DSST Introduction to World Religions flashcards

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

Numinous

Rudolf Otto's term for the holy as experienced rather than defined: a mysterium tremendum et fascinans, at once overwhelming, awe-inspiring, and strangely attractive.

Hierophany

Mircea Eliade's term for any act by which the sacred manifests itself within profane space, transforming that place into a center of meaning.

Epoché

In phenomenology of religion, the deliberate suspension of one's own beliefs and judgments so a tradition can be described on its own terms.

Mana and tabu

In Polynesian traditions, mana is an impersonal transferable sacred force; tabu designates persons or things set apart and restricted because of it.

Liminality

Van Gennep's middle phase of a rite of passage, when the initiate has left one status but not entered the next, often marked by danger and transformation.

Shaman

A part-time religious specialist who enters altered states to journey, heal, retrieve souls, or negotiate with spirits, typically in small-scale oral societies.

Shruti and smriti

Hindu categories of authority: shruti is revealed scripture heard by seers, including the Vedas and Upanishads; smriti is remembered tradition such as epics and law books.

Brahman and atman

In Hindu thought, Brahman is ultimate reality underlying all things, and atman is the innermost self; Upanishadic teaching identifies the two.

Karma, samsara, moksha

Karma is action and its consequences; samsara is the cycle of rebirth it drives; moksha is liberation from that cycle, the final human aim.

Four Noble Truths

Buddhist core teaching: suffering exists, craving causes it, it can cease, and the Eightfold Path leads to its cessation.

Anatta

The Buddhist teaching of no fixed self: what we call a person is a changing bundle of aggregates, not a permanent unchanging soul.

Bodhisattva ideal

Mahayana aspiration to attain awakening for the sake of all beings, postponing final nirvana until others are liberated.

Ren and li

In Confucianism, ren is humaneness or benevolence toward others, and li is ritual propriety governing conduct, ceremony, and social roles.

Junzi

Confucian ideal of the exemplary person, defined by cultivated virtue and right conduct rather than noble birth.

Xiao

Filial piety: respect, obedience, and care owed to parents and elders, extending to ancestor veneration and social harmony.

Wu wei

Daoist principle of acting without forcing, allowing natural patterns to unfold rather than imposing will through effort or coercion.

Ziran and pu

Daoist images of spontaneity: ziran means self-so-ness or naturalness, and pu the uncarved block, plain potential before shaping.

Daodejing

Short foundational Daoist text attributed to Laozi, using paradoxical poetry to describe the dao, non-action, and the sage's rule.

Shema

Jewish declaration of God's unity, beginning 'Hear, O Israel,' recited daily in prayer and at death, central to Jewish monotheism.

Tanakh

Jewish acronym for scripture in three parts: Torah (teaching), Nevi'im (prophets), and Ketuvim (writings), read in synagogue liturgy.

Yom Kippur

Jewish Day of Atonement, a fast day of repentance and confession ending the ten days begun at Rosh Hashanah.

Trinity

Christian doctrine that one God exists in three coeternal persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - distinct yet of one substance.

Eucharist

Christian sacrament of bread and wine commemorating the Last Supper, understood as Christ's body and blood in varying senses across traditions.

Nicene Creed

Fourth-century statement of Christian belief affirmed in most churches, defining the Trinity and Christ's divine and human natures.

Five Pillars

Core Muslim obligations: witness to God and Muhammad, five daily prayers, almsgiving, fasting in Ramadan, and pilgrimage to Mecca.

Hijra

Muhammad's migration from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE, marking the start of the Islamic calendar and the founding of the Muslim community.

Sharia and fiqh

Sharia is the divinely intended path or law; fiqh is the human jurisprudence that interprets and applies it through reasoning.

Kami

Shinto sacred presences or powers found in nature, ancestors, and exceptional persons, honored at shrines rather than conceived as omnipotent creators.

Torii

Shinto gate marking the entrance to sacred space, separating the ordinary world from the shrine precinct of the kami.

Interpretatio romana

Roman practice of identifying a foreign deity with a native one, as when Greek Zeus was equated with Jupiter.

Eleusinian Mysteries

Greek mystery rites for Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis, promising initiates a better fate after death.

Thetan

In Scientology, the immortal spiritual being that is the true self; the body is a physical object the thetan uses and controls.

Auditing

Scientology counseling in which an auditor guides a person to locate and discharge painful past engrams, often using an E-meter.