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  • Vocabulary Lists

    Religions and Worldviews vocabulary.

    You might come across words in Religions and Worldviews that are new or unfamiliar. Different worldviews, especially religious ones, have specific terms to name or describe important ideas and concepts.

    How many of the words below have you heard of before?

    General terms

    - these are not specific to any one religion

    Religion, theist, special books, special places, special stories, prayer, celebration, festival, symbol, thankful, faith, belief, teachings, wise sayings, rules for living, values, co-operation, belonging, community, worship, holiness, place of worship, sacred, sacred text, creation story, spiritual, commitment, pilgrim, pilgrimage, ritual, devotion, life after death, destiny, soul, inspiration, role-model, harmony, respect, justice, moral codes, ethics, charity, compassion, tolerance, diversity.

    Christianity

    Christmas, Easter, Bible, Church, Jesus, Christian

    Pentecost, Harvest Festival, Advent, Messiah, Christ, Gospel, Jesus, Holy Spirit, God the Creator, Trinity, heaven, nativity.

    baptism, christening, resurrection, disciple, parable, salvation, mercy, grace, creed, intelligent design, prophecy

    Catholic, Protestant, Anglican, Free Church,

    Judaism

    Synagogue, Torah, Jewish,

    Ten Commandments, Yahweh, Jehova, Passover / Pesach, Hanukkah, Ark, Judaism, shabbat, bimah, kippa

    Purim, Day of Atonement, Star of David, prophet, rabbi, Bat/Bat Mitzvah.

    Beth Shalom, Messiah,  Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah.

    Important people from the Torah:

    Joseph, Moses, Abraham, Jacob, Ruth, King David, King Solomon, Esther, Isaiah, Daniel.

    Islam

    Allah, Prophet Muhammad, Qur’an, Hadith, Sunnah, Mosque, Muslim, Islamic

    Eid

    paradise, ummah, Iman (faith), akhlaq (character or moral conduct), adhan (call to prayer)

    5 Pillars: shahada, salat, zakat, sawm, hajj

    Sunni, Shi’a, Sufi, 99 Beautiful Names, Bismillah

    Hinduism

    Hindu, mandir, Aum, Brahman, Vedas

    Divali, Hindu dharma, Sanatan Dharma, Murtis, gods and goddesses, deity, puja, home shrine, devotion.

    Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Shiva Nataraja, Lakshmi, Parvati, Ganesha, Rama, Sita, Hanuman

    holi, trimurti, 

    Bhagavad Gita, atman, karma, dharma, moksha, ashram, ahimsa, yoga, Mahabharata, mandala, maya, varna, jati.

    Non-religious Worldviews

    Non-religious, Humanist, Golden Rule, worldview.

    spiritual, atheist, agnostic, rationalist, Golden Rule, secular, ‘new atheists’, skepticism, ethics, autonomy, anti-theists.