Overview/Nature of Religion:• Ahura Mazda : The supreme creator god of the Zoroastrians. 'Wise Lord' Zoroastrians revere a host of divine entities that they believe to function as agents and deputies of Ahura Mazda. The 'good' god whom all praise and thanks are due. During the Sasanian era, Zoroastrian tradition explores the philosophical idea that the ultimate power of Ahura Mazda is in any substantial way compromised by the activity of the evil spirit.• Allah: The Qur'an presents its view of divinity in direct and unambiguous declarations of faith in the one and only God, creator, sustainer, judge and sovereign Lord over all creation. Muslims consider it a sin to associate any other being with God. Allah is not the name of a particular deity. Arabic word for God, 'Lord of all beings'. Demands faith and worship of all rational creatures. God's attributes are referred to in the Qur'an as the 'most beautiful names'.• Clifford Geerts American anthropologist. Expands on the provisional definition dimensions of religion. Religion is a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic.• Cult: New religious movements are often referred to as cults. Originally meant 'worship'. Now it is implied with movements that are seen as fraudulent, coercive and that the leaders demand excessive, unquestioning dedication from their followers. Ex: Jonestown, the Branch Davidians, the Peoples Temple, the Unification Church(the 'Moonies'), the international Society for Krishna Consciousness (the Hare Krishna movement).• Dualism : Postulates two ultimate principles opposing each other and more or less evenly matched. The principles are often personifies as good and evil (gods).• Gerardus van der Leeuw Theologian and historian of religions. Published a wide-ranging survey, Religion in Essence and Manifestation, which treated religion as a response to a divine stimulus. Found definite examples in Christian traditions.• Hagia Sophia: Former Greek Orthodox patriarchal basilica. Once an imperial mosque. Now a museum in Istanbul Served as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral.- Jonestown Agricultural commune established in Guyana in 1972. Lead by Reverend Jim Jones. More than 900 of the people committed mass suicide on the order of Reverend Jones. Jones established the Peoples Temple in the 50s and a decade later he established rural settlements in California. The goal of Jones was an overhaul of the existing world order. Sought uncritical dedication. The mass suicide was carried out after a number of investigations convinced Jones and his followers that evil forces were closing in on them and that the only honorable escape was death.• Mircea Eliade : Known for his work in comparative religion, particularly on Hindu and tribal traditions. Saw religion as a response to a transcendent reality, which he called 'the sacred'.• Missionary Religions Christian and Muslims are members of missionary religions that tend to draw clear boundaries between themselves and outsiders, and then encourage those on the other side of the line to cross over and join them• Monotheism : Greek for worship of only one god. Thought to justify the idea of a single monarchy. Western civilization owes ancient Israel for the idea of monotheism. Before the actual term was coined, the characteristic could be seen in the West in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Exclusive. Declares that the faithful should worship only one god and worshipping any others is an abomination and/or other gods don't even exist. The Birth of the Gods: The Origin of Primitive Beliefs by Guy E. Swanson maintains that monotheism is associated with social complexity, reflecting the establishment of a multi-layer hierarchy.• Polytheism: The worship of many gods. May represent the attribution of human motivations to natural phenomena. Polytheistic Greek society adopted the family principle, which arranged all the gods into a large extended family.• Rudolf Otto : German philosopher of religion. Disturbed by the turn-of-the-century tendency to explain religion as social conditions. First wrote an article in 1910 that criticized the cultural-evolutionist perspective of a work on ethnic psychology. In 1917, he wrote The idea of the Holy, a best seller. Describes a sense of mystery as numinous, which he believed was a common feature of all religions specifically with Christians.• Secularism: The exclusion in principle of all religious groups, institutions, and identities from public support, acceptance, influence in decision-making. Ex: Arguments for Sunday closing. Seek to remove Christianity's privileged influence over social standards and norms.• "The Satan " The devil is a subtle figure in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam who most likely want to affirm God's purpose and power have been reluctant to make room for a second locus of ultimate power. Mentioned in both the New Testament and in the Qur'an (known as Shaytan andIblis). Not found in the Old Testament. Not found in the Hebrew creation story. 'The satan' can be found in the book of Job. 'The satan' is Hebrew for 'adversary' and designates a court official, not a personal name. Transitioned from adversary to Satan sometime between the Old and New Testaments. The devil appears to emerge in Judaism and Christianity during the height of Persian influence.• Structuralism: A theoretical paradigm in sociology, anthropology, linguistics and semiotics. Elements of human culture must be understood in terms of their relationship to a larger, overarching system or structure. Works to uncover the structures that underlie all things that humans do, think, perceive and feel. Philosopher Simon Blackburn says structuralism is "the belief that phenomena ofhuman life are not intelligible except through their interrelations. These relations constitute a structure, and behind local variations in the surface phenomena there are constant laws of abstract culture".• Yahweh : National god of the Iron Age kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Name
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