HSC Studies of Religion II flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Nature of religion

A worldview system of beliefs and practices acknowledging a transcendent or supernatural dimension, expressed through sacred texts, ethics, rituals and community belonging.

Transcendent religious worldview

A worldview holding that a divine power or reality exists beyond and above the material world, shaping human purpose and moral obligation.

Immanent religious worldview

A worldview locating the sacred within the material world and human experience, such as the Dreaming's presence in land and kinship.

The Dreaming

The Aboriginal meta-temporal foundation of all existence; ancestral beings shaped land, law and life, and their creative power remains present in ceremony and country.

Kinship in Aboriginal spirituality

A system of reciprocal obligations connecting people to family, clan, land and ancestral beings, defining identity, responsibility and law.

Sacred site

A place of spiritual significance tied to ancestral activity, used for ceremony and law; its custodianship carries ongoing ritual and moral duties.

1967 referendum

A constitutional change allowing the Commonwealth to make laws for Aboriginal people and to count them in the census; it did not itself grant citizenship.

Mabo decision

The 1992 High Court ruling recognising native title, overturning the legal fiction of terra nullius and affirming continuing Indigenous connection to land.

Bringing Them Home report

The 1997 report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families, documenting the Stolen Generations.

Aboriginal land rights

Legal recognition of Indigenous ownership or access to traditional lands, enacted through state and territory legislation and native title processes.

Denominational switching

Movement of believers between denominations or traditions, a key feature of Australian religious change since 1945 and a driver of diversity.

Secularisation

Decline in the social authority and practice of religion, evident in falling attendance, rising 'no religion' census responses and privatised belief.

Religious diversity in Australia

The coexistence of many traditions after 1945 migration, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism alongside Christian denominations.

Interfaith dialogue

Structured conversation and cooperation between religious traditions aimed at mutual understanding, reducing conflict and pursuing shared social goals.

Ecumenism

The movement seeking unity among Christian denominations through shared dialogue, worship and cooperative social action.

Just War theory

A moral framework setting conditions for legitimate armed force, including just cause, proportionality, last resort and protection of non-combatants.

Pacifism

The ethical position rejecting all war and violence, grounded in the sanctity of life and often in religious teachings about love and reconciliation.

Inner peace

A state of spiritual calm and right relationship with the divine, cultivated through prayer, meditation, ethical living and forgiveness.

Religion and peace

The study of how traditions promote peace through inner transformation, ethics, interfaith cooperation and opposition to violence.

Trinity

The Christian belief that one God exists eternally as three persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - equal in nature and distinct in relationship.

Incarnation

The Christian teaching that God became human in Jesus Christ, fully divine and fully human, revealing God's nature to humanity.

Resurrection

The Christian belief that Jesus rose bodily from the dead, vindicating his teaching and grounding hope in eternal life for believers.

Salvation

Deliverance from sin and its consequences through God's grace, understood differently across Christian traditions in relation to faith and works.

Baptism

A Christian initiation ritual using water that symbolises cleansing from sin and entry into the community of faith.

Eucharist

The Christian ritual commemorating the Last Supper, sharing bread and wine as an expression of communion, sacrifice and community identity.

Beatitudes

Jesus's teachings in Matthew's Gospel declaring blessings on the poor in spirit, meek, merciful and peacemakers, forming a core Christian ethical framework.

Ten Commandments

The moral code given to Moses at Sinai, governing relationship with God and neighbour, foundational to Jewish and Christian ethics.

Shabbat

The Jewish day of rest from Friday sunset to Saturday nightfall, marked by candle lighting, blessing and abstention from work.

Five Pillars of Islam

Core Muslim obligations: declaration of faith, prayer, almsgiving, fasting during Ramadan and pilgrimage to Mecca.

Four Noble Truths

Buddhist teaching that suffering exists, arises from craving, can cease, and is ended through the Eightfold Path.

Caste system in Hinduism

A hereditary social order historically linked to Hindu society and dharma, now legally prohibited in India but socially persistent.

New religious movements

Recently formed religious groups distinct from established traditions, often emphasising direct experience, charismatic leadership or alternative worldviews.