Religions

Interlinked Thematic Vocabulary Unit Nº 314 v.02

     Main Definitions

1. religion 1 |n| the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.
2. "The first one is that human solidarity is agnostic to race and religion."
3. "The more freedom of religion there was, the less intolerance there would be."
4. religion 2 |n| the supreme or ultimate reality: such as the Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness who is worshipped as creator and ruler of the universe.
5. "Religion is like a letter written in the name of God."
6. "Tensions would never be reduced by preventing people from expressing ideas about religion and belief."

      Terms Related to Religion

1. belief / faith |n| an acceptance that something exists or is true, especially one without proof.
2. divine |adj| of, relating to, or proceeding directly from God.
3. "Praying for divine intervention."
4. holy |adj| dedicated or consecrated to God or a religious purpose; sacred.
5. "The Holy Bible."
6. "‘The holy month of Ramadan."
7. paradise / heaven / Promised Land / Zion [Christianity] / Happy Valley [Islam] |n| according to some religions, paradise is a wonderful place where people go after they die, if they have led good lives.
8. "The Koran describes paradise as a place containing a garden of delight."
9. "If they were captured they wished to die, believing that they would go to paradise."
10. prayer |n| is the activity of speaking to God.
11. "They had joined a religious order and dedicated their lives to prayer and good works."
12. relic |n| an object esteemed and venerated because of association with a saint or martyr.
13. "This dimension of heritage can be contained in monuments of huge scale or in the sacred bodily relic of a religious or national hero."
14. "They say that the reason for this almost miraculous end was that there was a new relic of Saint Sebastian in Palma."
15. "This prayer wheel is housed amidst orchid gardens on the roof of the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple."
16. sacred 1 |adj| considered to be holy and deserving respect, especially because of a connection with a god.
17. "Sacred relics."
18. "This area is sacred to the Apaches."
19. sacred 2 |adj| connected with religion.
20. "Sacred writings."
21. worship |n| the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity.
22. ""Worship of the Mother Goddess."

     Supernatural Beings and More

1. god / deity |n| the one Supreme Being, the creator and ruler of the universe.
2. goddess |n| a female god.
3. devil / demon |n| the most powerful spirit of evil in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam who is often represented as the ruler of hell.
4. spirit 1 |n| the non-physical part of a person regarded as their true self and as capable of surviving physical death or separation.
5. "A year after he left, his spirit is still present."
6. spirit 2 |n| the non-physical part of a person which is the seat of emotions and character; the Soul.
7. "We seek a harmony between body and spirit."
8. superhuman |n| having more powers than, or seeming outside the powers of a human.

     People 

1. priest |n| an ordained minister of the Catholic, Orthodox, or Anglican Church, authorized to perform certain rites and administer certain sacraments.p
2. prophet |n| a member of some religions (such as Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) who delivers messages that are believed to have come from God.

     Terms Related to Religious People

1. believer |adj| a person who believes in the truth or existence of something.
2. godly |adj| a person who is deeply religious and shows obedience to the rules of their religion.
3. devout |adj| having or showing deep religious feeling or commitment.
4. pious |adj| strongly believing in religion, and living in a way that shows this belief.
5. "She is a pious follower of the faith, never missing her prayers."
6. religious |adj| someone who is religious has a strong belief in a god or gods.
7. "They are both very religious and felt it was a gift from God."