Religion: World Religions

The view that there are no gods. A theoretical atheist is one who self-consciously denies the existence of a supreme being, whereas a practical atheist may believe that a supreme being exists but lives as though there were no god.

Religion and philosophy founded in India c.525 B.C. by Siddhartha Gautama, called the Buddha. There are over 300 million Buddhists worldwide. One of the great world religions, it is divided into two main schools: the Theravada or Hinayana in Sri Lanka and SE Asia, and the Mahayana in China, Mongolia, Korea, and Japan. A third school, the Vajrayana, has a long tradition in Tibet and Japan.

Indigenous religion founded in southern Vietnam in 1926.

One of the world's major religions, it predominates in Europe and the Americas, where it has been a powerful historical force and cultural influence, but it also claims adherents in virtually every country of the world.

A Chinese school of thought and set of moral, ethical, and political teachings usually considered to be founded by Confucius.

The Western term for a religious tradition developed during the first millennium and intertwined with the history and social system of India. Hinduism does not trace its origins to a particular founder, has no prophets, no set creed, and no particular institutional structure. It emphasizes the right way of living (dharma) rather than a set of doctrines, and thus embraces diverse religious beliefs and practices.

Islam, one of the world’s great monotheistic religions, was founded (or restored) by the Prophet Muhammad (570-632 CE), who lived in Mecca and Medina on the Arabian Peninsula.

the religious faith developed among the ancient Jews and characterized by belief in one God and by a religious life in accordance with scriptures and rabbinic traditions.

The practice of putting oneself into, and remaining in, direct relation with God, the Absolute, or any unifying principle of life. Mysticism is inseparably linked with religion.

Divination by numbers. The basis of numerology is the belief that numbers connect the world of humans to the structure of the universe.

Ancient form of polytheism, or the belief in many gods.

Name used to denote any system of belief or speculation that includes the teaching "God is all, and all is God." Pantheism, in other words, identifies the universe with God or God with the universe.

Belief in a plurality of gods in which each deity is distinguished by special functions.

The Rastafari movement is a cultural, religious, and political movement that began in the early 1930s among the descendants of African slaves in the Caribbean nation of Jamaica.

Japan's largest religion, with a following that constitutes more than 80% of the population.

Religion professed by 14 million Indians, living mainly in the Punjab. Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak. Sikhs believe in a single God (monotheism) who is the immortal creator of the universe and who has never been incarnate in any form, and in the equality of all human beings; Sikhism is strongly opposed to caste divisions.

Chinese philosophy identified with the Tao-chia (School of the Way). Taoists believe that (1) there is a way the world should be, a way that, in some deep sense, it is; (2) human beings can understand this and need to have and follow such knowledge if they and the world are to exist in harmony; and (3) the world was once in such a state.

A form of animism involving trances and other rituals. Communication with the dead is a principal feature of voodoo. It is most common in the nations of the Caribbean Sea, especially Haiti, where people sometimes mingle voodoo and Christian practices.

A modern nature-based religion with strong links to mainly European mythologies.

A form of sorcery, or the magical manipulation of nature for self-aggrandizement, or for the benefit or harm of a client. This manipulation often involves the use of spirit-helpers, or familiars.

A religion founded by Zoroaster, but with many later accretions.

Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, England.

The Cathedral of Chartres, dedicated to the Virgin Mary (Notre Dame) and situated approximately 80 kilometers from Paris, is one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in France and a popular place of pilgrimage due to the presence of the Sancta Camisa, a tunic said to have belonged to the Virgin Mary and given to the church in 876.

A subsidiary place of worship. It is either an alcove or chamber within a church, a separate building, or a room set apart for the purpose of worship in a secular building.

In architecture, a building designed as a place of worship for the Christian church community.

Major river of India and Bangladesh; length 2,510 km/1,560 mi. It drains a fertile and densely populated basin, approximately a quarter of the total area of India, and is the most sacred river for Hindus.

[Gr.,=Holy Wisdom] or Santa Sophia, Turkish Aya Sofia, originally a Christian church at Constantinople (now Istanbul), later a mosque, and now converted into a museum.

For centuries the most important church in Eastern Orthodoxy, Hagia Sophia (“Holy Wisdom”) in Constantinople (today's Istanbul) was a symbol of the greatness of the Byzantine Empire.

The capital of Israel, Jerusalem is an administrative, religious, educational, cultural, and market center.

City in Saudi Arabia and, as birthplace of Muhammad, the holiest city of the Islamic world and a place of annual pilgrimage.

A Muslim place of worship, usually having one or more minarets and often decorated with elaborate tracery and texts from the Koran.

Temple sacred to Athena, on the acropolis at Athens. Built under Pericles between 447 B.C. and 432 B.C., it is the culminating masterpiece of Greek architecture.

The holiest area of a place of worship; also a place of refuge from persecution or prosecution, usually in or near a place of worship.

e regarded as holy due to an association with a divine figure, relic, or event. Shrines are important places in most religions, and are often a focus of worship or meditation.

Cathedral church of the City of London, the largest Protestant church in England, and a national mausoleum second only to Westminster Abbey.

The intriguing mysterious prehistoric stone circle known as Stonehenge is one of the world’s oldest and most famous holy sites.

Buddhist shrine or monument in mound form, often containing relics.

The local Jewish institution for instruction in the Torah and worship, but not infringing on the ritual or sacrificial roles of the Jerusalem priesthood. In antiquity, it was the local religious focal point of individual Jewish communities.

A Gothic church in London: site of a Benedictine monastery (1050-65); scene of the coronations of almost all English monarchs since William I.