Glossary of religious terms
(Starting with "W")
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.
| Walpurgasnacht:
A synonym for Beltane, a Celtic holy day celebrated
on APR-30. |
| Waldenses:
An early schismatic group that broke away from
the Roman Catholic church. Their history is in
doubt; they may have existed as early as the eight
century CE.
They were viciously persecuted by the Roman Catholic
Church from 1209 until 1690. They held many of
the beliefs later promoted by Martin Luther and
other Protestant reformers. |
| Warlock:
An old-English term for oath breaker. Conservative
Christians and the media often refer to male Witches/Wiccans
as Warlocks. The term is not used by Witches,
Wiccans or other Neopagans. |
| Watchtower
Bible and Tract Society: The organization
founded by Charles Taze Russell which publishes
the Watchtower and Awake! magazines,
and whose followers are called Jehovah's Witnesses - a high-demand Protestant Christian denomination. |
| Westminster
Standards: The Westminster Confession of
Faith, the Larger Catechism, and the
Shorter Catechisms were written by the
Westminster Assembly of Divines from 1643
to 1648. They form the theological basis for the
Presbyterian and, with some changes, the Congregational
denominations. The Baptist Confession of
1689 was largely based on the Westminster standards. |
| Wicca:
a Neo-pagan polytheistic
religion with roots in pre-Christian, pre-Celtic
Europe. Wiccans follow the Wiccan
Rede: "do whatever you wish,
as long as you harm nobody, including yourself".
Power, manipulation and control of others strictly
prohibited. Their drug usage usually confined
to wine. Rare ritual sexual activity is practiced,
but only in private between a committed adult
couple. Wiccans do not proselytize. Most Wiccans
are solitary practitioners; some form democratically
organized covens, typically of 5 or more people.
The minimum age for training or initiation is
usually 18. Conservative usage: evil occultic
practice based on a lust for power,
manipulation and control. Rigid ritual practice;
heavy illegal drug usage and sexual activity;
organize into covens of 13 members each; practice
shape shifting (human to animal). Active recruiters,
particularly of young people. |
| Wiccan:
a follower of Wicca |
| Widdershins:
The counter-clockwise direction. The term is often
used in describing Neopagan rituals. |
| Will:
One of the basic functions of the human soul;
the other is understanding. |
Witch:
a follower of Witchcraft. It has so many
conflicting meanings that it should be used with
great care (or perhaps never at all) in public,
in order to avoid confusion. 18 common meanings
are:
- A
Gothic Satanist; a worshiper of Satan who,
during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance,
was believed to use black magic to harm others,
by involving the aid of Satan and his demons.
They didn't exist then and don't exist now.
- A
Wiccan; a follower of Wicca,
a recently created, benign, Neopagan religion
which is largely based on the some of the
symbols, deities, seasonal days of celebration
of an ancient European Celtic religion. Wiccans
are prohibited from using magic to harm others;
they do not believe in the existence of Satan
or demons.
- A
woman of such incredible beauty that she bewitches
others.
- A
woman of incredible ugliness; a hag.
- A
person who practices benign Magick to influence
the world through rituals.
- A
magician with unusual knowledge who can apparently
perform miracles during ceremonial magic rituals.
- In
ancient Native American usage and the Hebrew
Scriptures (Old Testament): an evil person
who secretly uses evil sorcery (black magic)
to intentionally harm others.
- In
the Christian Scriptures (New Testament):
a criminal who murders people by administering
poisons.
- A
follower of modern-day Religious
Satanism. They recognizing Satan
as a virile pre-Christian, pagan principle,
but do not believe in his existence as a living
entity.
- A
member of an underground, evil religious group
who worship Satan who engage in ritual
abuse, murder and sometimes cannibalism - largely involving children. During
the 1980s and early 1990s, many North Americans
believed that this group exists; some still
do, although hard evidence is lacking.
- A
wizard who inhabits an alternative world of
fantasy and magic, filled with good and evil
people with magical powers, flying broomsticks,
invisibility cloaks, dragons, talking animals,
magical quills, etc. e.g.
Harry Potterâ„¢ books.
- A
person, usually a woman, who was born with
supernatural abilities and is capable of performing
miracles by waving a wand, wiggling their
nose, etc. This is often seen in TV programs,
like Bewitched or Charmed.
They don't exist either.
- Followers
of a group of Caribbean religions which combine
elements of tribal African religions with
Christianity; e.g. Santeria
and Vodun.
- In
some African Aboriginal religions, a person
who unknowingly has supernatural powers capable
of hurting others. Witch doctors attempt
to counteract these evil energies.
- An
expert, as in: "She is a witch of
a writer."
- A
person who uses a forked stick or other instrument
to locate sources of underground material - typically water.
- A
woman who is not submissive to her husband.
- A
general "snarl" word for
a nasty, vicious person, typically female.
- A
follower of any religion other than Christianity
(e.g. of Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Native
American Spirituality, etc.).
|
Note:
The
first and second definitions are mutually exclusive;
the third and fourth definitions are also mutually
exclusive.
| Witchcraft:
a religion or practice followed by a Witch.
It has so many meanings that it should be used
with great care (or perhaps never at all) in order
to avoid confusion. |
| Womanism,
Womanist: "Womanist and womanism are
populist and poetic synonyms for black feminist
and black feminism." 4,5 |
| Womym:
A synonym for the word "woman,"
which is often used by feminists. "Woman"
comes from the Old English term "wif-man."
Womym was coined recently. |
| Word
of Faith movement: (a.k.a. Health & Wealth
Gospel, Positive Confession, Name it and Claim
it, and Faith-formula). A group of conservative
Protestant para-church ministries that focus on
"anointed" ministers and the health,
wealth, and success of their viewers and donors.
MinistryWatch estimates that their total income
is in excess of a half billion dollars annually.
3 |
| World
Council of Churches: An umbrella group formed
in 1948. They promote inter-faith dialog and ecumenical
cooperation among mainline and liberal Christian
denominations. |
| World
view (a.k.a. worldview): "...a
set of presuppositions (assumptions which may
be true, partially true or entirely false) which
we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently
or inconsistently) about the basic make-up of
our world." 1 See also
biblical
worldview |
| Worship:
In a religious sense, the act of expressing
reverence to a deity or supernatural entity. |
| Wrath,
God's: God's judgment on sinners, fueled by
his anger, hatred, revulsion and indignation of
sin. In the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament)
there are many descriptions of mass
murders and genocides either created
or ordered by God. Author Martyn Lloyd-Jones found
that the Hebrew Scriptures contains 20 words which
describe God's wrath, and that they are used 580
times. In the Christian Scriptures (New Testament)
the topic is discussed in detail in Romans 1:18
and in the Book of Revelation. Author Cairns comments:
"...the full power of the wrath of God
has never yet been manifested on earth - not in
the deluge, or in the destruction of Sodom, or
in any other judgment. The full fury of God's
anger will be seen when 'the great day of his
wrath is come' and the ungodly feel the indescribable
torment of 'the wrath of the Lamb' Revelation
6:16-17." 2 Martin
Luther felt that the wrath of God, as described
in Revelation, was incompatible with the loving
God that Jesus referred to as "Abba"
during his prayers. When Luther translated the
Bible into German, he downgraded Revelation, by
placing it in an appendix. |
References:
- James
Sire, "The Universe Next Door: A basic worldview
catalog" Intervarsity Press, (3rd edition,
1997) He discusses, from a conservative Christian
viewpoint, such worldviews as theism, deism, naturalism,
nihilism, Marxism, postmodernism and the New Age.
Read reviews or order this
book safely from Amazon.com online book store
- Alan
Cairns, "Dictionary of Theological Terms,"
Ambassador-Emerald Int., (1998), Page 446 &
447.
- "A
critical look at the 'Word of Faith' ministries,"
Ministry Watch Reflections, 2003-OCT, at:
http://www.ministrywatch.com/
- From
Alice Walker, "In Search of Our Mothers'
Gardens: Womanist Prose," (1983).
- Amy
Richards, "What is Feminism," at:
http://www.ou.edu/
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