Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies B key terms

The belief that marriage is holy because it is established and blessed by God.

The Sikh congregation or community gathered for worship.

The Buddhist community; in its narrower sense, the community of monks and nuns.

The ancient Jewish council with religious and judicial authority, whose approval was required for a Milchemet reshut.

The underlying unsatisfactoriness of conditioned existence: things depend on changing causes and conditions and cannot provide permanent security. Also called suffering of fabrication.

A Hindu renouncer who gives up worldly attachments and follows a life of spiritual discipline and simplicity.

Contentment: being satisfied with what one has rather than continually seeking more.

The Sikh ideal of a saint-soldier: a person who combines spiritual discipline and compassion with readiness to defend others against injustice.

A Sikh teaching expressing concern for the welfare or good of everyone.

The welfare of all: a Sikh ideal of seeking everyone’s well-being, not only that of Sikhs.

The historical practice of a widow being burned on her husband’s funeral pyre.

The ‘true congregation’: company centred on the Guru’s teaching that helps people remember God and develop spiritually.

The mode of goodness, associated in the Bhagavad Gita with purity and knowledge.

‘Insistence on truth’: Gandhi’s approach to resisting injustice through non-violent action rather than harming opponents.

Fasting; the obligatory fast during Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.

The ritual of making seven journeys between Safa and Marwa, recalling Hajar’s search for water for her son Isma‘il.

Unfairly blaming a person or group for wider problems in society.

An explanation of an event through natural processes, supported by observation and evidence, rather than an appeal to supernatural action.

Sacred writings regarded by a religious community as a source of authority. For Catholics, these include the Bible.

A title identifying Muhammad as the final prophet.

Hostility, prejudice or discrimination between religious groups or denominations, such as Catholics and Protestants.

Non-religious; concerned with worldly rather than religious matters.

Moral principles that do not depend on belonging to a religion. The Dalai Lama includes compassion, tolerance, caring and responsible use of knowledge.

The separation of religious institutions and the state, with equal treatment for religious and non-religious people.

Protection and dependable support, including physical safety, material provision and emotional care.

The ordered ritual meal at Pesach through which the Exodus story is retold using readings, questions and symbolic foods.

The ‘Book of Knowledge’, the first book of Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah. It includes the Laws of Repentance, whose fifth chapter explains free will and moral responsibility.