religion

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

System of faith

Nouns

1. religion, faith; theology, isagogics, divinity, deism, theism, monotheism, ditheism, polytheism, pantheism; liberation theology; scientific creationism; hagiology; belief, truth, creed, doctrine, dogma; cult; canonicity; declaration, profession, or confession of faith; articles of faith; conformity, orthodoxy, strictness. See piety.

2. (religions)

a. Christianity; Catholicism, Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholic Church, Church of Rome, Orthodox Eastern Church, Russian or Greek Orthodox Church, Uniates; Protestantism, Presbyterianism, Quakerism, [Society of] Friends, Mormonism, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Christian Science, Church of Christ Scientist, African Methodist Episcopal, A. M. E., Amish, Anabaptist, Anglican, Church of England, Armenian Apostolic, Pentecostal, Assemblies of God, Baptist, Brethren, Calvinist, Church of Christ, Church of God, Church of the Brethren, Dunkers, Church of the New Jerusalem, Ethical Culturalism, Swedenborgian, Congregational, Coptic, Episcopal, Hare Krishna, Huguenots, International Church of the Four-Square Gospel, Jehovah's Witnesses, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodism, Metropolitan [Community] Church, Millenial Church, Shakers, Moravians, New Light Presbyterianism, New Thought, Puritans, Reformed Church, Rosicrucians, Russellites, Schwenkfelders, Scientology, Seventh Day Adventists, Transcendentalism, Unitarianism-[-Universalism], United Church of Christ, Universalism, Zwinglianism; Gnosticism; Moral Majority, Christian Right, Christian Coalition, 700 Club. Slang, Scarlet Woman, Holy Rollers.

b. Judaism, Druze.

c. Mohammedanism, Moslemism, Islam; Nation of Islam.

d. Buddhism, Zen, Shintoism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Brahmanism, Sikhism, Jainism, Mazdaism, Zoroastrianism, Lamaism, Shinto, Taoism.

e. Baha'i, Theosophical Society.

f. Rastafarianism.

g. voodoo, hoodoo, vodun, brujera.

3. the Church, Holy Church, Established Church; temple of the Holy Ghost, Universal Church, Apostolic Church, muscular Christianity; native or indigenous religion, faith healing, love feast; Bible Belt.

4. true believer, Christendom, Christians; Islam; Jewry; Christian, Catholic, Protestant (Presbyterian, Christian Scientist, Swedenborgian, Moravian, etc.), Quaker, Friend, Mormon; Jew; Moslem; Buddhist; Brahman, Hindu, etc. Slang, bead-puller, fish-eater, mackerel-snapper, mick[ey], poper, papist; Jesus-screamer or -shouter, Jesus freak, God squad; white Anglo-Saxon Protestant, WASP, proddo, biblebelter, blue-skin, congo, dipper, metho, presbo; Moonie; five and two, fiver, Ike, bagel-bender, Red Sea pedestrian, sheeny, skid, heeb, kike, mocky, porker, reef, lid, yid; rasta, ganza, dreadlocks.

5. (religious writings) scriptures, canons, sacred writings; catechism; Apostles' Creed, Nicene Creed, Athanasian Creed; Articles of Religion.

6. worship, prayer, hymn, hymnody, psalmody; sacrifice, oblation, incense, libation, offering, offertory; disciple, fasting, asceticism; rite, divine service, office, duty, Mass, matins, evensong, vespers.

7. clergy, clergyman; theologian, theist, monotheist; churchwarden, altar boy, accolyte, chorister; congregation, flock, worshiper, communicant, celebrant; presbyter, elder, vestryman, usher.

Verbs — worship, pray, invoke, supplicate, say one's prayers, tell one's beads; return thanks, say grace; praise, glorify, magnify; bless, give benediction; attend services, attend Mass, go to church; communicate, take communion.

Adjectives — religious, God-fearing; reverential (See respect); orthodox, sound, strict, canonical, authentic, faithful, theological; doctrinal, dogmatic, denominational, sectarian; Christian, Catholic, Protestant, Lutheran, Calvinistic, etc.; evangelical, scriptural; divine, true (see deity); Jewish, Judaic, Hebrew, Hindu, Mohammedan, etc.; born-again, charismatic.

Phrases — a church is God between four walls; you can't build a church with stumbling blocks; man's extremity is God's opportunity; the Church is an anvil that has worn out many hammers.

Quotations — Religion is by no means a proper subject of conversation in mixed company (Lord Chesterfield), I count religion but a childish toy (Christopher Marlowe), We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another ( Jonathan Swift), Religion's in the heart, not in the knees (Douglas Jerrold), Religion... is the opium of the people (Karl Marx), There is only one religion, though there are a hundred versions of it (G. B. Shaw), Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind (Albert Einstein), To die for a religion is easier than to live it absolutely (Jorge Luis Borges), One religion is as true as another (Robert Burton), Religion is an illusion, and it derives its strength from the fact that it falls in with our instinctual desires (Sigmund Freud), Religion is a monumental chapter in the history of human egotism (William James), Men despise religion; they hate it, and they fear it is true (Pascal), If you really want to make a million, the quickest way is to start your own religion (L. Ron Hubbard).

Antonyms, see irreligion, idolatry, heterodoxy, laity.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [Belief in or relationship to a superior being or beings]

Syn. belief, faith, creed, devotion, piety, spirituality, persuasion, godliness, morality, religiosity, theology, faithfulness, devoutness, myth, superstition, supernaturalism, doctrine, confession, cult, mythology, communion, religious conscience, fidelity, spiritual-mindedness, religious bent, ethical standard; see also faith 2 .

2. [Organized worship or service of a deity]

Syn. veneration, adoration, consecration, sanctification, prayer, ritual, rites, liturgy, ceremonial, holy sacrifice, incantation, holiday, observance, pietism, orthodoxy, reformism; see also ceremony 2 .

3. [A specific system of belief and worship]

Syn. faith, denomination, sect; see church 3 , faith 2 .

Religions include: Christianity, Mormonism, Christian Science, Zen Buddhism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Sunni Islam, Sunnite Islam, Shi`a Islam, Shiite Islam, Sikhism, Jainism, Judaism, Theosophy, Zoroastrianism, Shintoism, Taoism, Bahai, Gnosticism, deism, theism, polytheism, dualism; see also church 3 .

• get religion*,

Syn. be converted, believe, change, be born again; see reform 3 .

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.

beliefin God, faith, spirituality, devotion, godliness, worship, piety, theology, persuasion, devoutness. ''The life of God in the soul of man.''—Lyman Abbott. ''The opium of the people.''—Karl Marx. ''The elder sister of philosophy.''—Walter Savage Landor. ''A universal obsessional neurosis.''—Sigmund Freud. ''The soul of civilization.''—Will Durant.

WORD FIND

Christianity

• abandonment of one’s faith: apostasy

• Adam and Eve’s sin of eating from tree of knowledge: Original Sin

• admitting sins to priest in Roman Catholic Church: confession

• amending sacrament: penance

• amends for sins: atonement

• amen: to trust

• angel, high: archangel

• angel, second order: cherubim

• ascent to heaven, Christ’s: Ascension

• battle, location of final: Armageddon (mountain of Megiddo)

• biblical texts questioned by some denominations: apocrypha

• birth of Christ or Second Coming: Advent

• blessed with gift of tongues, healing, or prophecy: charismatic

• blessing at end of service: benediction

• bread and wine, body and blood of Christ, sacrament of: Eucharist, Communion, Holy Communion, Mass

• bread wafers: host

• casting out of church due to transgressions: excommunication

• container or chest holding Ten Commandments: Ark of the Covenant

• crucifixion of Christ, commemoration: Good Friday

• cursing of God: blasphemy

• declaration by Pope that deceased person is blessed and worthy to pray to: beatification

• declaration by Pope that deceased person is saint following beatification: canonization

• dissenter: heretic

• enemy of Christ: Antichrist, the beast

• faith, statement of: Apostle’s Creed

• fellowship: communion

• forgiveness of sins: absolution

• forty-day period before Easter: Lent

• funeral mass, Roman Catholic: requiem

• God, seeing: beatific vision

• gospel, one of twelve who spread: apostle

• guardian or protector of specific group: patron saint

• healing illness through prayer: faith healing, laying on of hands

• Hebrew Bible: Old Testament

• Holy Land: Israel, Palestine

• kneel in worship: genuflect

• laws, ecclesiastical: canon

• Lamb of God icon: Agnus Dei

• Last Supper, day of: Maundy Thursday

• Lent, first day of: Ash Wednesday

• literal interpretation of Bible, believing in: fundamentalism

• nonbeliever: atheist

• non-Christian: infidel

• offense to God: abomination

• oil, apply: anoint

• oil used in Catholic confirmation: chrism

• Old Testament scrolls: Dead Sea Scrolls

• overlooking of transgressions in Roman Catholic Church: dispensation

• prayer: Angelus

• prayer beads: rosary

• presiding priest at Holy Communion: celebrant

• questioner or doubter: agnostic

• repentance for sins: contrition

• revelation of future in Bible: Apocalypse

• rising of soul after death: resurrection

• rites: sacraments

• sacred, make: consecrate

• Second Coming will arrive soon, denomination believing: Seventh Day Adventist, Second Adventists

• sect: denomination

• sex, priest’s vow to abstain from: vow of celibacy

• song from biblical text: canticle

• spread of word throughout the world: evangelism

• study of religion: theology

• tongues, denomination known for some members who speak in: Pentecostal Church

• tongues, speaking in: glossolalia

• Virgin Mary: Madonna

• washing before ceremonies: ablutions

• water immersion ceremony: baptism

• wise men’s visit to Christ’s birth, commemoration of: Epiphany

Judaism

• candelabra used to mark Chanukah: menorah

• discrimination against Jews: antisemitism

• eight-day festival commemorating exodus of Jews from Egypt: Passover

• festival of lights commemorating victory of Maccabees over the Syrians: Chanukah

• food fit to be eaten: kosher

• God, name of: Jehovah, Elohim, Yahweh, YHWH, Adonai

• holy day devoted to prayer, fasting: Yom Kippur

• Jewish New Year: Rosh Hashanah

• minister: rabbi

• morning and evening prayer: Shema

• non-Jew: gentile

• Old Testament of Bible: Hebrew Bible, Torah

• prayer leader in synagogue: cantor

• rabbinical writings, interpretations and the Torah collectively: Talmud

• skullcap worn by Jewish men: yarmulka

• strict, orthodox Jews known for earlocks, black coats: Chasidim, Hasidim

• thirteen-year-old’s rite of adulthood: bar mitzvah

• twelve- or thirteen-year-old girl’s rite of adulthood: bat mitzvah

Islam

• adherent: Moslem, Muslim

• authority on Muslim law: ayatollah

• call to prayer from minaret of mosque: azan

• daily call to prayers: adhan

• fit to eat, according to dietary laws: halal

• God: Allah

• holy war, fighting for Islam: jihad

• month of fasting: Ramadan

• Muhammad’s birthplace: Mecca

• night of forgiveness: Lailat-ul-Bara’h

• non-Moslem: infidel

• ‘‘Peace be upon you’’: Salam Alaikum

• pilgrimage to Mecca: hajj

• prayer leader in mosque: imam

• prayers required five times per day: Salat

• prophet of God and founder of Islam: Muhammad

• requirements of Islamic religion: five pillars of Islam

• rule that women must keep covered in public: purdah

• sacred stone at Mecca: Black Stone

• sacred text: Koran

Hinduism

• black god, avatar of Vishnu: Krishna

• communal house: ashram

• elephant-headed god, symbol of luck: Ganesha

• incarnation of a god: avatar

• god of creation: Brahma

• god of life and death: Shiva

• god of love and desire: Kamadeva

• god of rain and war: Indra

• god who will come to destroy the world: Kalki

• guidance book, ‘‘The Song of the Lord’’: Bhagavad Gita

• meditation word or phrase repeated to clear head: mantra

• mental, physical exercises to achieve wellbeing: yoga

• merchant caste: Vaisyas

• nonviolence doctrine: ahimsa

• peasant, servant caste: Sudras

• peasants outside of caste system: Untouchables

• priestly caste: Brahmin

• release from endless reincarnation: moksha

• spiritual teacher: guru

• supreme being: Vishnu

• yoga adherent: yogi

• warrior caste: Kshatriyas

• what goes around comes around, doctrine of: karma

• worship: puja

Buddhism

• Chinese Buddhism, enlightenment through meditation: Zen

• domed Buddhist shrine: stupa

• enlightenment, path to: dharma

• enlightenment, sudden achievement of: satori

• festival: Wesak

• moral rules: five precepts

• nonviolence doctrine: ahimsa

• one devoted to seeking enlightenment: bodhisattva

• spiritual awakening, bliss: enlightenment, bodhi, nirvana

• spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism: Dalai Lama

• suffering, belief that everything leads to: dukkha

• word or phrase repeated during meditation: mantra

see bible, church, clergyman, god, prayer

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun A system of religious belief: confession, creed, denomination, faith, persuasion, sect. See RELIGION.