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 | Sabbat: A seasonal day of celebration observed by Wiccans and other Neopagans. There are eight each year. The two solstices and two equinoxes are minor Sabbats. Between each solstice and equinox is a major Sabbat. Samhain (Oct. 31), Imbolc (Feb. 2), Beltane (May 1), and Lammas (Aug. 1) are among the most common names used. 1 | ||||||
| Sabbatarianism: The belief that the weekly Sabbath must be observed from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. Often, Jewish dietary laws and seasonal days of service are also observed by Sabbatarians. | ||||||
| Sabbath, weekly: Originally Saturday: a day of rest and holiness; observed by Jews and a minority of Christian denominations. Most Christian groups observe Sunday as the Sabbath. | ||||||
| Sabellianism: Synonym for Modalism | ||||||
| Sacerdotalism: The Christian belief that a special group of humans, generally called priests, are needed to act as mediators between individuals and God. This requirement is denied by the conservative Protestant belief of the "priesthood of all believers" in which all "saved" individuals can access God directly without the need of an intermediary. This in turn is denied by the belief of many liberal/progressive Christians that all have direct access to God. | ||||||
| Sacramental Union: A Lutheran term meaning "real presence." Lutherans believe that the bread used in the Eucharist becomes united with the body of Jesus Christ and that the wine becomes united with the body of Jesus. A person eating and drinking these two elements thus consumes the body and blood of Jesus, along with the original bread and wine. | ||||||
| Sacraments: A formal church ritual frequently described as an outward and visible sign of an internal and spiritual grace. The Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches recognize seven sacraments, popularly known as: Baptism, Confirmation, Mass, Penance, Anointing the dying, Ordination and Marriage. Most Protestant denominations only recognize two: Baptism and Communion. A few denominations, such as the Amish, add foot washing. Sacraments are believed by most Christian denominations to have been instituted by Jesus. The Society of Friends (Quakers) and the Salvation Army do not recognize or use any sacraments. | ||||||
| Sacrilege:
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| Sadaqa: Islamic term for the giving of a charitable donation. This is an obligation for Muslims. | ||||||
| Sadducees: A small group of priests who controlled the temple at Jerusalem. One of about two dozen Jewish religious groups active during the 1st century CE. They rejected belief in immortality. They were religious conservatives who felt threatened by Pagan influences due to Roman and Greek occupation of Israel. | ||||||
| Sahaba: This is the Arabic word for "companions." In Islam, it generally refers to the people who lived and witnessed with the Prophet Muhammad. | ||||||
| Saint:
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| Sajdah: (Full name: As-sajdah) This is the the act of prostration by a Muslim during which seven parts of the body are to touch the ground: the forehead, palms, knees and big toes. | ||||||
| Salat: A Muslim prayer. Islam expects each Muslim, where possible, to perform the salat prayer five times a day. It is the second of the Five Pillars of Islam. This is recited while orienting one's body towards Mecca. 2 It is done at specified times in the morning, at noon, mid-afternoon, after sunset and just before sleeping. 3 | ||||||
| Salvation: The remission of sins and healing of the gulf between an individual and God. Various passages in the Christian Scriptures imply that salvation is achieved either by good deeds; or by belief in Jesus' resurrection; or belief that Jesus is the Son of God; or by church rituals such as baptism or penance; or by avoiding certain behaviors; or some combination of the preceding. Various traditions within Christianity have resolved the Bible's ambiguity by stressing some passages and largely ignoring others. | ||||||
| Salvific pluralism: The belief that individuals can achieve salvation by following any one of many different world religions. 5 If salvific pluralism is true, then the belief that all those who have not repented of their sins and trusted Jesus as Lord and Savior will go to Hell at death is false. More details. | ||||||
| Samahdi: In Buddhism, a type of insight achieved through meditation or wisdom. | ||||||
| Samhain: A major sabbat -- a seasonal day of celebration -- observed by Wiccans and other Neopagans on OCT-31. Samhain is often incorrectly defined as a Wiccan God of the dead within many conservative Christian and secular sources. | ||||||
| Samsara: A Buddhist term referring to the endless cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth. The goal of a Buddhist is to achieve enlightenment and to escape from samsara. However, some enlightened Buddhists voluntarily choose to remain in the cycle in order to help others attain enlightenment. | ||||||
| Sanctification: A Christian term which refers to the process by which the Holy Spirit helps a born-again Christian to grow spiritually, become more Christ-like, and abandon sinful behaviors. | ||||||
| Sangha: A Buddhist term for a community of believers. | ||||||
| Sanhedrin: A council of Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. They formed a court which was the highest religious body in Palestine. They acted as an advisory board to the Roman governor. | ||||||
| Santeria: A syncretistic religion which combined Roman Catholicism with Pagan religions from Western Africa. It is found throughout the Caribbean and in North America. | ||||||
| Satan: (a.k.a. the Devil, Lucifer): In the older parts of the Hebrew Scriptures, he is described as a type of District Attorney in God's court. In the New Testament, he is described as a supernatural being who is profoundly evil and who seeks to destroy people's lives. The religion of Islam also recognizes the existence of Satan. Many conservative Christians believe that followers of Wicca and other Neopagan religions worship Satan. However, the latter do not recognize any all-evil deity called by the name of Satan or by any other name. | ||||||
| Satanism:
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| Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA): psychological, sexual, and/or physical assault committed by two or more people whose primary motive is to fulfill a prescribed religious ritual involving the worship of the Christian devil, Satan. A large percentage of the population (90% in Utah) believe that SRA is widespread. Numerous government studies into SRA have revealed it to be non-existent, or essentially so. | ||||||
| Satanic salute: A gesture by the left hand in which the little and index fingers are extended vertically with the palm facing away from the body. The remaining fingers are held bent by the thumb. The result resembles a goat head with extended horns. It is very similar to the phrase "I love you" in sign language; however, when signing this phrase, the thumb is extended away from the palm. | ||||||
| Satyagraha: A Sanskrit term that describes a type of nonviolent resistance developed by Mohandas Gandhi to win Indian independence. Later it was used by Martin Luther King, Jr. in the fight against racial discrimination. It is now being used by Soulforce to promote "...freedom for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people from religious and political oppression through the practice of relentless nonviolent resistance." 6 | ||||||
| Scapegoat: Originally a religious term. Ancient Israelite priests would transfer the sins of the community to a goat who would then be driven into the desert to die. The term is currently used to refer to a person or group who is unjustly accused of a crime or improper behavior. | ||||||
| Schism: From the Greek word "schisma" - a rent or tear. A division of a faith group into two or more smaller groups. One result of the Protestant Reformation was a series of schisms leading to the approximately 35,000 present-day Protestant faith groups. | ||||||
| Schism, great: The formal split between the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholic churches in 1054 CE. Also used to refer to the interval from 1378 to 1417 CE when as many as three individuals simultaneously claimed to be pope. | ||||||
| Scripture: In Christianity, this is the Bible. It is composed of the 39 books of the Hebrew Scriptures (a.k.a. Old Testament) and the 27 books of the Christian Scriptures (a.k.a. New Testament). Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox churches and some Protestant denominations add the 14 books of the Apocrypha. | ||||||
| Seance: A gathering of individuals who attempt to communicate with the spirits of the dead, generally with the help of a medium. | ||||||
| Second coming: The return of Jesus Christ to earth. | ||||||
| Second probation: The belief that after death, non-believers will be given a second chance to be saved by accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. | ||||||
| Second Temple Period: The interval from 520 BCE to 70 CE, between the reconstruction of Solomon's temple and the destruction of the temple by the Roman Army. |
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| Secret rapture: The rapture is a belief that Jesus will soon return towards Earth, and that all saved individuals will rise through the air and meet him. The secret rapture is a variation on this belief in which those left behind are confused about why so many people disappeared and where they went. | ||||||
| Sect: A small religious group that has recently split away from an established religion. The early Jewish Christian group under James, the Brother of Jesus, in Jerusalem circa 30 CE would have been considered a sect of Judaism at the time. | ||||||
| Sectarian: Acceptance and adherence to a particular faith group. Often implies rejection of religious beliefs by those outside of the group. Most world conflict today involves violence inspired by sectarian beliefs. | ||||||
| Secularism:
The term was created in 1846 by a British freethinker George Holyoake. | ||||||
| Secularization: A process in which religious consciousness, activities, and institutions lose social significance | ||||||
| Security, eternal: The concept that once a person is saved, that they cannot lose their salvation. Christian faith groups have different beliefs on this topic. | ||||||
| Seder: A Jewish ceremonial meal held on the first day (and sometimes also on the second day) of Passover. It recalls the alleged Exodus of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt, variously dated as 1440 to 1290 BCE. The meal and associated rituals are typically held in the home. | ||||||
| Selah: A biblical term used 71 times by itself in the Psalms. It invites the reader to pause and to meditate or reflect on the message. One example is Psalms 3:2: "Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah." | ||||||
| Semite: The term has various meanings:
In this website, we associate semite and semitic with a language group, and thus write the word in lower case. The word is most commonly capitalized, as in "anti-Semitic." | ||||||
| Separationist: A person or movement advocating the dividing of a country into two or more parts. Evangelical Christian use: A person or group advocating the separation of church and state in accordance with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. | ||||||
| Sephardi: Jews who are descended from individuals who lived in Spain and Portugal. See also Ashkenazi. | ||||||
| Septuagint: A Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, made in Egypt, perhaps in the third century BCE. This was the version known to, and used, by the early Christians. Many theologians believe that a mistranslation in Isaiah contributed to the Christian belief in the virgin conception of Jesus. | ||||||
| Serpent Seed doctrine: The belief that Eve's sin in the Garden of Eden was to engage in sexual intercourse with the serpent. Together, they produced Cain. Various faith groups identify the descendents of Cain in various ways: They are: "Jews according to the Christian Identity Movement, Communists/Atheists according to the Unification Church, Whites according to the Nation of Yahweh, and the lost according to William Branham." 4 | ||||||
| Service: In a religious sense, a formal worship meeting of a group of believers. | ||||||
| Sexism: Any attitude, action or institutional structure which systematically treats an individual or group of individuals differently because of their gender. The most common form of sexism is discrimination against females. However, it occasionally is manifested as preferential treatment for women. A secondary meaning is the belief that one gender -- normally female -- is inherently inferior to other genders (male and intersexual). See also racism, religism, and homophobia. | ||||||
| Sexual Orientation: There are
at least three quite
different meanings to this term. This makes it imperative in reports, essays,
legislation etc. to define the author(s) understanding of the term:
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Words beginning Sf... to Sz... are described elsewhere
References:
- Rowan Moonstone & Durwydd MacTara, "Glossary of Terms Used Frequently in Wicca," at: http://www.msu.edu/
- Dr. Monzur Ahmed publishes QiblaCalc, a Windows program that calculates the Qibla direction -- the direction of the Kabbah -- from any location on earth, as determined by a compass. See: http://www.starlight.demon.co.uk/
- Al-Islam web site has a prayer time calculator at: http://prayer.al-islam.com/
- "Watchman Fellowship's 2001 Index of Cults and Religions: Mysticism," at: http://www.watchman.org/
- Kenneth Himma, "Finding a high road: The moral case for Salvific Pluralism," International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, (2002) 52: 1-33.
- "Mission statement," Soulforce, at: http://www.soulforce.org/article/7
- "Testimony of the American Psychological Association," 1997-OCT-23, at: http://www.apa.org/
- "What is a 'sexual orientation'," Traditional Values Coalition, at:
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/ This is a PDF file. You may require software to read it. Software can be obtained free from:
- "Paraphilias," in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision, American Psychiatric Association, (2000), Pages 566 to 582.
- "Signs of Satan! Well-known people showing off the hand signals which represents Satan," Jesus is Savior, at: http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/
Copyright © 1996 to 2009 by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance
Originally published on: 1996-MAR-11
Last update: 2009-JUN-12
Author: B.A. Robinson
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