Religious Studies key terms

Prayer using set, traditional words, which may be said privately or with others.

Coal, oil or natural gas: an energy resource formed from ancient living material over millions of years.

The Buddha’s four central teachings: suffering exists, it has causes, it can cease, and the Eightfold Path leads to its cessation.

Siddhartha Gautama's encounters with an old person, a sick person, a dead person and a holy man, which prompted his search for liberation from suffering.

The palm, myrtle, willow and citron used together during Sukkot to express praise, God’s presence everywhere and Jewish unity.

The freedom to choose, hold or change a religion or belief, including choosing not to follow a religion.

The freedom to show religious belief through activities such as worship, teaching, observance and religious dress.

The ability to make choices about one's actions, for which a person can be held responsible.

The main communal act of worship for a person who has died; it may take place with or without Mass.

A religious ceremony of prayers and actions marking a person’s death, commending them to God and supporting those who mourn.

The expectation that God’s rule will be fully established in the future, overcoming the evil still present in the world.

Literally ‘Garden of Eden’; in teachings about the afterlife, a heavenly paradise associated with peace, spiritual reward and closeness to God.

The elephant-headed deity associated with removing obstacles; the son of Shiva and Parvati.

Eight special traditional rules for Buddhist nuns that place their order under the authority of the monks’ order.

A Second Vatican Council document, issued in 1965, about the Church in the modern world. Paragraph 26 teaches that everyone must have access to the necessities of a truly human life.

Also called Gehenna; a state or place of punishment after death, understood by many Jews as temporary purification rather than everlasting torment.

The rabbinic discussions and commentary on the Mishnah that, together with it, form the Talmud.

Acts of loving kindness performed without expecting anything in return, such as visiting someone who is ill or supporting an elderly person.

Unfair treatment of someone because of their gender.

The belief that people should have equal rights, opportunities and dignity regardless of their gender.

An unfair judgement about someone based on their gender rather than their individual qualities or abilities.

A responsibility or pattern of behaviour that a society or community expects of someone because they are male or female.

A fixed generalisation about how people of a particular gender behave or what roles they should have.

Knowledge of the divine available indirectly to everyone, rather than through a direct experience given to a particular person.

Giving freely without selfish attachment to praise, reward or receiving something in return; also called dana.

The first book of the Bible, containing two accounts of creation. Its name means 'beginnings'.

A person who is not Jewish.