| I
Ching: A Chinese technique of predicting the
future, based on a book by the same name - one
of the five foundational books of Confucianism.
Yellow stocks or rods are cast in order to select
one of 64 hexagrams (patterns of six lines which
may be broken or continuous). |
Idol:
This has two main meanings:
| - |
A
drawing, statue, or other representation
of an item in heaven or earth, that is used
for worship. |
| - |
Anything
in life that takes a position of priority
over one's relationship with God. |
|
| Ihram:
Clothing worn by a male Muslim during the Hajj
(pilgrimate to Mecca). It consists of two pieces
of plain, white, unsewn cloth. |
I.H.S.:
| - |
An
acronym for Isis, Horus, and Seb - the
Egyptian trinity consisting of the Mother,
the Child and the Father. |
| - |
The
first three letters of the name Jesus, the
Greek version of Yeshua. |
|
Illuminati:
(a.k.a. the enlightened ones)
| - |
A
group or individual who claim to be unusually
enlightened. |
| - |
A
secret philosophical and political society
established by Adam Weishaupt in Germany
in 1776. They promoted free thought and
democracy. |
| - |
A
game involving trading cards. |
| - |
A
sinister organization believed to consist
of evil men who control world finances,
and whose goal is world domination through
world government. Many consider this group
to be non-existent. |
|
| Imam:
A Muslim term for a national leader or the
leader of worship in a mosque. |
| Immaculate
Conception: The belief that before the birth
of Mary (the mother of Jesus) was born, she was
preserved from original sin at the time of her
conception, circa 20 BCE.
It is widely but incorrectly believed to refer
to Jesus' conception, circa 5 to 8 BCE. |
| Immanence:
the concept that deity is very much associated
with creation, is all-present in the world, and
is close to believers. |
Immerse,
immersion:
| - |
Baptists
and some other Christian groups generally
translate the Greek words baptizo and baptisma
as implying the total immersion of a convert
during baptism. |
| - |
Many
other Christian denominations believe that
the words can also imply washing, without
any specific description of the method.
Thus, a baptism by sprinkling is biblically
valid. |
|
| Imminence:
the belief that an event is about to occur in
the near future. e.g. the Second Coming. |
| Immorality:
Behavior which transgresses a given system of
morals; incorrect behavior. Liberal and conservative
Christians differ in many matters over what is
moral, even though both sincerely believe that
their positions are biblically based. Moral standards
change over time, even within a given religious
group. Church schisms were common in the mid 19th
century over slavery because parts of a denomination
considered slavery to be profoundly immoral, while
other believers believed that it was condoned,
regulated and accepted by the Bible. Major moral
shifts over the past 150 years have involved slavery,
inoculation of children, birth control, abortion,
sexism, racial segregation, discipline of children
through the use of pain, and homophobia. |
Immortality:
| - |
God
has traditionally been considered to be
immortal, there having been no point at
which he has not existed. |
| - |
Humans
who have been saved have traditionally been
considered to be immortal in that they will
continue to exist in Heaven after death.
|
| - |
Most
Christian groups teach that the unsaved
are also immortal in that they will continue
to exist in Hell for all eternity after
death. Other faith groups teach annihilationism.
|
|
| Impeccability:
The concept that
Jesus Christ could not have
sinned, even if he had wanted to. |
| Imputation:
Adam and Eve's sinful disobeying of Gods instruction
when they ate
the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil has been assigned to their
children, their grandchildren, and all the way
to present-day humanity forever. Holding
one person responsible for the sins of another
individual is rare in the field of
religion and in secular moral systems. However,
it is quite common in the Bible. |
| Inability,
total: Alternative term for Total
Depravity. |
| Incarnation:
The concept that God became a man and dwelt among
other humans. This was rejected by the Gnostic
Christians, the Ebionites and other Jewish Christians,
but accepted by Pauline Christians. |
| Inclusion:
In general usage, inclusion means to allow people
into a group; i.e. excluding nobody. In relation
to salvation,
the "Gospel of Inclusion" means
a belief that everyone - or almost everyone - will be saved, will attain Heaven
and avoid Hell. This is a heresy according
to conservative Christians, and an accurate interpretation
of the Bible according to liberal Christians.
1 |
| Inclusivism:
The recognition that ones belief system is the
only true and valid one. Beliefs of other religions
contain some truth, and their followers are deserving
of respect, even though those beliefs might be
in conflict with one's own view of the truth.
Opposing beliefs are
exclusivism and
pluralism.
More
details |
| Incubus:
A male demon who would visit women at night and
engage in sexual activity. This belief was commonly
held during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance.
There were also female demons, called succubi
who were believed to visit men. |
| Indulgence:
The practice by which a person could pay money
to the church or do a good deed and obtain remission
of the temporal punishment due to sin. After the
Protestant Reformation, cash no longer became
an acceptable way to obtain an indulgence. |
| Inerrant:
When applied to a sacred text like the Bible,
inerrancy is the belief that, as originally
written, its contents are infallible, totally
free of error and totally authoritative. Many
religions, particularly their conservative wings,
believe in the inerrancy of their sacred texts. |
| Inerrancy,
limited: This is the belief that the
Bible is only inerrant on matters of moral, spiritual
and religious truth. That is, biblical passages
that describes cosmology, origins of life, the
Earth and the rest of the universe, place names,
some events, etc. are not necessarily accurate. |
Infallible:
| - |
When
applied to a sacred text like the Bible,
infallible means that the text is
fully trustworthy. i.e. it does not deceive
the reader into falsehood. There are problems
with this concept, because even
within the conservative wing of Christianity,
Bible experts reach many different conclusions
about divorce,
hell,
the millennium,
Book
of Revelation, and creation/evolution,
etc. Since these theologians' beliefs are
mutually exclusive, most must be wrong.
Since they were all derived from the Bible,
the concept of biblical infallibility is
suspect. |
| - |
Within
the Roman Catholic Church, the belief that
the pope can speak on matters of faith and
morals without error. This belief was promulgated
in 1870. The pope stripped Hans KÑŒng of
his credentials as a teacher of Catholic
theology, largely because of his questioning
of the doctrine of Papal infallibility. |
|
| Infidel:
a person who does not believe in your particular
religion, denomination or religious tradition.
Similar to "Unbeliever" but more of
a "snarl" word. |
| Initial
evidence: A doctrine formed from the Book
of Acts. It holds that speaking in tongues is
the initial evidence of the baptism in the Holy
Spirit. Both the United Pentecostal Church
and the Assemblies of God believe this
doctrine. The, UPC further believes that this
experience is essential to salvation. i.e. if
you haven't spoken in tongues, you haven't been
saved. 2 |
| Inquisition:
An organization within the Roman Catholic Church
which was responsible for the elimination of heretics.
They were the final court of appeal for those
charged with heresy. Those who could be proven
to be heretics were turned over to the civil authority
for execution. This arm of the church was created
in 1542 as the "Sacred Congregation of
the Universal Inquisition." It went through
two name changes, being called the "Congregatio
pro Doctrina Fidei" (Sacred Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith) in 1965. "Sacred"
was dropped in 1983. It was headed by Cardinal
Josef Ratzinger until his election as pope in
2005. |
| INRI:
An acronym for the Latin phrase "Iesus
Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum" which means:
"Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" |
| Inspiration:
When applied to a sacred text like the Bible,
inspiration means that the God affected
the thought processes of the writers and prevented
them from writing any material that was in error.
A logical result of inspiration is that the original
text of the Bible was inerrant. |
| Intention:
The belief in the Roman Catholic church that the
efficacy of the administration of a sacrament
is dependant on the priest having the proper intent.
|
| Intercession:
An activity of Christ in which he advocates to
God the Father the in favor of saved individuals
|
| Interdict,
Interdiction: A prohibition by the pope that
can deprive individual persons, groups, communities
and even nations of all priestly ministry. Thus,
they no longer had access to the sacraments of
the church. |
| Interfaith
(a.k.a. inter-faith): An attempt to initiate
dialog, cooperation, and understanding among individuals
of two different faiths. It is also used
to refer to a relationship or marriage between
people of different faiths. It is occasionally
used as a synonym for "multi-faith."
Unfortunately, the term "faith" is defined
differently by various religious groups. For example,
some conservative Protestants regard a marriage
to a person who is not of their denomination to
be an interfaith marriage. Other conservative
Protestants would regard liberal Christians, Roman
Catholics, Mormons, etc. as being of a different
faith. Still other Christians interpret "interfaith"
as involving another religion, as in a Christian-Buddhist
exchange. |
| Interfaithism:
A belief that all religions are equally valid;
they all lead to God. This word is used almost
entirely among conservative Protestants. One of
the two main meanings of the word "pluralism"
is a synonym for "interfaithism." |
| Interreligious:
A synonym for "interfaith." |
| Intincture:
To some Christians, this is the communion practice
in which the believer takes the bread or host,
carries it to the wine, dips it, and then consumes
it. In the Roman Catholic church, intincture involves
the priest dipping the host in the wine and placing
it on the tongue of the communicant. |
| Irresistible
Grace: This is the fourth of The Five Points
of Calvinism:
the belief that it is impossible for a person
whom God has elected
to avoid coming to a knowledge of God. |
| Irtidгd:
Literally: "turning back". In
Islam, this is the act of apostasy - leaving
Islam for another religion or for a secular lifestyle. |
| Islam:
The second largest religion in the world.
It has over 1,164 million followers, about 20%
of the world's population, and is rapidly growing.
It is based on the Qur'an, which is said to have
been dictated to the Prophet Mohammed by the angel
Jibril (a.k.a. Jibreel; Gabriel in English) in
622 CE.
This is the largest of the purely monotheistic
faiths. Members are found in large numbers throughout
Africa, the Middle East and Asia. |
| Islamic:
Synonym for "Muslim," a follower
of Islam. |
| Islamists:
These are Fundamentalist Muslims who are attempting
to replace secular governments with Islamic theocracies.
Mainstream Islamists do this by peaceful means
of persuasion. Violent, extremist, radical, militant
Fundamentalist Islamists use violence and terrorism
as their main means of effecting change. |
| Islamophobia:
Fear of Muslims, hatred of Muslims, or a desire
to limit the civil liberties of Muslims. This
word corresponds to sexism, racism, homophobia,
and xenophobia in areas related to gender, race,
sexual orientation and nationality. It is often
caused by a person attributing the actions of
a few extreme, violent, Fundamentalist Muslim
terrorists to the entire population of Muslims.
|
| Isogesis:
Reading something into a document. One starts
with a belief and searches a document for supporting
passages. Often used with reference to the Bible.
A potential hazard is that the interpreter may
quote a verse out of context with considering
the rest of the passage or the rest of the Bible. |
