Unit 1 Flashcards
(23 cards)
Perspective that denies the existence of God or gods.
atheism
Understanding of the nature of the world that typically explains its origin and how it is ordered.
cosmology
The capacity for seeing things from another’s perspective, and an important methodological approach for studying religions.
empathy
The linking and intermixing of cultures; any process that moves a society toward an internationalization of religious discourse.
globalization
The belief that acknowledges a plurality of gods but elevates one of them to special status.
henotheism
The general process through which societies transform economically, socially, and culturally to become more industrial, urban, and secular; any transformation of societies and cultures that leads to the abandonment of traditional religious values.
modernization
The belief that all reality is ultimately one.
monism
The belief in only one god.
monotheism
The coexistence of different peoples and their cultural ways in one time and place.
multiculturalism
The contrasting feelings of awe-inspiring mystery and of overwhelming attraction that are said by Rudolf Otto to characterize the numinous experience.
mysterium tremendum and fascinanas
A general category of religious experience characterized in various ways, for example, as the union with the divine through inward contemplation or as the dissolution of the sense of individual selfhood.
mystical experience
A story or narrative, originally conveyed orally, that sets forth basic truths of a religious tradition and that often involves events of primordial time that describe the origins of things.
myth
Term denoting a religion that does not maintain belief in God or gods.
nontheistic
Rudolf Otto’s term describing an encounter with “the Holy”; it is characterized by two powerful and contending forces, mysterium tremendum and fascinans.
numinous experience
The belief that the divine reality is identical to nature or the material world.
pantheism
The belief in many gods.
polytheism
Truth regarding right behavior believed to be divinely established and intentionally made known to human beings.
revealed ethics
The expression of the divine will, commonly recorded in sacred texts.
revelation
Formal worship practice.
ritual
The general turning away from traditional religious authority and institutions; any tendency in modern society that devalues religious worldviews or seeks to substitute scientific theories for religious beliefs.
secularization
Term denoting a religion that maintains belief in God or Gods.
theistic
Term denoting a theological perspective that acknowledges the existence of gods while denying that the gods are vital with regard to the most crucial religious issues, such as the quest for salvation.
transtheistic
The shift of population centers from rural, agricultural settings to cities.
urbanization
