| - |
Cabala
(also spelled Cabalah, Caballa, Caballah, Cabbala,
Cabbalah, Cabballa, Cabballah, and various spellings
starting with the letters K or Q): A Jewish
mystical tradition with roots in Palestine during
the 1st century CE and which developed during
the 12th century. It uses occultic (hidden) knowledge
to interpret the Torah. It is currently enjoying
a surge in popularity. |
| - |
Caliph:
Muslim term for community leader. |
| - |
Calvinism:
A system of Christian belief laid down by John
Calvin. It emphasizes predestination -- that certain
people are fated to be saved and others are selected
by God to be not saved and spend eternity in Hell.
The selection is not done on the basis of any
action that they have performed during their life
on earth. |
| - |
CAN:
An acronym for the Cult Awareness
Network. |
| - |
Canon:
The Canon of Scripture in Christianity
refers to the set of books selected from among
the books of the Hebrew Scriptures, the dozens
of gospels, and many dozens of epistles, to form
the Bible. Some canons contain just the 39 books
of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and 27
books in the Christian Scriptures (New Testament).
Other canons include the Apocrypha. Some liberal
theologians have recommended that the canon be
opened for additional writings, like the Gospel
of Thomas -- often regarded as the fifth gospel. |
| - |
Canon
law: A term used primarily within the Roman
Catholic church to refer to a collection of church
laws. |
| - |
Canonization:
|
- |
The
process by which a Christian becomes a saint. |
|
- |
The
process by which books are accepted into
a holy book |
|
| - |
Cantor
(Latin term for a singer): A person who recites
and sings liturgical materials in Jewish religious
services. |
| - |
Cardinal:
Bishops in the Roman Catholic church who advise
the pope. They meet as a group to elect a new
pope when needed. |
| - |
Cardinal
Doctrines of Christianity: Lists of beliefs
of the foundational beliefs that all Christians
should believe in. Although lists differ, they
often include some of the following: biblical
inerrancy, the deity
of Jesus, the virgin birth,
Jesus' bodily resurrection,
the Trinity, the Atonement,
criteria for salvation. |
| - |
Castrato:
(Plural castrati): An adult male singer
with a soprano, mezzo-soprano or alto voice. They
retained their prepubescent vocal range because
they were castrated before puberty. This was a
practice within the Roman Catholic Church from
about 1500 CE. Castrati were
banned by the pope in 1902. |
| - |
Catechism:
From the Greek "katecheo" -- to sound
aloud. A training program to educate a person
in the fundamentals of Christianity. It is often
organized in a question and answer format. |
| - |
Catholic:
This came from the Greek word Katholikos which
means "throughout the whole" or "universal."
This implies a world-wide faith, rather than a
local one. The Nicene Creed, recited in the churches
of many Christian denominations, speaks of "one
holy catholic and apostolic church."
Many faith groups refer to themselves as Catholic:
the Roman Catholic Church, centered in the Vatican;
Anglo-Catholics (within the Anglican Communion);
and Evangelical Catholics (among Lutherans). |
| - |
Catholic
Charismatic Renewal: The acceptance of
certain Pentecostal beliefs and practices within
the Roman Catholic church. This has also happened
within Protestant denominations, where it is generally
referred to as Charismatic Movement. |
| - |
CE
(a.k.a. C.E.): An anacronym for "common
era." A religiously-neutral calendar notation
that is numerically equivalent to the "AD"
notation without the connotation that the user
recognizes Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus Christ) to
be God. Some non-Christians find the use of "AD"
to be offensive. |
| - |
Celibate,
Celibacy: This is a word in transition. In
the past, it has simply meant to be unmarried.
More recently, it has evolved to mean the act
of sexual abstinence. We recommend that the word
never be used, unless it is carefully pre-defined.
We recommend "unmarried" and
"sexually inactive" or "a
virgin" as preferred, unambiguous terms. |
| - |
Celibrant:
A minister or priest -- or in some denominations,
a member of the laity -- who leads a worship service
which includes communion. |
| - |
Cessationism:
The belief that tongues,
and other special gifts enjoyed by believers in
the early Christian movement faded early in the
history of the Christian church, and are thus
not present today. The time of cessation is variously
defined as the date of the completion of the last
book of the Christian Scriptures or the death
of the last Apostle. Antonym: continuationism. |
| - |
Chakra:
This is a term used in some traditions in Buddhism
and the New Age to refer to seven points of energy
concentration throughout a persons central nervous
system -- their in their brain and along their
spine. |
| - |
Chalice:
|
- |
A
special drinking cup used in some Christian
communion services to hold wine. |
|
- |
It
was adopted as the official symbol of the
Unitarian Service Committee and the
Unitarian Universalist
Association, and is used by hundreds
of UU congregations. 3 |
|
- |
Among
Wiccans and other
Neopagans, it
is a goblet used to hold either a beverage
or water for ritual use. |
|
| - |
Channeling:
A practice common among New Agers in which the
spirit of a master teacher is contacted in order
to receive guidance and knowledge. |
| - |
Chanukah:
(a.k.a. Hanukka): The Jewish festival of lights
which recalls a miracle at the time of the rededication
of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem circa 164 BCE.
A small quantity of oil burned for many days.
With the heavy commercialization of Christmas,
this minor Jewish holiday has taken on greater
importantce. |
| - |
Charismatic
movement: The adoption of certain Pentecostal
beliefs and practices within Protestant denominations.
The same phenomenon has occurred within the Roman
Catholic Church where it is called the Catholic
Charismatic Renewal. |
| - |
Chiliasm:
From the Greek term for 1000: The belief that
Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus Christ) will reign on
Earth for 1,000 years. Synonym for millennium. |
| - |
Chiromancy:
The prediction of a person's past and future through
palm reading. |
| - |
Chosen
people: A belief from the Hebrew Scriptures
(Old Testament) that the Jewish people were chosen
by God to receive the Torah and spread the word
of God throughout the Earth. Many conservative
Protestants teach the principle of Supercessionism
(a.k.a. Replacement Theology): that God unilaterally
terminated his covenants with the Jewish people
and transferred them to the followers of Christianity.
|
| - |
Christ:
From a Greek word meaning to rub down an athlete
with lineament. It refers to a Hebrew word (Messiah
in English) that means "an anointed one,"
e.g. a king of Israel or a prophet. Jesus' real
name was Yeshua of Nazareth. |
| - |
Christadelphianism:
A small Christian religious group with non-traditional
beliefs. They teach that Jesus was a created being,
that the Holy Spirit is a power or energy rather
than the third personality in the Trinity. They
deny the traditional concepts of
heaven and hell |
| - |
Christian:
This term was derived indirectly from the Greek
word for Messiah. It has many
meanings:
|
- |
Census
offices consider any person or group to
be Christian if they devoutly, seriously
regards themselves to be Christian. Thus,
Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Roman Catholic,
and members of the Unification Church are
Christians. Many groups, particularly conservative
Christians, regard many of these denominations
as "cults"
and not part of Christianity. |
|
- |
Webster's
New World Dictionary: "A person
believing in Jesus as the Christ, or in
the religion based upon the teachings of
Jesus." |
|
- |
Concise
Oxford Dictionary: "Person believing
in, professing or belonging to the religion
of Christ." (They don't define
exactly what the religion of Christ is,
or which of the thousands of denominations
and sects represent this religion.) |
|
- |
Evangelical/Fundamentalist
usage: often used to refer only to fellow
conservative Christian faith groups or to
"saved" individuals. |
|
| - |
Christian
Atheism: see: Death
of God Theology |
| - |
Christian
evidences: A branch of Apologetics
that deals with attempts to prove that Christianity
and/or the Bible is true. Much effort is expended
by conservative Christians to prove that creation,
the great flood, the tower of Babel, virgin birth,
resurrection, Exodus, attack on Canaan etc. happened
exactly as explained in the Bible. Their expectation
is that no evidence from archaeology, geology,
cosmology, astronomy or any other science will
disprove the inerrancy
of the Bible. |
| - |
Christian
Identity: A small, racist, radical group within
Christianity which has adopted a belief similar
to that of British Israelism. They teach that
the ten lost tribes of Israel became the Anglo-Saxon
race. Many Identity groups teach that Eve engaged
in sexual relations with the serpent in the Garden
of Eden, and that the Jews were the product of
that union. |
| - |
Christian
Science: A Christian denomination founded
in 1879 in Boston, MA, by Mary Baker Eddy. It
promotes spiritual healing, that sickness and
matter is not real, and that one should avoid
medical help. The life expectancy of Christian
Scientists appears to be significantly shorter
than for the general population. |
| - |
Christology:
The study of the personality, attributes and/or
life of Yeshua of Nazareth, a.k.a. Jesus Christ.
The term is derived from two Greek words, for
"messiah" and "formal
study." |
| - |
Christmas:
This is held on DEC-25, the nominal date of
the birth of Yeshua of Nazareth, after whose life
the Christian religion is patterned. The western
church uses the Gregorian calendar and the eastern
church uses the Julian calendar. So Christmas
is celebrated on two different days. |
| - |
Chupah:
A Jewish wedding canopy which represents the home
that the groom is expected to maintain. |
| - |
Church:
The Greek word ekklesia (to call out) in the Bible
is generally translated as "church."
In modern usage, it may refer to:
|
- |
All
people, living or dead, who are Christians.
|
|
- |
A
specific wing of Christianity, as in the
Roman Catholic Church |
|
- |
A
specific Christian denomination or sect,
like the Presbyterian Church (USA), or |
|
- |
A
specific congregation, like the First Baptist
Church. |
|
- |
A
non-Christian religion, like the Wiccan
Church of Canada |
|
| - |
Circumcision:
From a Latin word to "cut around:"
The removal of the skin that covers the tip of
a penis. In Judaism, it is performed during the
brit milah ceremony at the age of eight days.
In Islam it is conducted at various times between
birth and puberty, depending on local culture.
In North America it is often done for appearance
purposes. |
| - |
Circumcision
of Jesus: A Christian holy day held in remembrance
of Jesus' circumcision. |
| - |
Civil
religion: A set of religious beliefs shared
by most citizens about "the sacred nature,
the sacred ideals, the sacred character, and sacred
meanings of their country – its blessedness by
God, and its special place and role in the world
and in human history." 1
The term was created by Rousseau in his writing
"On the Social Contract" 1762. |
| - |
Civil
union: A voluntary union of two adult persons
of the same sex. The couple typically receives
all of the same benefits, obligations, and protections
as married opposite-sex couples are given. In
the U.S., they are available in Connecticut,
New Jersey and Vermont.
See also domestic partnership. |
| - |
Clergy:
An ordained Christian priest, pastor or minister.
In Judaism, a rabbi. Some conservative faith groups
restrict the clergy to males. It is sometimes
use generically to refer to any religious leader. |
| - |
Collective
Responsibility: The concept that an entire
group of people (e.g. all of a certain sex, religion,
skin color, nationality, or sexual orientation,
etc) are equally responsible for the act of one
person in the group. This is a logical outgrowth
of the biblical principle of transferability
of sin. Until recent decades most Christian
faith groups extended the concept of collective
responsibility to extend over millennia by holding
modern-day Jews responsible for the execution
of Yeshua of Nazareth (a.k.a. Jesus Christ) almost
2,000 years ago. |
| - |
Coming,
second: (a.k.a. Parousia): The belief
that Jesus will descend to earth as described
in the biblical book Revelation,
leading a massive army. As the 21st
century approached, approximately one in four
American adults believed that this would happen
during their lifetime. |
| - |
Commandments:
In Jewish tradition, there are 613 commandments
in the Torah: 248 positive and 365 negative. Of
these, about two dozen are described in Exodus
20:2-17
which are grouped together to total
ten commandments. These are held in high regard
by both Jews and Christians, although few can
list their topics. |
| - |
Communion:
|
- |
A
Christian ritual, sometimes called the Eucharist,
or Mass, or Lord's supper. |
|
- |
A
group of believers or a group of denominations.
The Anglican Communion, for example,
is a group of national churches who share
many beliefs and practices in common. |
|
| - |
Communion:
The sharing of bread and wine (or a wine substitute)
during a Christian service. At the time of the
early church, only baptized Christians were allowed
to be present during communion. When Pagans started
to spread the rumor that cannibalism was involved,
this part of the service was opened to the public.
Alternative names for communion are: Eucharist,
Divine Liturgy, Last Supper. |
| - |
Comparative
religion: The study of world religions to
determine their points of similarity and differences.
In practice, this is difficult to do on an impartial
basis. Students often consider their own branch
of their own religion to be "true,"
and all other branches of their religion, and
all other religions to be "false." |
| - |
Completed
Jews: A term used by conservative Christians
to refer to Jews who have embraced Messianic Judaism
-- a blend of Jewish tradition and ceremonies
with Fundamentalist theological beliefs about
Jesus Christ and the Trinity. |
| - |
Concestor:
An animal species, typically long extinct,
which is the ancestor to two later-evolved species.
For example, according to the theory of evolution,
the concestor shared by humans and chimpanzees
lived about six million years ago. There are 40
concestors between humans and the first life forms
which lived about 3.8 billion years ago.
|
| - |
Concreated
holiness: This is the belief that when God
created Adam, that Adam's will was created holy.
His natural inclination was thus to behave in
a holy manner. |
| - |
Concupiscence:
From the Latin word "concupiscentia:"
the natural inclination or innate tendency of
humans to perform evil deeds. |
| - |
Conditionalism
(a.k.a.Conditional immortality):
Synonyms for annihilationism.
|
| - |
Confessing
Church: The Roman Catholic Church and most
Evangelical (i.e. Protestant) denominations cooperated
fully with Hitler and the German Nazis during
the 1930s and early 1940s. However the "Pastors'
Emergency League" founded by Detrich
Bonhoeffer, Pastor Niemoller, and other ministers
opposed the Nazi's aryanization of German Christianity.
The League grew into the Confessing Church. Many
of its leaders were executed by the Nazis. |
| - |
Confessionalism:
As a religious term, it means that each member
of a faith group is expected to adhere fully to
the group's entire belief system. No dissent is
allowed. The Amish might
be regarded as a good example of confessionalism.
Those congregations affiliated with the Unitarian
Universalist Association might be regarded
as an opposite extreme; they encourage and expect
diversity of belief. |
| - |
Confucianism:
An indigenous system of thought which originated
in China about 500 BCE. It
is considered by some to be a religion, by others
a humanistic philosophy. Founded by Confusious
(551-479 BCE) |
| - |
Congregation:
This word is another of those religious terms
with multiple meanings. It can refer to:
|
- |
The
members of a specific place of worship. |
|
- |
A
religious organization, as in the First
Unitarian Congregation of Toronto. |
|
- |
An
administrative body within the Curia of
the Roman Catholic Church, as in the
Congregation of for the Doctrine of the
Faith -- formerly called the Sacred
Congregation of the Universal Inquisition. |
|
- |
A
group of professed members of a Roman Catholic
religious congregation. Congregations are
similar to religious orders, except that
the members only take simple vows. |
The term can also refer to an
assembly of senior members at a university.
|
| - |
Conservative:
Within Christianity, this is one wing of the religion,
composed of Fundamentalists, other Evangelicals,
Pentecostals, Charismatics, and members of most
independent churches. Other wings of Christianity
include mainline Christianity, liberal Christianity,
Roman Catholicism, Anglican Communion(s), and
Eastern Orthodoxy. Conservative Judaism was organized
as a reaction to Reform Judaism, the largest of
the three main wings of the religion. |
| - |
Consubstantiality:
The belief that Jesus is of the same substance
(homoousion in Greek) as God the Father. This
belief was promoted by those who taught that God,
Son and Holy Spirit formed a Trinity. Opposing
them was Arius who regarded this as a Pagan polytheistic
concept. He taught that Jesus was of similar substance
(homoiousion in Greek) to God the Father. The
difference of one letter (o,i) caused a great
deal of angry debate in the church; the two sides
were evenly matched. Constantine applied political
pressure to have homoousion accepted at the Council
of Nicea. This has been the teachings of almost
all Christian faith groups ever since. |
| - |
Consubstantiation:
The belief, as taught by Martin Luther, that the
elements during communion are actually bread and
wine which coexist with the body and blood of
Jesus. |
| - |
Contemplation:
In a religious sense, the practice of meditation
on spiritual matters. |
| - |
Contemplative
prayer: This is an ancient Christian practice
that was suppressed by the Roman Catholic Church
during the Middle Ages and is rejected by many
conservative Protestants today. It consists of
wordless form of prayer in which one simply exists
in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Some Christians
believe that the Holy Spirit lives in each baptized
Christian; others believe that he exists indwells
every saved person. |
| - |
Contextualization:
A method of analyzing the Bible which attempts
to differentiate between the meaning of the text
and "the cultural and historical context
in which it is given." 2
The result is that when one tries to interpret
the meaning of a biblical passage in terms of
today's culture, the meaning of the text may have
to change. For example, in Genesis 9:1. humans
are urged to be fruitful and multiply. That made
sense in days when there were so many childhood
diseases, and warfare. The opposite command --
to limit one's fertility -- might make more sense
today. |
| - |
Continuationism:
The belief that tongues,
prophecy, healing, and other special gifts enjoyed
by believers in the early Christian movement have
continued to the present time. Antonym: cessationism. |
| - |
Conversion:
the act of changing one's beliefs from one religion
to another or from one faith group to another
within the same religion. It can be a capital
offense in some predominately Muslim lands to
convert to another religion. |
| - |
Conversionism:
the belief that lives of all humans need to be
changed by way of a "born
again" decision in which they repent
of their sins and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.
|
| - |
Conversos
(a.k.a. New Christians): A group of Jews in
Spain who converted to Roman Catholicism in order
to escape brutal violence and oppression during
the 14th and 15th century. |
| - |
Corpus
Christi: A Roman Catholic holy day
which commemorates the Eucharist - a ritual in
which they believe that a wafer and wine become
the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ. |
| - |
Cosmogeny:
beliefs about the origin of the universe. While
95% of scientists and most North American adults
believe that the world and the rest of the universe
is billions of years old, many conservative Christians
believe in a universe less than 10,000 years of
age. |
| - |
Cosmogony:
(From the Greek: "cosmo" meaning universe;
"gony" meaning origin): A religious
or scientific model of the origin of the universe.
The two most common models in North America are
creation science, theistic evolution and naturalistic
evolution. |
| - |
Cosmology:
(From the Greek: "cosmo" meaning universe;
"logos" meaning study). Beliefs about
the structure of the universe. Many religious
texts have a pre-scientific view of the makeup
of the earth, the solar system and the rest of
the universe. |
| - |
Council,
ecumenical: A series of meetings of the bishops
of the Christian Church to settle doctrinal and
organizational matters, in which the decisions
were accepted by the entire Church. |
| - |
Counter
cult movement (CCM): A group made up mainly
of Fundamentalist and other Evangelical Protestant
organizations which opposes and criticizes new
religious movements (NRMs) because of the latter's
unorthodox and/or novel theological beliefs.
More details. |
| - |
Counter
reformation: A reform movement within the
Roman Catholic church taken shortly after -- an
in response to -- the Protestant Reformation. |
| - |
Coven:
a local group of Wiccans
or other Neo-pagans. During the "burning
times" when Christian groups were tracking
down and exterminating Witches, it was believed
that each coven held 13 members. This was and
is not true; covens can be of any size, but are
most often perhaps about a half-dozen. |
| - |
Covenant:
"Berith" in Hebrew and "diatheke"
in Greek: An agreement between two persons which
are obligatory on both parties. Most commonly
used to refer to various covenants between God
and the Hebrews. Jews believe that these covenants
are permanent; some Christians believe that God
unilaterally abrogated them and selected Christians
to be the new chosen people. |
| - |
Covenant
Theology: A Christian concept which teaches
the unity of the Hebrew Scriptures and Christian
Scriptures (Old and New Testament). The covenants
of the Hebrew Scriptures are not done away with
the arrival of Christ on Earth; they are still
binding on humans today. Ancient Jews were not
saved by animal sacrifice. Such rituals were only
symbolic of Jesus' self-sacrifice. See also New
Covenant Theology. |
| - |
Creed:
Fropm the Latin word "credere"
-- to believe. A short statement of religious
belief, usually motivated by a desire to emphasize
church teaching as opposed to a heresy. There
are a number of creeds
within the Christian religion: the Apostles
creed, Nicene creed are the most popular. However,
the former is little used in Eastern Orthodox
churches. |
| - |
Criticism:
When referring to the Bible, this refers to a
method of analyzing its text:
|
- |
Lower
criticism is the analysis of the text in
order to understand its meaning and detect
any forgeries, mistranslations, etc. |
|
- |
Higher
criticism is an attempt to determine when
the passage was written, who wrote it, where
it was written, what their purpose was,
whether it was imported into the Bible from
another source, etc. One example of the
results of higher criticism is the
documentary hypothesis concerning the
authorship of the first five books in the
Hebrew Scripture, which most mainline and
liberal theologians accept. |
|
| - |
Cross,
sign of: A movement, commonly used among Roman
Catholics, in which the right hand touches the
forehead, chest, left shoulder, and right shoulder
in sequence. Orthodox believers cross themselves
from right to left. |
| - |
Crucicentrism:
Making the substitutionary
atonement by Christ on the cross central to
a Christian belief system. |
| - |
Crucifix:
A religious symbol representing Jesus nailed to
the cross. Most crucifixes lack accuracy because
they portray a partly clothed man nailed through
his palms. The Romans crucified people naked,
with their wrists nailed (or their arms tied)
to the crossbar. Another possible inaccuracy relates
to the shape of the cross. It is not clear whether
Jesus was executed on a Roman cross -- as essentially
all crucifixes show -- or on a cross in the form
of a capital "T," or on a vertical stake. |
| - |
Cruciform:
an object in the form of a cross. The term is
often used to describe buildings and jewelry. |
| - |
Crucifixion:
A method of carrying out the death penalty which
involved physical abuse of the victim, stripping
him of all clothing, tying or nailing his arms
and legs to a cross or stake, and abandoning him
to die. The corpse was often partly eaten by scavengers.
The body was generally denied a proper burial;
it was tossed on a garbage heap. Crucifixion was
widely used within the Roman Empire to execute
either slaves or rebels. |
| - |
Crypto-jew:
A person who adheres to Judaism while publicly
professing to be of another faith. This was most
often seen in countries where Judaism was under
oppression, like Nazi Germany during the mid 20th
century, or in Spain during the 14th & 15th
century. |
| - |
Crystals:
These are materials which have their
molecules arranged in a specific, highly ordered
internal pattern. This pattern is reflected in
the crystal's external structure which typically
has symmetrical surfaces. Many common substances,
from salt to sugar, and from diamonds to quartz,
form crystals. They can be shaped so that they
will vibrate at a specific frequency and are widely
used in radio communications and computing devices.
Many New Agers, Wiccans,
and other Neopagans
and others believe that crystals possess healing
energy. |
| - |
Cult:
From the Latin word "cultus" -- meaning
worship. Cult is a word with many
religious meanings (and some secular as well)
which should be used with great care to avoid
misunderstanding. We recommend the neutral term
"new religious movement" be used
in its place. Even better is to refer to a religious
group by its name:
- Traditional theological
usage: a style of worship and its associated
rituals. It can be applied to any faith group.
- Sociological usage:
a small religious group that exists in a state
of tension with the predominant religion;
e.g. Christianity in Pakistan.
- General religious usage:
a small, recently created religious group;
not a variant of an established religion.
Often headed by a single charismatic leader.
- Evangelical usage:
a religious group that considers themselves
to be Christian but which denies one or more
historical beliefs of Protestant Christianity.
- Counter-cult
movement usage: Same as Evangelical
usage.
- Anti-cult
movement usage: a small, evil religious
group, often with a single charismatic leader,
who engage in deceptive recruiting, brainwashing
and other mind control techniques
- Popular belief: A
doomsday, dangerous, destructive religious
movement whose members risk their life to
belong.
|
| - |
Cult
apologist: Derogatory term used to refer to:
|
- |
Academics
who investigate new religious movements
and often report that they are harmless. |
|
- |
Members
of new religious movements who defend their
groups against criticism from the anti-cult
movement and/or counter-cult
movement |
|
| - |
Cult
Awareness Network (CAN): Originally, an
anti-cult group which targeted new religious movements.
CAN was forced into bankruptcy because of their
criminal activities linking the parents of members
of new religious movements with kidnappers and
re-programmers. In an ironic twist, their name
and other assets were purchased by the Foundation
for Religious Freedom, which teaches tolerance
of other faith groups. |
| - |
Curate:
In the Anglican communion, an assistant pastor. |
