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 | Babel, tower of: A tower mentioned in Genesis 11. The Bible describes how there was only one language used prior to construction of the tower. God was offended by the construction, and caused its builders to speak in different languages. Almost all linguistic experts, except those who are conservative Christians, consider the story to be a myth. | ||||||||||||||||
| Babylonian Talmud: The most authoritative compilation of rabbinic discussions on Jewish law, ethics, customs, legends and stories. Abbreviated term: Bavli | ||||||||||||||||
| Backmasking: A type of subliminal message in which a second audio track is recorded backwards on top of a record's music. It is a common belief among the public that such messages bypass the conscious brain, enter the subconscious and motivate the individual to take certain actions. One rock group actually inserted a backmasking section on one of their records as a joke. There is no evidence that backmasking works or has ever been used with evil intent. | ||||||||||||||||
| Badge: A cloth identifier that the Catholic Church required Jews to wear. This was later adopted by the Nazi Government in Germany who required certain groups to wear a badge so that they could easily be singled out. For Jews, this was a yellow Star of David. For other groups it was usually a triangle: brown for Roma (a.k.a. Gypsies), purple for Jehovah's Witnesses, pink for homosexuals, green for criminals, red for political prisoners, blue for emigrants, and black for "asocials." In recent years, gays and lesbians have embraced the pink triangle as a symbol of their drive for equal treatment. | ||||||||||||||||
| Bahá'í Faith: A world religion, founded in 1844 CE by Baha'u'llah (Glory of God) in Iran. Its roots are based in Islam. With the exception of its beliefs about homosexuality, and the makeup of its Universal House of Justice, it promotes democracy with equal rights to all, regardless of gender, race, nationality, etc. It has spread across the world. Its followers experience heavy oppression in Iran. | ||||||||||||||||
| Baphomet (a.k.a. Sigil of Baphomet): A pentagram (a five pointed star) with one point downwards and two upwards, within a circle. A goat's head is drawn within the star. This is used by many Satanists as a religious symbol. | ||||||||||||||||
| Baisakhi: The Sikhs' New Year's celebration. | ||||||||||||||||
| Baptism: The English words "baptize" and "baptism" are derived from a Greek root: "baptizr," which means "to immerse," "to dip under," or "to wash." Within Christianity, it is usually performed by a member of the clergy in a church setting, thus welcoming an individual into the church. Denominations disagree about the method (immersion or sprinkling), the age at which the ritual is done, and additional consequences of baptism. Some Christian groups maintain that baptism is required before a person can be saved; some say that only those baptized in their denomination or in a certain way can be saved. Still others consider baptism to be merely an indication that a person had been saved in the recent past. | ||||||||||||||||
| Baptism for the dead: This is a procedure that was employed among some Christian groups during the second century CE. Today, it is followed by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints -- the Mormons. Ancestors who died outside the church can be baptized by their descendents who are alive today. | ||||||||||||||||
| Baptists: A group of Protestant Christian who, according to religious historians, originated in the English Separatist movement of the 1600s. However, some Baptists believe that they can trace their history directly back to the New Testament period. In the U.S., they consist of dozens of denominations that do not baptize infants, but who baptize individuals by immersion after they have personally professed their faith. Baptist congregations are independent; full authority resides in the membership of each church. The largest American Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, deviated from centuries of tradition by expelling congregations who had decided to welcome sexually active gays and lesbians as members. | ||||||||||||||||
| Bar Mitzvah: From the Hebrew phrase "son of the commandments." A ritual performed on Jewish boys at the age of 13 when they attain religious responsibility. | ||||||||||||||||
| Bat Mitzvah: From the Hebrew phrase "daughter of the commandments." A ritual performed on Jewish girls at the age of 12 years and a day when they attain religious responsibility. | ||||||||||||||||
| BCE (a.k.a. B.C.E.): An anacronym for "Before the Common Era." A religiously-neutral calendar notation that is numerically equivalent to the "BC" notation without the connotation that the user recognizes Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus Christ) to be the Messiah or Christ. Some non-Christians find the use of "BC" to be offensive. | ||||||||||||||||
| Beget: To father, or sire. Etymology is: Indo-European "ghend" > Old English "begetan" > Middle English "biyeten" > Modern English "Beget." | ||||||||||||||||
| Begotten: A past participle of beget. | ||||||||||||||||
| Neit Hillel: From the Hebrew "House of Hillel). A liberal religious school of belief derived from Hillel -- a notable Jewish philosopher and rabbi who lived during the 1st century BCE. Yeshua of Nazareth (a.k.a. Jesus Christ) largely followed Hillel's teachings, except over criteria for marital divorce. | ||||||||||||||||
| Believers in exile: This is a term created by John Shelby Spong, a retired bishop of the Episcopal Church, USA. It refers to Christians "... for whom the God experience is still real, but most of the religious forms used to interpret that reality have lost all meaning." They have outgrown the faith of their childhood and are searching for a new path. | ||||||||||||||||
| Beltane: One of the four major Sabbats celebrated annually by Wiccans and other Neopagans on the evening of APR-30. It is based on an ancient Celtic seasonal day of celebration. | ||||||||||||||||
| Besom: A broom often used by Wiccans or other Neopagans to purify a circle or other sacred area before a ritual is conducted. | ||||||||||||||||
| Bhagavad-Gita: The "Song of the Lord" -- a holy text revered by followers of Hinduism and Iskcon. | ||||||||||||||||
| Bible: This word has many meanings:
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| Bible Code: A book by Michael Drosnin which promoted the concept that the Bible contains prophecies which are hidden by a special code. This belief became popular during the 1990s, but collapsed when it was found that similar codes could be extracted from any book of similar length. | ||||||||||||||||
| Biblical authority: This is the belief -- near universally held among conservative Christians -- that: "the Bible, as the expression of God's will to us, possesses the right supremely to define what we are to believe and how we are to conduct ourselves." 2 Steven Ibbotson states: "The Bible is authoritative because it is God's inspired word to humanity." 3 Religious liberals commonly discount some sections of the Bible as authoritative because they are judged to be profoundly immoral when compared to today's religious and secular moral standards. | ||||||||||||||||
| Biblical wordview: A personal perspective on humanity, deity
and the rest of the universe based on the Bible. There are many such
worldviews, reflecting various conservative, mainline, liberal, Gnostic,
post-Christian and other belief systems. The Barna Group defines a
conservative Protestant biblical worldview as including eight beliefs:
Barna found that 8% of adult American Protestants, 5% of adults generally and less than 0.5% of Roman Catholics "have a [conservative Protestant] biblical world view." 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Biblicism: Having a particular regard for the Bible as the Word of God and the ultimate authority for religious belief and morality. | ||||||||||||||||
| Bibliolatry: Worship of a book, particularly the Bible. A term of criticism levied against individuals who give an excessive regard to the text of the Bible. | ||||||||||||||||
| Bibliology: This word has a secular and a Christian meaning:
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| Biocentrism: Rejecting humanity as having supreme importance on Earth, and considering all living species as equally important. | ||||||||||||||||
| Biofield: A subtle energy field that allegedly permeates a person's body and extends beyond it. It may be similar to Qi, an energy field believed to exist in traditional Chinese medicine. It has never been detected and measured by conventional scientific instruments. However, some alternative medicine practitioners believe that they can detect and even see it. | ||||||||||||||||
| Bind: A ritual found in conservative Christianity, Wicca and other Neopagan traditions to prevent a person or spirit from harming individuals. | ||||||||||||||||
| Birth of the Bab: A Baha'i holy day honoring of the founder, Mirza 'Ali-Muhammed, (1819-1850 CE). He assumed the title Bab ("the Gate.") | ||||||||||||||||
| Birth of Baha'u'llah: A Baha'i annual celebration of the birth of their teacher and Messiah, Mirza Husayn-'Ali-i-Nuri (1817-1892). He was the Manifestation predicted by the Bab. | ||||||||||||||||
| Birth of Guru Nanak Dev Ji: A day when Sikhs commemorate the birthday of their founder. | ||||||||||||||||
| Bisexual: An individual who is physically and emotionally attracted to both males and females. | ||||||||||||||||
| Bishop: (From the Greek word episkopos: supervisor). In the early church, he was a chief priest at a church. Later, the role became that of a priest with administrative duties over a group of churches within a geographical area called a diocese. | ||||||||||||||||
| Bitheist: Synonym for duotheist; a person who believes that there are two deities -- typically one female and the other male, as in Wicca, or one all good and the other all bad, as in Zoroastrianism. | ||||||||||||||||
| Black magic: The use of religious rites and rituals to harm another person. One example from the Bible was when Elisha issued a curse against 42 children who were bothering him. The children were torn to shreds by she-bears. See 2 Kings 2:23-24. | ||||||||||||||||
| Black Mass: An imaginary inverted form of the Roman Catholic mass involving black candles, desecrated materials stolen from a church, prayers recited backwards in Latin, etc. Such rituals have been performed by members of the Church of Satan as a publicity stunt. |
| Black Muslims: A group of Muslim organizations for African-Americans, including the Nation of Islam. | ||||
| Black theology: The belief that Israel, as described in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), was a nation of blacks. Jesus was black; his purpose was to liberate fellow blacks from oppression by white Gentiles. | ||||
| Blasphemy: Swearing in the name of God, denying the existence of God, saying evil things about God, asserting incorrect beliefs about God, etc. One religion's affirmation of their God is often another religion's blasphemy about their God. | ||||
| Blessed be: A frequently used greeting-blessing by Wiccans and other Neopagans. | ||||
| Blessed hope: The expectation that Jesus Christ will return to Earth in the second coming. | ||||
| Blood Atonement:
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| Blood libel: A false belief which has endured since the 1st century BCE. It states that members of a religious group kidnap, abuse, ritually murder and sometimes eat the body of a member of another religion. Groups creating this groundless fable include ancient Greek and Roman Pagans, Christians, Nazis, and Muslims. Innocent religious groups victimized by the fable include Jews, Christians, Wiccans, Druids and other Neopagans, and Roma (Gypsies). The hoax exists today mostly among some Muslims (against Jews) and some Fundamentalist Christians (against Wiccans, Satanists and other religious minorities). | ||||
| Blót: Service of the Gods; kinship between the Gods of Norse Heathenism and the people. | ||||
| Bodhi: A Buddhist term which means to have achieved enlightenment; to understand the ultimate reality. | ||||
| Bodhisattva: A Buddhist Sanskrit term that literally means "an enlightenment being." A person who is embarked on the path to enlightenment and has reached the final stage before nirvana. However, the individual chooses to remain on Earth being reborn in successive lives, in order to help all other sentient beings attain enlightenment. | ||||
| Bodhi Day: The day when Buddha decided to sit under the bodhi tree, and remain there until he reached enlightenment. | ||||
| Body of Christ: This often refers to the physical body of Yeshua of Nazareth (a.k.a. Jesus Christ.) Other times, it refers to the "invisible church" which is made up of true Christians, past and present. Unfortunately, there is no consensus concerning who is a "true" Christian, so that there is no agreement over the exact makeup of this group. | ||||
| Boline: A knife used by a Wiccan or other Neopagan to collect herbs for ritual use. | ||||
| Bon Festival: This is a day when the followers of Shinto honor the souls of their ancestors. People visit graveyards. | ||||
| Book of Life: In Christianity, a list of saved individuals which is maintained by God. | ||||
| Book of Mormon: One of four texts considered to be divinely inspired and authoritative scripture by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) and other Mormon denominations. Mormons believe that Joseph Smith, their founder, translated the Book of Mormon from golden plates left by an early American society. Some researchers believe the Book to have been written by Smith, and partly based on an earlier book "View of the Hebrews" by Ethan Smith (no relation). | ||||
| Book of Shadows: A personal diary of a Wiccan or other Neopagan in which she/he records their ritual activities. | ||||
| Born again: The process by which a person repents of their sins and trusts Jesus of Nazareth as Lord and Savior. Conservative Protestants believe that this is the only way that one can get to heaven. Some of these denominations do not require that a person repent first. | ||||
| Brahma: The creator God and member of the Hindu trinity of deities, which also includes Shiva and Vishnu. | ||||
| Brahmin: A member of the priestly class in Hinduism -- the highest caste in India. | ||||
| Brainwashing: (a.k.a. thought control, mind control, coercive persuasion). A non-violent method that uses mind control techniques to convince a person to abandon some of their basic beliefs and adopt the beliefs of the indoctrinator. The anti-cult movement teaches that many small religious groups, which they call cults, engage in brainwashing. Sociologists and mental health researchers who are not involved in the anti-cult movement generally reject the concept. | ||||
| Branch Davidians: Popular name for a doomsday, destructive cult, the Students of the Seven Seals, which was led by David Koresh. Dozens of their members died when their compound burned to the ground in Waco, TX. | ||||
| Brit Ha-Hayim: In reform Judaism, a ceremony celebrating the birth of a girl. | ||||
| British Israel movement: A belief that the ten lost tribes of Israel -- those conquered and assimilated by the Assyrians circa 722 BCE -- became the British people, and sometimes the inhabitants of the former British Empire, including the U.S. and Canada. | ||||
| Buchmanism: The Moral Rearmament movement founded by Frank Buchman (1878 - 1961). He organized the Oxford Group in 1929, which became Moral Rearmament, an inter-faith group, in 1938. Its goal was to change society one person at a time, by promoting absolute purity, unselfishness, honesty and love. | ||||
| Buddha: A Buddhist term used to refer to Prince Siddhartha, (560 - 480 BCE) after his enlightenment. | ||||
| Buddha Day: A celebration of the birthday of the Buddha. | ||||
| Buddhism: A world religion, founded in the 6th century BCE by a Hindu: Siddhartha Gautama, His followers called him "the Buddha" or "the enlightened one." It has about 300 million followers, almost all located in Asia. Buddhism is experiencing a rapid growth in North America. It is perhaps the least violent of the world's major religons. | ||||
| Bull: From the Latin word "bulla" a seal. A papal statement in which he speaks ex cathedra on a matter of belief or morality. Such a statement is regarded by Roman Catholics as infallible. | ||||
| Burning Man Festival: An annual gathering in Black Rock Desert, NV. Creative individuals create artistic works, dance, chant, sing, etc. At the end of the festival, a wooden image in the form of a man is burned. This is apparently derived from the burning of a wicker statue of the spirit of vegetation by the ancient Celts. That statue also was in the form of a man. |
Reference used:
- "Most adults feel accepted by God, but lack a biblical worldview," The Barna Group, 2005-AUG-09. at: http://www.barna.org/.
- Millard J. Erickson, "Christian Theology," Baker, (1985), Page 241.
- Steven Ibbotson, "Biblical Authority," Prairie bible Institute, (2000), at: http://instructor.pbi.ab.ca/
Copyright © 1996 to 2007 by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance
Originally written on: 1996-MAR-11
Last update: 2007-DEC-23
Author: B.A. Robinson
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