NCEA L1 Religious Studies flashcards

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

Worldview

The overall framework of beliefs, values and assumptions through which a person or community interprets reality, including what is ultimate, what it means to be human, and what counts as good.

Religion

A system of beliefs and practices relating to what a community regards as sacred or ultimate, typically involving shared narratives, rituals, ethics and forms of community or authority.

Spirituality

A person's sense of connection to something beyond the purely material, such as the sacred, nature or ultimate meaning; it may be practised inside or outside organised religion.

Sacred

That which a community sets apart as holy, powerful or ultimately significant, treated with reverence and often protected by restrictions such as tapu or ritual rules.

Ritual

A prescribed, repeated set of actions and words performed in a religious or spiritual context, marking events such as birth, coming of age, marriage, worship and death.

Whakapapa

Māori concept of genealogy and layered connection, linking people to ancestors, the land and the natural world; it grounds identity, relationships and obligations of care.

Tapu and noa

Complementary Māori concepts: tapu denotes a sacred or restricted state requiring care, while noa denotes the ordinary, unrestricted state that can restore balance after tapu.

Kaitiakitanga

Māori principle of guardianship and stewardship, expressing the responsibility of people to care for the land, water, and living world for present and future generations.

Myth (academic sense)

A foundational sacred narrative that a community uses to explain origins, identity and values; in religious studies it means a meaningful story, not a claim that it is false.

Monotheism

Belief in one God, as in Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Sikhism; the oneness of God is a central doctrine in each, expressed with different titles and explanations.

Polytheism

Belief in or worship of multiple deities, found in many ancient traditions and in some forms of Hinduism, where many gods may be understood as expressions of a greater reality.

Ethics in religion

The moral teachings of a tradition, often grounded in sacred texts, divine will, natural law or principles such as compassion, justice, ahimsa or the golden rule.

Afterlife beliefs

Teachings about what follows death, such as resurrection, judgement, heaven and hell, reincarnation, or liberation from the cycle of rebirth; these shape ethical motivation.

Sacred text

A writing a community treats as authoritative for belief and practice, such as the Torah, Bible, Qur'an, Vedas, Buddhist sutras or Guru Granth Sahib.

Torah

The central sacred text of Judaism, comprising the first five books of the Hebrew Bible and containing law, covenant and narrative foundational to Jewish life and ethics.

Trinity

Central Christian doctrine that one God exists as three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, distinct yet sharing one divine nature; it shapes Christian worship and creeds.

Five Pillars of Islam

Core Muslim practices: declaration of faith (shahada), prayer (salat), charity (zakat), fasting in Ramadan (sawm) and pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj).

Tawhid

Islamic doctrine of the absolute oneness and unity of God, which underpins Muslim belief, worship and rejection of associating partners with God.

Four Noble Truths

Buddhist teaching that suffering exists, arises from craving, can cease, and is ended by following the Eightfold Path of ethical conduct, meditation and wisdom.

Karma and samsara

In Hindu and Buddhist thought, karma is the moral consequence of actions that shapes rebirth, while samsara is the cycle of birth, death and rebirth to be escaped.

Moksha

Hindu goal of liberation from the cycle of rebirth and suffering, achieved through paths such as knowledge, devotion or selfless action, and understood as union with the divine.

Nirvana

Buddhist goal of extinguishing craving and suffering, ending rebirth; it is described as peace and liberation rather than a place or a state of eternal selfhood.

Dharma

In Hinduism and Buddhism, dharma refers to duty, cosmic order or the teachings that guide right living; its precise meaning depends on the tradition and context.

Sikhism core beliefs

Sikhism teaches one God, equality of all people, honest work, remembrance of God and service (seva), with the Guru Granth Sahib as the eternal Guru.

Secular humanism

A non-religious worldview that grounds meaning and ethics in human reason, evidence, compassion and wellbeing, without reliance on a deity or supernatural authority.

Covenant

A binding agreement between God and a people, central to Jewish identity (such as the covenant with Abraham and Moses) and echoed in Christian and Islamic thought.

Incarnation

Christian belief that God became human in Jesus Christ, fully divine and fully human; it is celebrated at Christmas and explained in creeds and theology.

Colonisation and religion

The process by which colonising powers spread their religions and disrupted indigenous traditions; its legacy includes both conversion and loss, and also adaptation and revival.

Emic and etic views

Emic is the insider perspective of a believer describing their own tradition; etic is the outsider analytical perspective used in religious studies to compare and interpret.

Interfaith dialogue

Structured conversation between people of different religious or secular worldviews, aiming at mutual understanding, cooperation on shared concerns, and reduced conflict.

Fundamentalism

A movement within a tradition that insists on strict adherence to what it regards as foundational teachings, often reacting to modernity and interpreting sacred texts literally.

Rites of passage

Ceremonies marking transitions in a person's life, such as birth, adulthood, marriage and death; they commonly involve separation, transition and reintegration stages.