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Dalai
Lama: The spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. |
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Daoism:
see Taoism |
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Dar-e-Mehr:
A North American term used by the
Zoroastrian faith to refer to their house
of worship. It literally means "a portal
to all that is good: charity, devotion, kindness
and love." |
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Dasa
Laxana: A Jain holy
day which recalls the ten important goals for
a follower of Jainism. |
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Day
of reckoning: Judgment day as described in
the Bible: a time when all will be judged and
sent either to Hell or
Heaven. |
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Day
of the Covenant: Baha'is
recall the the covenant contained in the last
will and testament of Baha'u'llah. |
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Day
of the Lord: A time when Christians believe
that God will destroy all evil and establish his
kingdom on earth. |
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Days
of awe: A Jewish term referring to the ten days
from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur. It is a time
of introspection. |
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Deacon:
From the Greek word diakanos (servant). Originally
a church administrator. Currently, the term may
refer to a low-ranking member of the clergy, a
lay minister, or a lay administrator. |
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Dead,
cult of the: Worship of the deceased. Unlike
ancestor worship, cult of the dead involves the
worship of the deceased by all, not just by the
kin of the ancestors. |
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Dead
Sea Scrolls:
|
- |
According
to "The
Da Vinci Code" the scrolls
consists of "some of the gospels
that Constantine attempted to eradicate.
... The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the
1950s hidden in a cave near Qumran in the
Judean desert...these documents speak of
Christ's ministry in very human terms."
|
|
- |
According
to reality, the Dead Sea Scrolls were actually
found in the 1940s. They contained no gospels
and no mention of Jesus' ministry. In fact,
the scrolls contained no Christian writings
at all; they were entirely made up of Jewish
documents. Except for the book of Esther,
all books from the Hebrew Scriptures are
present, along with many documents from
the Essene tradition. |
|
| - |
Dean:
Most commonly used as an assistant to the bishop
who runs the cathedral. |
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Death
of God Theology: (a.k.a. Christian Atheism)
This is a belief that became popular in the 1960s
among some Christian theologians. Perhaps the
most famous promoter of this concept was J.A.T.
Robinson, a bishop of the Church of England. He
wrote in his book Honest to God that the transcendent
God described in the Bible is an outdated myth
|
| - |
Debate,
religious: A formal discussion of the truth
or advantages of one or more faith groups or theological
positions. See dialogue |
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Decalog:
Synonym for the Ten Commandments. |
| - |
Deconversion:
A term used most often by Atheists and Agnostics
to describe an individual's loss of faith in a
religion with which they had identified. |
| - |
Deicide:
The act of killing God. Until the mid 20th
century, most Christians held modern-day Jews
responsible for killing God in the form of Yeshua
of Nazareth (a.k.a. Jesus Christ). The Catholic
Church has partly repudiated this belief. Most
Protestant denominations have gone further. But
one still hears the occasional accusation of "Christ
Killer" directed at Jews. |
| - |
Deist:
a person who believes in the existence of a remote,
unknowable deity, usually male, who created the
universe, but has not been involved with it since.
Most of the politicians who founded America were
Deists. |
| - |
Deity:
a generic term used to refer to one or more supernatural
beings. It can refer to a single God, as is Judaism
and Islam; a pair of gods, as in Zoroastrianism;
a Trinity as in Christianity and Hinduism; a God
and a Goddess as in Wicca and other Neopagan religions,
etc. Plural form is "deities." |
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Demiurge:
"public
craftsman" in Greek
|
- |
The
name of the creator according to the philosophy
of Plato. |
|
- |
A
creator-god viewed by Gnostics
as defective
and inferior to the supreme deity. This
is the God of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old
Testament), a deity who they view / viewed
as fundamentally evil, jealous, rigid, lacking
in compassion, and prone to genocide.
|
|
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Demon:
Originally an angel, it joined with Satan to oppose
God. Many conservative Christians believe that
a person can be possessed by a demon; some think
that only non-Christians can be possessed. Mental
health professionals abandoned the concept of
demonic possession centuries ago. |
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Demoniac:
An individual who is possessed by a demon. |
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Denomination:
an established religious group, which has usually
been in existence for many years and has geographically
widespread membership. It typically unites a group
of individual, local congregations into a single
administrative body. |
| - |
Deontological:
a system of ethics based on fixed rules which
need to be followed in order for a person to be
ethically and morally justified in their decisions.
The Ten Commandments
or the 613 Mosaic Laws in the Torah are two examples.
One's duty is to follow these defined rules of
conduct, regardless of the practical consequences.
Antonym: teleological. |
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Deosil:
The clockwise direction. The term is often used
in describing Neopagan rituals. |
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Depravity,
total: (a.k.a. Total inability)
The doctrine, primarily held by conservative
Christians, that every part of a person has been
hopelessly damaged by sin. None would seek out
God unless God first intervenes in their life.
"Man is spiritually dead and unable to
save himself or even believe without God's help."
1 This is one of the five points
of Calvinism. See Romans 3:9. |
| - |
Deprogramming:
A criminal method of forcing a person to abandon
their religious or other beliefs, usually through
kidnapping, forcible confinement, and psychological
pressure. |
| - |
Deutero
Isaiah: A theological term referring to chapters
49 to 65 in the book of Isaiah. Religious liberals
and most Bible historians believe that this was
written by a different author. |
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Devil:
Christian synonym for Satan: an all-evil former
angel. |
| - |
Dharma:
This term has multiple meanings: The teachings
of the Buddha, truth; that which is established,
customary, or proper; natural law -- the way the
universe works; one's duty and responsibility,
etc. |
| - |
Dharma
Day: This celebrates the first teaching of
the Buddha after his enlightenment. (Not to be
mistaken for Tuesday, when Dharma and Greg situational
comedy is broadcast. Sorry for the humor. ;-) |
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Dialog:
In a religious sense, dialog refers to people
from two or more religious traditions meeting
as equals to explain and explore their religious
beliefs and practices together. The aim is not
conversion, debate, or proselytizing; it is to
improve understanding, mutual respect, and personal
growth. Dialog tends to be rare when compared
to instances of debate. |
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Diaspora:
The forced exiles of the Jewish people from Palestine
by the Babylonians in the sixth century BCE
and by the Roman Empire in the middle of the 2nd
century CE. |
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Diatessaron:
The belief that the four Christian Gospels are
in harmony with each other. The term is often
used to refer to the writing of a very popular
gospel by Tatian (120 - 173 CE) based on Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John. |
| - |
Dichotomy:
The concept that a person is made up of a
body and a soul, or a body and a spirit. |
| - |
Didache:
a very early, short book describing Christian
rituals and beliefs. |
| - |
Diocese:
a geographical area under the jurisdiction of
a bishop. |
| - |
Diophysite:
A person or group which believes in Diophysitism. |
| - |
Diophysitism:
This is the belief that Christ had two natures:
both divine and human. This concept won out after
extensive debate at the church council at Chalcedon
in 451 CE. It is imbedded
in the Chalcedonian Creed. An opposing belief
is Monophysitism. |
| - |
Diocese:
A geographical area in which a group of priests
are under the direction of a single bishop. The
term is used by the Roman Catholic church,
the Greek Orthodox churches, and the Anglican
Communion. |
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Disciples:
In Christian usage, followers of Jesus. At one
time, Jesus had 12 disciples; at another time,
70 are mentioned. Although those followers who
were mentioned by name often in the gospels were
evenly split between women and men, only conflicting
lists of male disciples survive. |
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Disfellowshipping:
A practice of some Christian faith groups in which
a member has certain privileges removed in order
to force them to give up certain behaviors and
beliefs. Within the LFD church -- commonly called
the Mormons -- a disfellowshipped member has certain
privileges removed, but still remains a member.
Among the Jehovah's Witnesses, a person is shunned.
This can have devastating consequences to persons
in a high-intensity religious group whose entire
support system involves fellow members. |
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Dispensation,
Dispensationalism: The is the concept that
all of human history has been divided into seven
distinct periods of time or dispensations. They
are often called: innocence, conscience, human
government, promise, law, grace and the Kingdom.
God focused on the Hebrews during some dispensations
and on the church during others. Dispensationalists
see a major role for the state of Israel in the
future, and anticipate the second coming of Jesus
in the immediate future. |
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Dispensationalist
premillennialism: See premillenialism |
| - |
Displacement,
theology of: Alternative term for supercession. |
| - |
Disappointment,
great: The term is used to refer to the failed
prophecy of William Miller who predicted that
Christ would return to earth in 1844. |
| - |
Disassociate:
a term used within the
Jehovah's Witnesses to refer to an apostate
who has been severed from the organization.. |
| - |
Disestablishment:
Cancellation of the official status of a faith
group as a country's official church. There is
a growing support that the state church in Britain,
the Church of England, be disestablished. |
| - |
Disestablishmentarianism:
The belief that there should no longer be an official
church in the country. The word antidisestablishmentarianism
is sometimes quoted as the longest word in the
English language. The longest word in any language
may well be the Welsh name of a town in Wales:
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. |
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Dissociate:
a mental condition in which the mind detaches
itself from external activity. A psychological
term widely used in the treatment of persons who
allegedly suffer from Multiple
Personality Disorder (MPD) a.k.a. Dissociative
Identity Disorder (DID). This is a controversial
topic. Most mental health professionals believe
that MPD/DID is either extremely rare or nonexistent. Belief
in MPD/DID is rapidly declining. |
| - |
Divination:
Any method of predicting future events. Astrology,
bird entrails, tarot cards, runes, even the shadow
of a groundhog near the end of winter have been
used as tools of divination. Divination was practiced
by many persons mentioned in the Bible (Joseph,
high priests, Daniel). Some types of divination
are condemned by the Bible. |
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Diwali:
A Hindu Festival of Lights. Gifts are exchanged;
fireworks are enjoyed |
| - |
Docetism:
From the Greek word for "image." An
early belief about Christ in which Jesus was believed
to be a spirit who merely appeared to be a human.
|
| - |
Doctrine:
From the Latin word "doctrina"
(doctor) and the Greek "didaskolos"
(teaching). A body of beliefs that is taught.
Within the field of religion, there is often the
assumption that a member must agree with all aspects
of the group's doctrine. The 1,000 or so Christian
faith groups in North America teach many different
sets of conflicting doctrine. Many consider their
own doctrines to be absolutely true, and other
groups' doctrines to be in error. |
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Documentary
Hypothesis: The belief that the Pentateuch
(the first five books in the Bible) were not written
by Moses, but by four anonymous authors -- traditionally
called J, E, P and D. Also involved were one or
more redactors who edited the writings into their
present form. Conservative Christians generally
deny the hypothesis, and believe that Moses wrote
all five books. |
| - |
Dogma:
From the Greek word "dogma"
(a decree). A revealed truth defined by
a faith group. It is important to realize that
one group's dogma is often another group's heresy. |
| - |
Domestic
partnership: A voluntary union of two adult
persons of the same sex. The couple typically
receives some but not all of the same benefits,
obligations, and protections as married opposite-sex
couples are given. In the U.S., they are available
in California. See
also civil unions. |
| - |
Donatism:
An early Christian leader from North Africa, Donatus,
promoted the belief that the validity of a sacrament
was dependent on the moral character of the priest
who performed it. Two church synods later declared
this to be a heresy. |
| - |
Doomsday
cult: a religious group which is focused on
the anticipated end of the world in the near future.
Often referred to as a destructive
cult. |
| - |
Dormition
of the Theotokos: On this day, the Greek Orthodox
Church commemorates the death, burial, resurrection
and ascension into heaven of the Virgin Mary. |
| - |
Downgraders:
A term used to refer to Christian theologians
and clergy during the 1880s who were reacting
to the widespread public skepticism against miracles
at the time. They instead taught the moral leadership
of Jesus, and were called "downgraders"
as a result. |
| - |
Dowsing:
A type of divination, typically using a forked
branch or two sticks. They are used most often
to locate underground sources of water. Although
belief in the effectiveness of dowsing is widespread,
carefully controlled studies have shown it to
be useless. |
| - |
Druids:
A professional class of individuals in ancient
Celtic society who had various teaching, priestly,
legal, and ambassadorial functions. They are often
portrayed as engaging in human sacrifice. However,
the only source for this belief are a single reference
in the wartime writings of Julius Caesar,
who relied on hearsay. |
| - |
Druse:
(a.k.a. Muwahhid, Mowahhidoon, Mo'wa'he'doon,
Taw'heed Faith): The Druze are a fiercely
independent religious group with perhaps as many
as a million members. They are mainly concentrated
in Lebanon around the base of Mount Hermon, and
in the mountains behind Beirut and Sidon. They
broke away from Islam during the 10th century
CE. |
| - |
Dualism:
The belief that entities and concepts often appear
in pairs -- typically one good and the other bad.
The religion of Zoroastrianism recognizes one
all-good deity and one who is all-evil. Most conservative
Christians believe that two, very powerful, supernatural
powers influence the world: God and Satan. |
| - |
Dual
Covenant: This is the theological concept
that God has continued his covenants with the
Jewish people, and has established a new, parallel
covenant with the followers of Christianity.
Opposing this belief is the concept of Supercessionism:
that God has unilaterally terminated his covenants
with the Jews, and transferred them to Christians.
The latter belief led to a great deal of persecution
of Jews by Christians; it is now rejected
within Christianity except for some conservative
Protestant denominations. |
| - |
Duotheist:
Synonym for bitheist; a person who believes that
there are two deities -- typically one female
and the other male, as in Wicca,
or one all good and the other all bad, as in Zoroastrianism. |
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Dussehra:
Hindus celebrate the victory of Lord Rama
over the Demons. |
