddhism – The religion founded by Siddharta Gautama (the Buddha) in the sixth century BCE.

Calvinism: A branch of Protestantism started by John Calvin, emphasizing human powerlessness before an omniscient God and stressing the idea of predestination

Caste – see Varna

CE – Common Era, cf. BCE.

Charisma – A strong, attractive personality that leads others to regard one as a leader.

Christianity – The religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Chrisat, who lived in Palestine in the first century CE

Christianity – The religion founded by Jesus Christ in the first century CE.

Colonialism – The conquest and subsequent administration of one country by another, esp. the conquest of non–European areas by European countries during the nineteenth century CE.

Compassion – Feeling the pain of others.

Confucianism – A Chinese religion that emphasises ritual, social conformity and orderliness.

Connotative definition of religion – A definition that attempts to list all the attributes (properties) of religion.

Conversion – Changing from one religious affiliation to another.

Covert research – Research in which the fact that research is being done is hidden or kept secret.