American Religions Final Spring 2020 Flashcards
(119 cards)
1. Pentecostal
Deriving from an event reported in the New Testament called the Pentecost where the Holy Spirit came to Jesus’s disciples after his death, in flames and causing them to speak in tongues, Pentecostal worship is characterized by highly emotional, spirit-filled religious ecstasy where gifts/movement of the Holy Spirit manifest (speaking in tongues, interpretation of glossolalia, healing of physical and psychological illness). (Corbett-Hemeyer, p. 91-93 and class notes) Relating to Pentecost. ALSO-relating to or denoting any of a number of Christian movements and individuals emphasizing baptism in the Holy Spirit, evidenced by speaking in tongues, prophecy, healing, and exorcism. ALSO- a member of a Pentecostal movement.
- Fourth Crusade
The intent of the Fourth Crusade in the early 1200s was for Latin Christians to win back Jerusalem from the Muslims by attacking at the base of Muslim power in Egypt; instead, Crusader armies were rerouted and laid siege to Constantinople to overthrow Alexius III, who had usurped the throne from Isaac II Angelos years earlier. (historynet.com, ancient.eu, and class notes)
- Disestablishment clause
This clause within the First Amendment indicates that Congress may not establish a state-supported religion; there are several views of disestablishment: accommodationist (help all religions, but protect the heritage of Judeo-Christianity), separationist (separation of church and state), and nonpreferentialist (support all religions like accommodationists, but no Judeo-Christian protections). (Corbett-Hemeyer and class notes)
- Holy Spirit
Also called the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit is part of the trinity including the God the Father and the Jesus Christ the Son, comprehended across multiple religions as various “spiritual gifts” and often defined as something to be experienced rather than explained; internalizing the Holy Spirit can take on many forms, such as speaking in tongues within the Pentecostal Church. (class notes)
- Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops established the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People in 2002 to address allegations of the sexual abuse of minors by members of the Catholic clergy. (usccb.org)
- Congregation Shearith Israel
America’s first synagogue, established in 1729 in by a group of Jewish colonists in New Amsterdam (Manhattan, NY); until that time “religious toleration of most” meant mostly Protestants, perhaps some Catholics. (class reading: Establishment or Tolerance? and class notes)
- Civil religion
Civil religion, as described by sociologist Robert Bellah in the late 1960s, is a “public religious dimension” whereby religious beliefs are expressed publicly through “God talk” in political documents (such as the Constitution) and speeches, holiday observances, and by describing political issues in moral terms, often either through a conservative and priestly path that emphasizes individual morality, or through a more liberal and prophetic view that emphasizes morality extended to the world. (Corbett-Hemeyer, p. 32-33)
- John Winthrop
(from mid-term, where test item was about the City on a Hill image so not sure this is what we should recall for final) As part of a sermon to Puritans travelling to the New World to establish the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Winthrop described their future settlement as a civil and ecclesiastical form of government rising up as a city on a hill, visible to everyone to see if they did not succeed in keeping their covenant with God in the settlement establishment. (class reading: Establishment or Tolerance? and class notes)
- English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
- Winthrop led the first large wave of immigrants from England in 1630
- served as governor for 12 of the colony’s first 20 years.
- His writings and vision of the colony as a Puritan city upon a hill dominated New England colonial development, influencing the governments and religions of neighboring colonies.
- He was not involved in founding the Massachusetts Bay Company in 1628, but he became involved in 1629 when anti-Puritan King Charles I began a crackdown on Nonconformist religious thought.
- In October 1629, he was elected governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and he led a group of colonists to the New World in April 1630, founding a number of communities on the shores of Massachusetts Bay and the Charles River.
- First Great Awakening
Occurring from the 1720s-1740s, the First Great Awakening, was a new kind of religious movement with a Calvinist foundation in the colonies, with key figures Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield, and John Wesley preaching that all sinners can experience the work of salvation by trusting in the word of God and actively converting (because you cannot think or believe your way into God’s grace). (class notes)
- Charismatic
Charismatic Christianity focuses on the believer being filled with the movement of the Holy Spirit; it is most widely portrayed in Pentecostal worship and mostly through glossolalia; however, charismatic Christianity has experienced a second wave that has crossed into other Protestant denominations as well as the Catholic Church. (Corbett-Hemeyer and class notes) The “new charismatic movement brought Pentecostal experiences to Christians who had not previously had them” (other major Protestant denoms and Catholicism) and emphasized “experience rather than doctrine” (C-H, p. 93-94)
- Religion
Religion is a system with elements of institution, ritual, belief/myth, and ethics that provides guidelines for what it means to be human as per holy or sacred beliefs due to the teachings of a supernatural higher power; religion can be between a man and his God or communities of faith, is also found in political practices, and has both united and divided humanity. (class notes)
- Second Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening saw the start of evangelicalism, with an increase in revivalist preaching that was much more emotionally charged and appealing, and promoted more emotional congregation responses and behaviors; there was also pressure applied on making an immediate decision on conversion now as the path to salvation. (Corbett-Hemeyer p. 66 and class notes) With similarities to the First Great Awakening in terms of message content, the Second Great Awakening occurred from 1795 to 1835 on the American frontier and emphasized an emotional over intellectual style (roots of Evangelicalism) while pressing listeners for immediate conversion to Jesus Christ as personal savior, often because listeners were highly mobile and may move from the local community within hours. (Class presentation, JCH)
- Evangelical Protestant
The Evangelical Protestant is the current predominant style of Protestantism in the U.S., characterized mainly by salvation as a conversion experience prompted by a conscious decision. (Corbett-Hemeyer, p. 64 and class notes) Evangelical Protestants have enjoyed dramatic growth in recent decades compared to mainline protestant churches (though they overlap), and generally tend to interpret the Bible as the inerrant, authoritative word of God; see Jesus Christ as the only path to personal salvation; hold the central importance of a conversion experience to Jesus Christ in personal testimony; emphasize the death and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of human sin; and often display signs of fundamentalism, perhaps including speaking in tongues, Pentecostal movement of Spirit and may present cases of demon possession. (JCH, class presentation and notes)
- Magisterium
The Magisterium within the Catholic Church is the church’s authority that interprets the Word of God; this interpretation is left to the Pope (the Bishop of Rome) and regional Bishops, who are the authorities of the church within specific locales. (class notes) It is the teaching office of the Catholic Church and the authoritative source of the teachings, beliefs, and doctrines of the Church, centered around the Council of Bishops.
- Free exercise clause
Spearheaded by James Madison and a step up from the view of “toleration” of religious exercise that existed prior, the free exercise clause is the second half of the First Amendment and states that government may not prohibit the free exercise of any religion; one view of this clause is Communitarian, where beliefs may be practiced as long as cultural and moral sensibilities are not offended, and Libertarian, where beliefs may be practiced as long as practices do not violate basic human rights. (Corbett-Hemeyer, p. 25-26, and class notes)
- Seven Ecumenical Councils
Throughout history and to the present, ecumenical councils have been described as groups of religious dignitaries whose language is esteemed within the orthodoxy and who come together to make decisions regarding church doctrine; these types of councils cross denominations. (britannica.com and class notes) Ecumenical Councils are the earliest gatherings of the whole Holy Apostolic Catholic Church (pre-Schism) presided by the Patriarchs of the original five Holy Sees (Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Rome, and Byzantium) and convened by Roman Emperors to clarify questions of faith, dogma, and condemn heretical teachings.
- Religious Test clause
Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution prohibits any kind of religious requirement for holding public office. (class notes)
- Ex Cathedra
Phrase meaning “from the Throne” and refers to the infallibility of the teaching of the Pope of Rome in matters of doctrine when speaking from the Papal Throne.
- Immaculate Conception
Roman Catholic dogma which states that the Virgin Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin.
- Transubstantiation
is the changing of the essential substance of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ during the consecration of the Eucharistic gifts during the Mass.
- Seamless garment
refers to a consistent life ethics, since God created all life, Roman Catholics are biased towards life in all circumstances (abortion, death penalty, refugees and healing).
The seamless garment metaphor, coined by the late Archbishop of Chicago Joseph Bernardin in 1984, refers to a consistent life ethic derived from Catholic Social Teachings that honor the sanctity of human life across a wide spectrum of issues, including war, capital punishment, human trafficking, abortion, euthanasia, workers’ rights, the poverty-stricken, etc. (www.catholic.com)
- Tradition of Catholic Social Teachings
term originating from Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 Encyclical on capital and labor (Rerum Novarum) where it called for alleviating the misery of the working class caused by capitalism in post-industrial society. It advocated for capitalism restrained by moral principles to treat workers or laborers justly and humanely. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rerum_novarum
- Incarnation
the doctrine of the Holy Apostolic Catholic Church which states that Jesus (the Christ) was fully God and fully man (both natures divine and human unconfused and undivided).
- Vatican II
The Vatican II was a major church council where changes were made including, but not limited to, a confirmation of separation of church and state, it becoming acceptable to render Mass in the language of the area where Mass is held, an architectural revision where the priest now faces the congregation during Mass, and a change to the sacrament of last rites to include anointing those who are very ill but not in danger of dying. (Corbett-Hemeyer, pgs. 105-110 and class notes) in 1965, Council of the Roman Catholic Church which sought to modernize worship in the Catholic Church by allowing the mass to be celebrated in the vernacular instead of the traditional Latin Mass, and changed the order of service so the priest would face the congregation and stand for Christ (in persona Christi) while celebrating the sacraments.