| Talit:
A Jewish blue-and-white-striped prayer shawl.
Traditionally restricted to males only. |
| Talmud:
A body of Jewish literature composed of two parts:
The Mishna, which is a rabbinic commentary on
the Torah, and the Gemara, a more lengthy commentary. |
| Tanakh:
The Jewish Bible, a.k.a. the Jewish Scriptures.
The word Tanakh is derived from the letters of
the names of its three components: Torah
(a.k.a. Pentateuch), the Books of Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronony; the Nevi'im
(a.k.a. Prophets); and the Ketuvim (Writings). |
| Taoism:
This religion of about 20 million
followers was founded by Lao-Tse (604-531 BCE),
a contemporary of Confucius, and author of
Tao-te-Ching. Taoism started as a combination
of psychology and philosophy but evolved into
a state religion in 440 CE At that time
Lao-Tse became popularly venerated as a deity.
Taoism, along with Buddhism and Confucianism,
became the three great religions of China. Much
of Taoism was destroyed since the Communist victory
in 1949; it survives mainly in Taiwan. |
| Teleological:
A system of morality in which the proper choice
among two or more options is based on their practical
consequences. Whichever choice has the best (or
least worse) outcome is the moral decision. Antonym
is deontological. |
| Temple:
The term used by Buddhists, Hindus and others
to refer to their house of worship. |
| Ten
Commandments:
A set of 19 different commands and prohibitions
which are intended to govern basic human behavior.
Three versions appear in the Hebrew Scriptures
(Old Testaments) at: Exodus 20:2-17, Exodus 34:12-26,
and Deuteronomy 5:6-21. |
| Terrorism:
The use of extreme violence or the threat of violence
by states, groups or individuals to generate fear
in individuals and thus manipulate their behavior.
Currently, most terrorism is drug or religion
based. Some define the term widely to include
topics like spanking
of children or the teaching of an eternity
of torture in Hell as forms of physical or
spiritual terrorism. |
| Tetragram
, Tetragrammaton: (From the Greek "tetra"
(four) and "gramma" (letter). It consists
of four Hebrew letters: Yod, He, Waw and He, transliterated
as YHWH, JHVH or JHWH -- the name
of God in the Hebrew language. Often translated
as "Lord" or mistranslated as
"Jehovah" in English versions
of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). It could
never have pronounced as "Jehovah."
"Yahweh" is probably a more accurate
vocalization. Historically, within Judaism, the
name of God was neither spoken nor written. |
| Textual
criticism: A study of biblical text, attempting
to identify the words of the original autograph
copy and eliminate later forgeries, spelling errors,
etc. |
| Theist:
A person who believes in the existence of a personal
God who is active in the universe. Sometimes used
to include persons who believe in the existence
of multiple deities, but who worship only one. |
| Theistic
Evolution: The belief that new
species of animals develop from existing species
over a very long interval of time, in response
to the guidance, supervision, and intervention
of a deity. |
| Theocracy:
From the Greek words: "Theos" (God)
and "cratein" (to rule). A government
in which the church and state are unified. Such
a union is generally has disastrous effects on
human rights, particularly for women and various
minorities. This form of government is common
among Muslim countries. |
| Theodicy:
From the Greek words "Theos"
(God) and "dike" (justice). Attempts
to harmonize the goodness of God with the existence
of evil in the world. |
| Theology:
The study of religion. |
| Theology
of displacement: A synonym for "supercessionism:"
the concept that Christianity replaced Judaism
because God unilaterally abrogated his Old Testament
covenant with the Jewish people. |
| Theophany:
Eastern Orthodox Christians recall the baptism
of Yeshua of Nazareth on this day, JAN-6 according
to the Julian Calendar. "Theophany"
means "to make known" or "to
reveal." Eastern Christians believe that
Jesus' divinity was reveled at his baptism. The
Western church celebrates the Epiphany
on JAN-6. |
| Theosis:
(a.k.a. deification, divinization, participation
in God) The concept that Christians can become
participants in the life of God, while not sharing
in God's essence. The precise definition varies
among Christian denominations and theologians.
This is based, in part, on 2 Peter 1:4: "Whereby
are given unto us exceeding great and precious
promises: that by these ye might be partakers
of the divine nature..." 2 |
| Therapeutic
Touch:
A holistic health practice in which the practitioner
moves their hands above the patients body, and
balance or release the natural energy of the latter's
body. This is said to facilitating healing. A
high school student conducted a series of experiments
for a science project, that proved that therapists
cannot measure body energy fields. This appears
to destroy the credibility of this therapeutic
technique. |
| Tikkun
olam: A Jewish term usually translated as
"repairing the world." First
used by Isaac Luria, a Cabbalist from the 16th
century. It describes the obligation of a Jews
to do good works, promoting peace, understanding,
and help for the hungry, homeless and oppressed. |
| Tithe:
The practice of donating 10% of one's income to
the church. "Triple Tithing"
is also used; it consists of 13% of one's income,
donated according to a specified schedule. |
| Tolerance,
General: The willingness to grant to other
people equal rights and freedom from persecution
and oppression, irrespective of their gender,
race, religion, sexual orientation, language,
nationality, language, ability status, marital
status, etc. |
Tolerance,
Religious: This very important
term unfortunately has multiple, very different,
meanings. Conservative Christians often believe
that it involves the belief:
| - |
That
all religions are the same, and/or |
| - |
That
all religions are equally true, and/or |
| - |
That
all religions are simply different paths
to God. |
Others
define religioustolerance as:
| - |
Valuing
the human right of other people to freely
hold religious beliefs which are different
from your own, without oppression or persecution. This
is the meaning that we use in this web site. |
With
such different definitions for the same term,
dialog between conservative Christians and others
on this topic is almost impossible. |
| Tongues,
speaking in: See glossolilia. |
| Torah:
From the Hebrew word for "teaching"
or "law." The Torah, (a.k.a. Pentateuch,
or the Law) are the first 5 books of the Hebrew
Scriptures (Old Testament): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers and Deuteronomy. Most conservative Christians
and Jews believe that they were written mainly
or entirely by Moses. There is a near consensus
among other theologians that they were
written and edited by many
persons or groups of persons over a
period of many centuries. |
| Total
inability: Alternative description of the
first of the The Five Points of Calvinism:
the belief that it is impossible for the ordinary
"natural" human to understand the Gospel's
message. They are spiritually helpless. First,
God must first decide to intervene in the form
of the third personality within the Trinity, the
Holy Spirit. Otherwise, the person is lost. |
| Total
depravity: This is the first of the The
Five Points of Calvinism:
the belief that as a result of Adam and Eve's
disobedience to God -- the Fall of Man -- sin
has extended to all parts of every person's being:
"his thinking, his emotions and his will." |
| Touch
for health: See Therapeutic
Touch. |
| Touch
therapy: See Therapeutic
Touch. |
| Tractarianism:
Synonym for Anglo
Catholicism. |
| Tradition:
a term used by Neopagans to indicate the group
that is being referred to. It is analogous to
"denomination" in Christianity. |
| Traditionalism:
The belief that, after death, unsaved people will
be tormented for all eternity of time in Hell
without hope of mercy or relief. This contrasts
with annihilationism
(a.k.a. conditionalism and conditional immortality)
which teach that these individuals spend only
an interval of time being tortured in Hell; they
are then exterminated and cease to exist. |
| Tradionalism:
the concept that deity is remote from the world
and the rest of the universe. |
| Transcendence:
Being beyond the limits of all human experience
and knowledge. |
| Transference
of the Holy Spirit: The concept that a person
can transfer or impart a blessing to another person,
often by physical contact, as in the laying on
of hands. In some Christian denominations, it
is believed that one Christian can transfer either
demons or the Holy Spirit to another person by
the laying on of hands. |
Transfiguration:
| - |
In
Christianity, this refers to the transfiguration
of Jesus as described in three of the gospels:
Mark
9:2-13, Matthew
17:1-13, and Luke
9:28-36. Jesus climbed Mount
Tabor with three of his disciples, and was
joined by Moses and Elija. All three appeared
clothed in dazzling white. Luke records
how God's voice came from the cloud, saying
"This is my chosen Son; listen to
him." 1 |
| - |
In
the Harry
Potter series of books for children,
transfiguration refers to the use of magic
to change the appearance of an object -
e.g. from a toothpick to a needle. |
|
| Transmigration
of the Soul: The Hindu belief that at death,
a person's soul is reborn into another living
entity. Often, this is a new human. But if the
individual has accumulated a bad balance of Karma,
they may return as an animal. This term is often
confused with Reincarnation.
|
| Transubstantiation:
The belief, held by Roman Catholics, that during
the Lord's Supper, the Holy Spirit transforms
the wafer and wine into the actual body and blood
of Jesus. |
| Tribulation:
A period of seven years of great misery and death,
which is described in Revelation 14:9-16. |
| Trichotomy:
The belief that a person is composed of three
parts: body, soul and spirit. |
| Trickster:
Within Native American spirituality, a trickster
is a mythical hero who teaches culture, proper
behavior and provides sustenance to the tribe. |
Trinity:
| - |
The
Christian
belief that deity is simultaneously a unity
and is composed of three persons: Father,
Son and Holy Spirit. As the ancient Athanasian
Creed is worded, the Trinity is "one
God" and "three persons...
and yet they are not three Gods, but one
God." Extensive debate about the
nature of God and of Jesus occurred during
the early centuries of the Church until
this concept was forced on the church by
Constantine. |
| - |
The
Hindu
belief that Brahman is simultaneously visualized
as a unity, and as a trinity composed of:
Brahma the Creator, Vishnu, (Krishna) the
Preserver, and Shiva. |
| - |
The
belief among many Neopagans
that the Goddess exists as a trinity, composed
of Maiden, Mother and Crone, representing
energy and sexuality, fertility and wisdom. |
|
| Trinity,
Economic: Christian concepts of how God has
revealed himself to humanity. |
| Trinity,
Ontological: Christian concepts of how the
three persons in the Trinity relate to each other. |
| Tritheism:
The belief in the existence of three deities.
This is one form of polytheism. A small minority
of Christians believe that God, Jesus and the
Holy Spirit are three different entities. |
| Two
Covenant theory: See dual
covenant theory |
