Glossary of religious terms
(Starting with "L")
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.
| Last
supper: The meal that Jesus and his disciples
took just before Jesus' arrest. The term is also
used to refer to communion. |
| LDS:
Acronym for the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. |
| Lectionary:
A series of Bible passages that are read throughout
the year in a church service. Often, the sermon
is based on the passage just read. |
Legalism:
| - |
The
belief that one's salvation depends upon
strictly following religious laws and rituals.
|
| - |
The
belief that salvation is at least partly
dependent on one's good works. |
|
| Lectio
divina: Latin for "divine reading."
It is an ancient method of prayer, in which the
person meditates on a short passage of the Bible
or other written material and waits for God to
speak to them through the words of the text. |
| Lent:
A period of spiritual preparation for Easter.
It starts 40 days before Easter Sunday in the
Roman Catholic church. It starts eight weeks before
Easter in the Eastern Orthodox churches. In the
early Church, recent converts were taught in preparation
for their baptism. |
| Levirite
marriage: From the Latin word "levir" - husband's brother. The practice, required by
Mosaic law, by which a widow and her former-husbands
brother were required to marry. This inevitably
involved serial rape in many cases. A child born
to the couple would be credited to the former
husband. |
Liberal
Christianity: A religious movement that holds
beliefs which are opposite to those of conservative
Christians:
| - |
Emphasizes
human rights, the findings of science, and
the higher criticism (analysis) of the Bible; |
| - |
Largely
disregards biblical miracles, the infallibility,
inspiration
and inerrancy
of the Bible, the Virgin birth; |
| - |
Ignores
passages
in the Bible which are immoral
by today's standards - e.g. those dealing
with human slavery, oppression of women,
religious intolerance, torture of prisoners,
genocide, burning some hookers alive, etc. |
|
| Liberation
theology: The interpretation of religious
faith from the perspective of the poor, oppressed
and victimized. It seeks God in a world of injustice.
Found most often within Christianity. |
| Lilith:
(a.k.a Lillith): Originally, she was
a female demon who formed part of Babylonian and
Canaanite Pagan religion. She was incorporated
into the religion of the ancient Hebrews and is
mentioned in Isaiah 34:14. The Revised Standard
Version of the Bible refers to her as a Night
Hag. She was believed to be a female demon that
seduced men, terrified children at night, etc.
Some later Jewish sources identified her as the
first wife of Adam, created at the same time as
he was. She didn't submit to Adam's will and was
banished from the Garden of Eden. Eve then became
Adam's second wife. Some modern-day feminists
have adopted Lilith as a heroine. |
| Limited
atonement: This is the third of The Five
Points of Calvinism:
the belief that Jesus did not die to save
all humans. He died only for the sake of specific
sins of those who are saved. Sometimes called
"Particular Redemption." |
| Literary
criticism: With reference to the Bible, a
method of analyzing passages "that seeks
to discover the underlying literary sources, stylistic
features, type or genre of literature, authorship,
unity, and date of a text, for their value in
interpreting the text’s meaning in its original
historical context." |
| Liturgy:
From the Greek word "leitourgia"
meaning "service." Forms and content
of pulbic service for church worship as defined
by various faith groups. |
| Logos:
An ancient Pagan Greek term meaning "word"
or "reason", and used to indicate
the concept that the universe was governed by
a higher form of intelligence. St. Paul and other
Christians have used it to describe Jesus as the
"Logos of God" - the concept
that the eternal thoughts of God were made incarnate
(endowed with a body) in Jesus. |
| Lord's
Supper: See Communion. |
| Lower
criticism: The analysis of available evidence
to determine the original text of the Bible. |
| Lucifer:
Angel of light. Sometimes considered a synonym
for Satan. |
| Lutheranism:
The group of denominations that trace their roots
to Martin Luther and the German Reformation in
the early 16th century. In the U.S. the largest
Lutheran denomination is the liberal Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Second
largest is the conservative Lutheran Church
- Missouri Synod. |
| LXX:
Roman symbol for the number 70. An abbreviation
used to refer to the Septuagint translation of
the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) into Koine
Greek. The translation was allegedly made by 70
or 72 individuals. This was the version of the
Hebrew Scriptures used by the Christians in the
primitive Christian church. |
References:
- "Watchman
Fellowship's 2001 Index of Cults and Religions,"
at: http://www.watchman.org/cat95.htm
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