Religious Studies key terms

A Church ruling that a marriage was never valid, rather than the ending of a valid marriage.

To apply oil or spices to someone’s body; in Mark 16:1, the women intend to care for Jesus’ body as part of burial customs.

The act of applying oil or ointment to someone, often with religious significance, such as honouring a king or preparing a body for burial.

The sacrament in which a seriously ill person is anointed with oil to receive spiritual strength, comfort and healing.

The divine understood as the indwelling Lord, present within a person’s heart.

Prejudice, hostility or discrimination directed against Jews because they are Jewish.

The system of enforced racial segregation and unequal rights in South Africa that ended in 1994.

Leaving or rejecting a religious faith.

Someone sent out on a mission. Mark calls Jesus’ returning followers apostles because they have been sent to teach and carry out his work.

A reported appearance of a religious figure, such as the Virgin Mary.

A person who has attained full awakening, overcoming ignorance and craving and becoming free from future rebirth; an important ideal in Theravada Buddhism. Also called an arhat.

A ceremony in which a lighted lamp is offered before a deity and worshippers receive its blessing.

A Sikh prayer of petition and thanksgiving, offered on occasions including the beginning and completion of an akhand path.

The argument that events which cannot be explained by natural causes require a supernatural cause, identified as God, and therefore provide evidence that God exists.

A ‘perfected person’ who has overcome greed, hatred and ignorance, attained nibbana and will not be reborn after death.

The sacred cupboard, usually called the ark, in which a synagogue's Torah scrolls are kept.

A marriage in which families help to find a partner, but both people must freely agree to marry.

An object made or used by people. Buddhist religious artefacts include bells, images and symbolic objects used in worship or meditation.

Prosperity and material wellbeing, pursued through legitimate means.

One of the six foundational beliefs summarising Sunni Muslim faith.

Preventing pregnancy using methods such as condoms, hormonal pills or contraceptive devices rather than relying on identifying fertile times.

Jesus' return to the Father in heaven, with his humanity entering divine glory.

A person who gives up worldly pleasures and comforts for spiritual purposes.

A way of life involving strict self-discipline and denial of physical comforts for spiritual purposes.

A stage of life in the traditional Hindu framework: student, householder, retirement or renunciation.

A Muslim observance especially significant to Shi’a Muslims as a commemoration of Husayn’s martyrdom; many Sunni Muslims observe it through voluntary fasting.

In Dignity in Dying’s campaign, medical assistance enabling a terminally ill, mentally competent adult to end their own life by voluntarily self-administering prescribed life-ending medication.