Glossary of religious terms
(Starting with "G")
By
B.A. Robinson,
Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance,
Canada
http://www.religioustolerance.org/glossary.htm
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Note:
Conservative Christian faith groups often define terms
very differently than other faith groups and secular
movements. The former are shown in italics
in the below lists of words.
Gaia:
| - |
Greek
goddess of the Earth. |
| - |
A
belief that the earth is a living entity
who adapts the environment to promote life. |
|
| Gap
theory: The belief that there is a large interval
of time between the first and second verses in
the book of Genesis. By insertion of a gap at
this point, Genesis is brought more closely into
harmony with the conclusions of the vast majority
of biological and earth scientists who believe
that Evolution is a fact and that the earth is
about 4.5 billion years old. |
| Gehena:
A Greek word which refers to the Hebrew word gehinnom,
the valley of Hinnon. This was the garbage dump
for Jerusalem, a place of continuous fire, where
the bodies of crucified criminals were tossed.
According to Luke 12:4 and other passages, this
is
Hell. God casts
the body and souls of the unsaved here after their
death, to be tortured forever without any hope
of mercy. |
| General
Revelation: A Christian term partly derived
from Romans 1:19-20. Paul taught that the existence
of the world is proof of the existence of God
and of some of his attributes. Further, it teaches
that these beliefs are obvious to everyone - whether they be Christian or not. With advances
in science, the existence of the world and its
life forms can be explained in naturalistic terms.
Thus, the Romans passage does not necessarily
apply to contemporary individuals who have become
convinced of the reality of evolution. |
| Genizah:
A place in a synagogue set aside to store
both worn-out and heretical or disgraced Hebrew
books or papers. |
Gentile:
This term originated in the Latin word "gent"
which meant "of the same clan."
It became "gentil" in Middle
English. Today, it has a variety of definitions:
| - |
In
Judaism: a non-Jew. |
| - |
In
the Christian Scriptures (New Testament)
the Greek word "Hellenes" - which
means "Greek" - has been translated
as "Gentile." It refers to any
non-Jewish nation or group. See: Acts 16:1,
3; 18:17; Romans 1:14). |
| - |
In
Mormonism: a person who is not a Mormon. |
| - |
In
Hinduism: a person who is not a Hindu. |
| - |
In
some other applications, it refers to a
person who does not acknowledge the existence
of one's God. 1,2 |
|
| Genocide:
(Derived from genos (race) and cide (to kill).
A term created by Raphael Lemkin in the mid-1940s.
It refers to the planned, systematic extermination
of an entire ethnic, national, racial, or religious
group. Most genocides in the 20th and 21st century
have had a strong religious component. The murder
of about 200,000 Muslims by Serbian Orthodox Christians
during the 1990s is the most serious religiously-motivated
genocide in recent years. Rwanda is an exception. |
| Geocentrism:
The belief that the sun revolves around the
earth. This was all the rage in Galileo's day.
Religious News Service reported in 2006-MAR that
the belief is having a comeback among conservative
Christians because of its support in the Bible.
Commentators are having difficulty deciding whether
this news report is a satire, or is serious. |
| Geomancy:
The procedure of selecting a site for a building,
grave, etc. based upon unseen forces in nature.
The goal is to achieve harmony with the natural
surroundings. |
| Ghetto:
The term originally referred to a type of inner-city
concentration camp for Jews. First developed by
the Roman Catholic Church, the concept was later
adopted by Hitler during the German Nazi regime.
The term now refers to any concentration of a
specific group in a city, as in "student
ghetto." |
| Ghost:
A form of spirit being. Many faiths, from Aboriginal
religion to some groups within Christianity believe
that they are the spirits of dead people. Hard
evidence of their existence is scant or non-existent. |
| Gilgamesh
epic: A flood story from ancient Pagan Babylon
with many points of similarity to the Genesis
flood. Religious liberals conclude that the Genesis
account of the flood of Noah was derived from
this Pagan source. Religious conservatives conclude
that the Genesis flood story is precisely true,
and that the Gilgamesh epic is a distorted record
of the actual flood. |
| Glossolilia
or "speaking
in tongues". In the first
Centuries CE, it meant the ability of a person
to communicate in a foreign language that they
had never learned. e.g. a person raised speaking
Greek and unable to speak any other language would
suddenly be conversing in Aramaic. At the present
time, it refers to a person who suddenly, in a
state of religious ecstasy, starts speaking sounds
that sound like language but do not represent
any known tongue. The manifestation of glossolilia
is an expected development in all Pentecostal
believers and is a sign of the grace of God. It
is also a common practice among charismatic Christians.
More
details are available. |
| Gnosis:
A Greek word which literally means "knowledge."
Insight or enlightenment capture the meaning of
Gnosis better. |
| Gnosticism:
This is pronounced with a silent "g";
it is derived from the Greek word gnosis
(knowledge). Its Christian form originated in
the Middle East and Greece during pre-Christian
times. The movement has been composed of many
groups with differing beliefs. One common concept
is that there are two Gods: one Supreme Father
who is from the "good" spirit world,
and one Demiurge (the Jehovah in the Bible)
who created the evil material world.
Salvation comes
through knowledge and liberation from the material,
earthly world to attain a higher level of spirituality.
Christian Gnosticism was one of the three main
movements in early Christianity; the other two
being Jewish and Pauline Christianity. Many Gnostic
sects were the victims of genocide by the early
Christian Church. The movement has survived to
the present day and is rapidly growing in numbers. |
| God:
A supernatural being, generally male. Various
religions assign different attributes and qualities
to God, such as a body, omnipotence, omniscience,
omnipresence, love, hate, tolerance, intolerance,
etc. |
| God,
false: The deity worshiped by another religion.
One faith groups' God is another faith group's
false God. |
| Goddess:
a female supernatural being. |
| Good
works: Activities that are legal, pure of
motive, and helpful to other persons. Romans 3:12
and other passages state that no unsaved person
can perform good works. Many passages in Paul's
epistles imply that salvation
cannot be obtained by good works. Many passages
in the synoptic gospels appear to teach the opposite. |
Gospel:
This has three main meanings:
| - |
One
of the four books at the start of the Christian
Scriptures which give an account of Jesus'
life and which were accepted into the official
canon of the Christian Scriptures (New Testament);
e.g. the Gospel of Mark. |
| - |
One
of the many dozens of books about the life
of Jesus, of which only four made it into
the official canon; e.g. the Gospel of Thomas. |
| - |
The
message, found mainly in the writings of
Paul, that the a person's belief that Jesus
was resurrected will cause God to forgive
their sins. |
|
| Grace:
an Christian expression meaning "the
free and unmerited assistance or favor or energy
or saving presence of God in his dealings with
humanity..."). 3 Grace
is a gift of God and is not considered to be deserved
by the individual. According to the Bible, those
to whom God does not give grace cannot understand
the gospel message. |
| Grace,
Irresistible: One of the five points of Calvinism:
the doctrine that every individual who God has
elected (chosen) will come to a saving knowledge
of Jesus. None can resist. |
| Great
rite: An act of ritual sex performed by many
Neopagan traditions. It may involve actual sexual
intercourse by a committed couple in private;
alternatively, it may be symbolic in nature. |
| Guided
imagery: A therapeutic technique in which
a facilitator tells a story which describes a
scene or a passage through a group of scenes.
It has been used by athletes in training, by physicians
to help their patient's body cure itself, or simply
to produce relaxation. It is a suggestive, quasi-hypnotic
process that can, under certain circumstances,
generate false memories
without either the facilitator or client being
aware of the process. |
| Gurdwara:
Literally "the gateway of the Guru."
This is a Sikh
religious meeting place. |
| Guru:
Literally "one who dispels darkness"
or one who is "heavy" with the
weight of vast knowledge. A revered spiritual
teacher who guides students towards enlightenment.
It is a term commonly used in Eastern religions.
It is also used to refer in a secular sense to
refer to an expert in some field, like an "economic
guru." |
References:
- "Gentile,"
HyperDictionary, at:
http://www.hyperdictionary.com/
- "Gentile,"
TheFreeDictionary, at:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
- "Gentile,"
Yahoo Education, at:
http://education.yahoo.com/
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